Reflections on Cross-border Insolvency under RCEP and China's Regional Legal Cooperation

In order to facilitate the high-quality development of investment and trade within the RCEP region, cross-border capital flows of enterprises have become ever more prevalent. A number of enterprises have encountered operational challenges, thereby entering the bankruptcy stage, which has led to a notable upsurge in cross-border bankruptcy-related legal issues. Cross-border bankruptcies often involve intricate property and creditor-debtor relationships. Moreover, the legal systems among different RCEP member states exhibit substantial disparities. As a consequence, it remains arduous for the country where the debtor's assets (within the RCEP framework) are domiciled to acknowledge and offer assistance to the country where the bankruptcy proceedings are initiated. This paper delves into the connotations of international cooperation legal mechanisms, the theoretical underpinnings of the innovative RCEP cross-border bankruptcy regional cooperation legal mechanisms, and the practical cornerstones of such innovation. China endeavors to clarify the theoretical viability of the innovative RCEP cross-border bankruptcy regional cooperation legal mechanisms. By examining the prominent issues in the practice of RCEP regional bankruptcy cooperation, such as the fragmentation of the RCEP regional bankruptcy cooperation legal regime, the lack of uniformity in the standards of jurisdiction over bankruptcy procedures, the marked divergence in cross-border bankruptcy recognition and assistance regulations, and the inadequate legal safeguards for cross-border bankruptcy cooperation among member states, this paper contemplates the necessity of such mechanism innovation. Based on these considerations, China promotes the conclusion of the RCEP cross-border bankruptcy regional cooperation agreement. Innovatively, China advocates and establishes the principles of equality of national sovereignty, international cooperation, and extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits as the fundamental concepts and objectives of cooperation. Subsequently, through this agreement, China aims to establish an innovative framework system for the agreement. This system encompasses core elements such as the jurisdiction regime for bankruptcy procedures and the RCEP central court, the RCEP cross-border parallel bankruptcy procedure cooperation mechanism, and the RCEP regional court information sharing mechanism. These efforts are expected to provide a robust theoretical reference for the future establishment of the RCEP cross-border bankruptcy regional cooperation legal mechanism.