The Hong Kong Court of First Instance granted an anti-suit injunction against award debtors pursuing proceedings in Xiamen. It held that those proceedings were a vexatious and oppressive attempt to undermine Hong Kong judgments obtained to enforce a CIETAC award.
In <span class="news-text_italic-underline">廈門新景地集團有限公司 (Xiamen Xinjingdi Group Co Ltd) v Eton Properties Ltd and Eton Properties (Holdings) Ltd [2026] HKCFI 5258</span>, the dispute arose from a 2003 land development contract. A CIETAC tribunal ordered entities in the Eton Properties group to perform the contract in 2006, but lengthy litigation followed.
After a corporate restructuring made statutory enforcement of the award in Hong Kong ineffective, the award creditor brought a common law action for breach of the implied promise to honour the award. In 2024, it obtained judgments for damages and pre-judgment interest totalling approximately RMB343 million.
The award debtors then commenced proceedings in Xiamen seeking the return of sums allegedly obtained unlawfully through the Hong Kong action. They argued that the action was, in substance, a malicious claim for breach of the underlying contract intended to avoid the arbitration agreement and PRC law. The award creditor applied for an anti-suit injunction.
Deputy High Court Judge Gary CC Lam held that the Xiamen proceedings sought to interfere with the Hong Kong courts’ enforcement of the award. Enforcing the underlying contract was a matter for the arbitral tribunal; enforcing the resulting award was a matter for the Hong Kong courts. The judge also found that the award debtors were attempting to relitigate issues already determined and that issue estoppel applied.
The court ordered the award debtors to discontinue the Xiamen proceedings and awarded indemnity costs. It stressed that its findings concerned the debtors’ conduct, rather than the merits of the mainland proceedings or PRC law.
The decision illustrates the Hong Kong courts’ willingness to restrain collateral proceedings brought to frustrate the enforcement of arbitral awards and judgments arising from them.
<span class="news-text_medium">Case:</span> <span class="news-text_italic-underline">廈門新景地集團有限公司 (Xiamen Xinjingdi Group Co Ltd) v Eton Properties Ltd and Eton Properties (Holdings) Ltd [2026] HKCFI 5258</span>, 14 September 2026 (Deputy High Court Judge Gary CC Lam).
