• Document Number：Interpretation No. 12 [2018] of the Supreme People's Court
• Area of Law： Civil Law
• Level of Authority： Judicial Interpretation
• Date issued：07-18-2018
• Effective Date：07-23-2018
• Issuing Authority： Supreme People's Court
• Status： Effective

Announcement of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China
The Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of the Extinctive Prescription Rules in the General Provisions of the Civil Law of China, as adopted at the 1744th session of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on July 2, 2018, is hereby issued, and shall come into force on July 23, 2018.
Supreme People's Court
July 18, 2018
Interpretation of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning the Application of the Extinctive Prescription Rules in the General Provisions of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 1744th session of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court on July 2, 2018, and coming into force on July 23, 2018, Interpretation No. 12 [2018] of the Supreme People's Court)
For the purposes of accurately applying the extinctive prescription rules in the General Provisions of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China and protecting the lawful rights and interests of the parties, this Interpretation is developed in consideration of trial practice.
Article 1 Where the prescriptive period begins after the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, the provision of Article 188 of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on a three-year prescriptive period shall apply. A party's claim for the application of the provision of the General Principles of the Civil Law on a two-year or one year prescriptive period shall not be supported by a people's court.
Article 2 Where a party claims the application of the provision of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on a three-year prescriptive period, provided that the applicable two-year or one year prescriptive period in the General Principles of the Civil Law has not expired by the day when the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, a people's court shall support such a claim.
Article 3 Where a party claims the application of the provision of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on a three-year prescriptive period, provided that the applicable two-year or one year prescriptive period in the General Principles of the Civil Law has expired before the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, a people's court shall not support such a claim.
Article 4 Where the cause of suspension of a prescriptive period has not been eliminated by the day when the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, the provision of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on the suspension of extinctive prescription shall apply.
Article 5 This Interpretation shall come into force on July 23, 2018.
A case pending trial by a people's court of first or second instance after this Interpretation comes into force shall be governed by this Interpretation; but a case, for which a final judgment has been made before this Interpretation comes into force, retried upon petition of a party or as decided under the trial supervision procedures shall not be governed by this Interpretation.