The Maritime Code of the People’s Republic of China of 2025 marks a strategic milestone in the modernization of China’s maritime legal system, signaling a fundamental shift from a trade-facilitation orientation to a comprehensive maritime governance paradigm. The reform achieves systematic alignment with the Civil Code, resolving longstanding conflicts in maritime real rights and contractual liabilities and delivering significant institutional breakthroughs. By adopting the functional equivalence doctrine for electronic transport records, the Code removes legal barriers to maritime digital trade and advances the digitalization of maritime documents. In addition, it institutes a tripartite compensation mechanism for marine ecological damage to internalize environmental externalities, thereby realizing the green transformation of the maritime liability regime. As a sophisticated Chinese response to the evolution of the global maritime governance, the Code enhances the predictability of maritime judicial adjudication, improves China’s foreign-related rule of law system, safeguards national maritime rights and interests, and empowers the high-quality development of the blue economy. Furthermore, it contributes to fostering a new international maritime order characterized by digital integration, fairness, inclusiveness and ecological sustainability.
内容提要 2025年修订的《中华人民共和国海商法》是中国海事法律体系现代化进程中的一座里程碑，标志着海事法律制度从侧重“贸易便利化”模式向“综合海事治理”模式的根本性范式转型。此次修订实现了与《民法典》的体系衔接，化解了海事物权、合同责任等领域长期存在的法律冲突，提升了整个海事法律体系的统一性。本次修法取得多项重大突破，特别是通过构建电子运输记录制度和海洋生态责任体系，推动海事单证数字化转型与海事责任制度绿色化发展。具体而言，电子运输记录“功能等效规则”的确立，破解了海事数字贸易中的“唯一性法律障碍”；将海洋生态文明建设理念融入责任体系，通过生态损害三方赔偿机制实现环境外部成本内部化。修订后的《海商法》为全球海事秩序演进贡献了成熟完善的“中国方案”，不仅有利于提升中国海事司法裁判的可预期性、完善涉外法治建设，也为国际海洋治理与蓝色经济发展赋予新内涵。该法既维护我国海洋权益、助力蓝色经济高质量发展，也必将推动构建数字化融合、公平包容、生态可持续的国际海洋新秩序。