China
Pursuant to Articles 146, 147 and 148 of the PRC Civil Procedure Law, the court may grant default judgment when:
- a defendant refuses to appear in court without justifiable reasons after being summoned, or the defendant leaves the courtroom during the oral hearing without permission from the court;
- if the defendant has filed a counterclaim, the claimant refuses to appear in court without justifiable reasons after being summoned or leaves the courtroom during the oral hearing without permission from the court; and/or
- the claimant requests withdrawal of the action before a judgment is made, but the court decides not to grant the withdrawal and the claimant refuses to appear in court without justifiable reasons after being summoned.
If the default judgment is issued by the first instance court, the party against whom the default judgment is imposed may appeal. As the judgments issued by second instance courts are generally final, a default judgment issued during an appeal process will not usually be subject to challenge. That said, if there is a material procedural defect with a default judgment (for example, the party has not been served with a summons), the party may challenge the default judgment by applying for a retrial.
When considering an application for default judgment, the court will examine the merits of the claim. For parties who are domiciled in Mainland China, the period for appealing against a default judgment (appeal period) is the same as the period for appealing against normal judgments, which is 15 days. For parties who have no domicile in Mainland China, the appeal period is 30 days.