中国自1984年以来在港口城市设立了10个海事法院和15个派出法庭。截至1999年底,各海事法院共受理海事海商案件近3万件,其中涉外案件3400余件,涉港澳台案件1300余件。当事人的国籍遍及五大洲的73个国家和地区,有不少案件的当事人双方均来自国外,甚至有的案件双方当事人所在国均与我国没有外交关系。涉外海事审判的成功在 China has set up 10 maritime courts and 15 sending tribunals in port cities since 1984. As of the end of 1999, all maritime courts accepted nearly 30,000 cases of maritime merchants, of which over 3,400 were foreign-related cases and 1,300 cases involved Hong Kong, Maucao and Taiwan. The parties have their nationalities in 73 countries and regions on five continents. In many cases, the parties involved are all from abroad. In some cases, the country where the parties are located has no diplomatic relations with China. The success of the foreign maritime trial lies at