CCPIT has issued more than 1600 force majeure certificates to enterprises affected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) by February 14, involving contracts ranging from tens of thousands of yuan to tens of billions of yuan, to help enterprises safeguard their legitimate rights and interests and reduce the losses caused by the epidemic.
CCPIT Commercial Certification Center Director Yan Yun said, since the outbreak, to help enterprises cope with the effects of the epidemic and to provide convenient services, CCPIT and its authorized sub-councils and branches have proved the facts and issued the force majeure certificates of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to the appliers on the certification platform（http://www.rzccpit.com/）. The certificate is one of the important evidences for claiming the exemption of liability for breach of contract according to law. One party of the contract may claim partial or complete exemption from the liability of non-performance, incomplete performance or delay in performance of the contract by virtue of the certificate.
(the country’s first force majeure certificate of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) issued by CCPIT)
据悉，目前国内26个省、直辖市已开展该项业务，服务和出证已辐射到县区，全国贸促系统共出具不可抗力事实性证明1615份，涉及30多个行业，累计涉及合同金额约1099亿元人民币，其中单笔金额最大的合同涉及金额超230亿元人民币。
It is reported that at present, 26 provinces and municipalities have carried out this business, and the service and issuance of certificates have reached counties and districts. The national trade promotion system has issued 1615 force majeure certificates of novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), involving more than 30 sectors and covering a total contract value of about 109.9 billion yuan, of which the largest contract amount is more than 23 billion yuan.
According to the return visit of CCPIT Commercial Certification Center, after providing the certificate to their customers, the enterprises have been understood and recognized. Their customers kept the order, and agreed to delay the delivery, avoiding the liability for breach of contract due to the delay in performance.
To help enterprises better understand and use the certificate, CCPIT launched an “Internet + Certificate” platform, advocating “no meeting” and "non-contact" working mode. At present, CCPIT has offered, through online platforms, millions of counselling to enterprises and over 30 thousand telephone counselling. Meanwhile, CCPIT has been using online training and webcast training to provide guidance for enterprises. Tens of thousands of enterprises participated in webcast training on February 14.
Yan Yun said, as a national trade and investment promotion organization, CCPIT performs its duties in accordance with the law. By guiding enterprises to apply the rules of international commercial law in a legal and compliant way, CCPIT helps enterprises to protect their legitimate rights and interests to reduce the impact of the epidemic. Meanwhile, all parties involved in a contract should create conditions to perform the contract as much as possible from the perspective of maintaining a good cooperative relationship. And enterprises should also negotiate and discuss the alternative plans when it is impossible to perform the contract, to reduce the losses of all parties as much as possible, and to establish the image of enterprise. If there are major disputes between the two parties, they can also be resolved through mediation, arbitration, litigation and other methods.
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