Authors: Kurmangazy Talzhanov, Managing Partner, Salus Legal; Duman Akhmetov, Partner, Salus Legal
Practice: Dispute Resolution and Arbitration
Publication date: November 2026
You have won arbitration at CIETAC or your case before a court in China, but the Kazakhstani debtor will not pay. If the debtor has bank accounts or assets in Kazakhstan, the award or judgment can be enforced here. To do this, you need to obtain a writ of execution from a Kazakhstani court — the document on the basis of which a court enforcement officer will recover the debt. The court does not re-examine the dispute on the merits.
This article explains how arbitration awards and Chinese court judgments are enforced, what documents are required, whether an apostille is needed, how to calculate the time limit, and in which cases the court may refuse enforcement.
In brief
CIETAC and other arbitration awards are enforced under the 1958 New York Convention; judgments of PRC people’s courts under the 1993 Treaty between Kazakhstan and the PRC on legal assistance.
A Kazakhstani court reviews the application single-handedly within 15 working days (Art. 503(6) of the Civil Procedure Code) and does not reconsider the award on the merits.
The court fee is fixed: 5 MRP regardless of the amount of the debt (subpara. 11, para. 1, Art. 665 of the Tax Code).
Consular legalization of documents from the PRC has not been required since 7 November 2023; it has been replaced by the apostille. We recommend affixing an apostille to all documents submitted to a Kazakhstani court.
The time limit for applying is three years. The safest approach is to count it from the date the judgment entered into force.
Two routes: arbitration award or court judgment
Arbitration award
- What is enforced: Awards of CIETAC, SHIAC, SCIA, BAC, HKIAC and other arbitral institutions
- Legal basis: New York Convention 1958; Arts. 501, 503, 504, 255 of the Civil Procedure Code
- Where to file: Kazakhstani court at the debtor’s place of residence or the location of its body; if unknown — at the location of the assets
- What the court checks: Only the grounds for refusal (Art. V of the Convention, Arts. 255 and 504 of the Civil Procedure Code)
- Time limit: Three years (see the “Time limits” section)
PRC people’s court judgment
- What is enforced: Judgments, rulings and judicial settlement approvals in civil cases
- Legal basis: Kazakhstan–PRC Treaty of 14 January 1993, Arts. 17–21; Arts. 501, 503, 504 of the Civil Procedure Code
- Where to file: The same Kazakhstani court directly, or through the Chinese court that rendered the judgment
- What the court checks: Only compliance with the Treaty’s requirements (Art. 19 of the Treaty)
- Time limit: Three years from the judgment entering into force (Art. 501(3) of the Civil Procedure Code)
Kazakhstan acceded to the New York Convention by Presidential Decree No. 2485 of 4 October 1995, and China has been a party since 1987. International treaties ratified by Kazakhstan take priority over the Kazakhstani Code of Civil Procedure and apply directly (Art. 2(3) of the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan).
Route 1. CIETAC and other arbitration awards
A CIETAC or other foreign arbitration award is not enforced automatically in Kazakhstan: first, a Kazakhstani court must order its enforcement.
The creditor files an application for a writ of execution with the court at the debtor’s place of residence or at the location of the legal entity’s body. If these are unknown, the application is filed at the location of the debtor’s assets (Art. 503(1) of the Civil Procedure Code).
The court reviews the application and issues the writ of execution, after which it is enforced by a state or private court enforcement officer.
Required documents (Art. IV of the Convention, Art. 503(2) of the Civil Procedure Code):
- The original arbitration award, duly authenticated, or a duly certified copy thereof.
- The original arbitration agreement or a duly certified copy thereof.
- A translation of these documents into Kazakh or Russian. Under the Convention, the translation must be certified by an official or sworn translator, or by a diplomatic or consular institution.
In addition, the application must be accompanied by proof of payment of the court fee (5 MRP) and, if the application is not filed by the company’s chief executive in person, a power of attorney for the representative.
Documents from the PRC, including the power of attorney, are best prepared in the following order: notarize them before a PRC notary, obtain an apostille, then translate them together with the apostille into Kazakh or Russian, and have the translation notarially certified in Kazakhstan. If the order is changed, the translation will have to be redone, and the application may be returned because of the form of the documents.
How the review proceeds. The judge reviews the application single-handedly within 15 working days of its receipt (Art. 503(6) of the Civil Procedure Code). The court notifies the debtor, but the debtor’s failure to appear does not prevent the review, unless the debtor has requested an adjournment for a valid reason (para. 7). The court may not re-examine the arbitration award on the merits (para. 8).
The ruling granting the writ of execution is subject to immediate enforcement (Art. 503(9) of the Civil Procedure Code). A private appeal may be filed against it (Art. 504, Art. 254(2) of the Civil Procedure Code).
Route 2. Judgments of PRC people’s courts
The Treaty between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the People’s Republic of China on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters of 14 January 1993 obliges both states to recognize and enforce each other’s judgments that have entered into force (Art. 17 of the Treaty).
The application may be filed with the Chinese court that rendered the judgment, which will forward it to a Kazakhstani court.
The applicant is also entitled to apply directly to a Kazakhstani court (Art. 18(1) of the Treaty).
Direct filing is generally faster because it does not depend on inter-agency correspondence.
Required documents (Art. 18(2) of the Treaty):
- A copy of the judgment certified by the PRC court. If the copy does not expressly state that the judgment has entered into force and is enforceable, a separate court document confirming this must be attached.
- A court document indicating which part of the judgment has already been enforced in the PRC.
- A document confirming that the party that did not participate in the proceedings was duly served with notice to appear in court. If that party lacks legal capacity, it must be confirmed that they had a proper representative.
- A certified translation of the application and of all documents. For a Kazakhstani court, the translation must be into Kazakh or Russian (Art. 503(2) of the Civil Procedure Code).
The court fee and power of attorney requirements are the same as under Route 1.
A Kazakhstani court checks the judgment only for compliance with the Treaty and, if necessary, may request additional materials from the Chinese court (Art. 19 of the Treaty).
A recognized judgment has the same force in Kazakhstan as a judgment of a Kazakhstani court (Art. 20 of the Treaty).
Is an apostille needed?
Consular legalization is not required, but we recommend affixing an apostille to all documents.
Since 7 November 2023, China has been a party to the 1961 Hague Convention, which abolishes the requirement of legalization of foreign official documents. From that date, official documents from the PRC for use in Kazakhstan undergo apostilling rather than consular legalization. This is how the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan explains it.
In the PRC, apostilles are affixed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China or by the provincial and municipal foreign affairs offices authorized by it.
The 1993 Kazakhstan–PRC Treaty (Art. 28) additionally exempts from legalization documents that have been drawn up or certified by a court or another competent authority and sealed with an official seal. This provision does not, however, cover all documents: for example, the original CIETAC award, a corporate extract or a power of attorney signed on behalf of a company may fall outside it. Moreover, the MFA’s clarification does not mention this exemption.
Our recommendation. Have the copies of the award, the arbitration agreement and the power of attorney notarized by a PRC notary and affix an apostille to them. This is inexpensive and quick. The court will then have no reason to return the application, and the debtor will have no grounds to challenge the documents on formal grounds.
Time limits: how not to miss them
The Civil Procedure Code establishes a three-year limitation period, but two provisions formulate it differently:
- Art. 501(3): judgments of foreign courts and arbitrations may be submitted for enforcement within three years of the date on which they enter into legal force;
- Art. 503(3): an application for a writ of execution must be filed no later than three years from the expiry of the period for voluntary compliance.
We recommend not relying on the later of the two periods and counting three years from the date the judgment entered into force.
A missed time limit may be restored by the court for valid reasons (Art. 501(3), Art. 503(5) of the Civil Procedure Code), but we do not advise building a strategy on this.
When the court may refuse enforcement
Arbitration awards
The list of grounds is exhaustive (Art. V of the Convention, Arts. 255 and 504 of the Civil Procedure Code). Most of them must be proven by the debtor:
- a party to the arbitration agreement was legally incapable or had limited legal capacity;
- the arbitration agreement is invalid under the law to which the parties subjected it or, absent such a choice, under the law of the country where the award was made;
- the debtor was not properly notified of the appointment of the arbitrator or of the arbitration proceedings, or was otherwise unable, for valid reasons, to present its case;
- the award deals with a dispute not contemplated by, or falling outside the scope of, the arbitration agreement;
- the composition of the arbitral tribunal or the arbitral procedure did not comply with the parties’ agreement or, absent such agreement, with the law of the country of the arbitration;
- the award has not yet become binding on the parties, or has been set aside or suspended by a court of the country in which, or under the law of which, it was made;
- there is already an enforceable judgment of a court or arbitral award between the same parties in the same dispute (Art. 255 of the Civil Procedure Code).
On its own initiative, the court will refuse enforcement if the dispute is not capable of settlement by arbitration under Kazakhstani law, or if enforcement would be contrary to the public policy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
If part of the award falls outside the scope of the arbitration agreement and can be separated, the court will enforce the remainder (Art. 255(2) of the Civil Procedure Code).
Chinese court judgments
Art. 21 of the Treaty permits refusal in one of five cases:
- the judgment has not entered into legal force or is not enforceable under the law of the PRC;
- the case falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of a Kazakhstani court;
- the party that did not participate in the proceedings was not served with notice to appear in court in accordance with the law of the PRC or, if that party lacked legal capacity, did not have a proper representative;
- in the same dispute between the same parties there is already an enforceable judgment in Kazakhstan, the case is pending before a Kazakhstani court, or a judgment of a third state has already been recognized;
- recognition or enforcement may harm the sovereignty, security or public order of Kazakhstan.
In practice, the most vulnerable point is notice to the party that did not participate in the proceedings. If the debtor did not appear before the Chinese court, evidence of proper service on it should be collected in advance.
Where applicants lose time
If the required documents are not attached to the application, the court returns it without review (Art. 503(4) of the Civil Procedure Code). This is not a refusal — the application can be filed again — but time keeps running and the limitation period continues to expire. Problems most often arise from the following:
- the party’s name in the judgment, its transliteration, the English version and the Russian translation do not match, and it is impossible to establish unambiguously from the documents that the same person is meant;
- there is no document confirming that the judgment has entered into force or that notice was served on the party that failed to appear;
- the documents lack an apostille;
- the translation is not certified, or is not into Kazakh or Russian;
- the application is filed with the wrong court — not at the debtor’s place of residence (location) or the location of its assets.
Five practical tips
- Find the assets first. The debtor’s bank accounts, real estate, equity interests, vehicles and receivables in Kazakhstan determine which court to apply to and whether the process is worthwhile at all.
- Count the time limit conservatively: three years from the date the judgment entered into force.
- Check names and details. The Chinese name, its transliteration and the Russian translation must unambiguously refer to the same person. For a Kazakhstani debtor, indicate its BIN (business identification number): the court and the enforcement officer identify the company by it.
- Prepare the documents in China once, and correctly. Have the copies and the power of attorney notarized by a PRC notary and apostilled. Documents should be translated into Russian in Kazakhstan, with notarized certification of the translator’s signature. This will spare you from having the application returned because of the form of the documents.
- Think about enforcement when concluding the contract. A clear clause specifying the institution (CIETAC or another institution), the seat and the language of the arbitration reduces the risk of a dispute over its validity.
Frequently asked questions
Can the judgment be enforced if the debtor is an individual? Yes. Neither the Convention nor the Treaty distinguishes between companies and citizens. The application is filed with the court at the debtor’s place of residence.
Will a Kazakhstani court reconsider the dispute on the merits? No. This is expressly prohibited (Art. 503(8) of the Civil Procedure Code). The court checks only the grounds for refusal.
Is an apostille required on documents from China? Consular legalization has not been required since 7 November 2023 — it has been replaced by the apostille. We recommend having the documents notarized by a PRC notary and apostilled.
In what language should documents be filed? In Kazakh or Russian. Documents in Chinese or English are attached with a certified translation (Art. 503(2) of the Civil Procedure Code).
Must a company representative travel to Kazakhstan? No. The applicant’s interests can be represented by a Kazakhstani legal consultant under a power of attorney. The creditor’s failure to appear does not prevent the application from being reviewed (Art. 503(7) of the Civil Procedure Code).
How much does applying to the court cost? The court fee is 5 MRP. The amount is fixed and does not depend on the size of the debt. Translation, notarization and legal support are paid for separately.
How long will the process take? The law gives the court 15 working days. In our estimation, an uncontested matter takes one to three months, including document preparation. If the debtor objects and appeals the ruling, the process may take up to a year.
Can the award be enforced in part? Yes. If part of the arbitration award falls outside the scope of the arbitration agreement and can be separated, the court will enforce the remainder (Art. 255(2) of the Civil Procedure Code).
Salus Legal
We support the recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments and arbitration awards in Kazakhstan: we review the documents before filing, search for the debtor’s assets, obtain interim measures and work with court enforcement officers until the money is actually recovered.
Contact us at salus.law for an assessment of your case.
Sources
- Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 31 October 2015 No. 377-V (Adilet legal information system)
- Treaty between the Republic of Kazakhstan and the People’s Republic of China on Legal Assistance in Civil and Criminal Matters of 14 January 1993 (Adilet)
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan: on the accession of the PRC to the Hague Apostille Convention
- Presidential Decree of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 4 October 1995 No. 2485 on accession to the New York Convention
- Tax Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan of 18 July 2025 No. 214-VIII, Art. 665 (Adilet)
This material is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The provisions are stated as of November 2026.
