On July 18, 2018, China Supreme Court Issued "Interpretation on Several Issues concerning the Application of the Extinctive Prescription Rules in the General Provisions of the Civil Law of the People's Republic of China (“the Interpretation”).

According to the Interpretation, where the prescriptive period begins after the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, the provision of Article 188 of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on a three-year prescriptive period shall apply. A party's claim for the application of the provision of the General Principles of the Civil Law on a two-year or one-year prescriptive period shall not be supported by a people's court. Where a party claims the application of the provision of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on a three-year prescriptive period, provided that the applicable two-year or one year prescriptive period in the General Principles of the Civil Law has not expired by the day when the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, a people's court shall support such a claim.

The Interpretation also stipulates that, where a party claims the application of the provision of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on a three-year prescriptive period, provided that the applicable two-year or one year prescriptive period in the General Principles of the Civil Law has expired before the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, a people's court shall not support such a claim. Where the cause of suspension of a prescriptive period has not been eliminated by the day when the General Provisions of the Civil Law come into force, the provision of the General Provisions of the Civil Law on the suspension of extinctive prescription shall apply.