Tracing assets from China to Germany

The position in one paragraph

German bank confidentiality is real but not absolute, and the documentation trail usually comes from the Chinese side.

The transfer records on the Chinese side are usually the strongest evidence, because they establish the movement out. German records confirm receipt but are harder to obtain directly, so the strategy should treat the Chinese records as primary and the German ones as corroboration.

A typical situation

Funds have been transferred from China to a German account and into a property over a year.

Waiting for German records before applying for preservation in China. The China-side assets are the time-critical part and should not depend on the other investigation.

What distinguishes this from a purely domestic case

Under the accrued-gains system, each spouse keeps their own property and the equalisation is calculated at the end of the marriage — a fundamentally different starting point from the Chinese position.

On the China side, the connecting factor has to be established on the documents: A Chinese court can order disclosure and, in an appropriate case, preservation over assets located in China. Foreign-located assets need a separate route.

The practical sequence in a Germany-connected matter

1. Preserve first, investigate second — timing matters more than completeness
2. Assemble the documentary trail: transfers, property records, corporate filings, and communication showing intent
3. Apply for preservation over China-situated assets before they move
4. Where assets have gone abroad, plan how a foreign court or authority would be asked to act

Certification is handled by the competent Land authority, so the state of issue matters as it does in the US.

How Germany documents are handled

Apostille from the competent Land authority or the Federal Office of Justice for federal documents.

Germany applies the Zugewinngemeinschaft (community of accrued gains) system, which functions very differently from Chinese community property.

Each spouse keeps their own property under the German default, and equalisation is calculated only at the end — the opposite logic to Chinese community property.

What has to be decided before filing

Preserve in China first, then assemble the German corroboration for the negotiation.

The boundary to plan around is this: Investigation powers do not extend extraterritorially; a Chinese court cannot order a foreign bank to disclose. Where value sits in Germany — typically property, company shares, bank accounts, Bauspar contracts — it is handled by agreement or by a separate route there, not by an order the Chinese court could enforce directly.

If your situation has a Germany element

Asset cases are won in the first two weeks. If you believe assets are being moved, send us what you have and we will say what preservation can realistically achieve.

Frequently asked questions