COVID-19 outbreak in China in early 2020 may trigger a series of international commercial contractdisputes. The wording of the force majeure clause in international commercial contract could directly affect itsapplicability to COVID-19 and how to apply it. It is necessary to identify the applicable law of the internationalcommercial contract involved in the case. Whether COVID-19 can constitute a force majeure or rebus sic stantibusin specific cases, it should be analyzed in accordance with international treaties (such as CISG) and/or Chinesecontract laws. The cases related to SARS could give some guidelines to the COVID-19 events when judging theforce majeure, however, the late is more serious than the former. When analyzing the COVID-19 as the force majeureevent in the international commercial contract, we should consider the causality between the concrete events and thecontract nonperformance. The contract party should not take the COVID-19 granted as the force majeure event andtherefore discharge its obligation of performance without carrying the burden of proofs.