Ninth CIETAC CUP International Commercial Arbitration Moot held in Beijing

On November 22-25, 2011, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) held the Ninth CIETAC CUP International Commercial Arbitration Moot (“The CIETAC CUP Moot”) in Beijing. The CIETAC CUP Moot, which was participated by nearly 200 contestants representing the law schools (departments) of 25 well-known Chinese universities, lasted for four days and included 57 debate sessions. CIETAC invited more than 40 arbitrators and well-known lawyers including 7 foreign lawyers and arbitrators to serve as the judges. At the award ceremony on 25 November, CIETAC presented certificates and trophies to the Best Individual Oralist, Group Contribution Award Winners, the 8 finalist teams, as well as the Championship team and Runner-up team.

After the CIETAC CUP Moot, CIETAC will sponsor the championship team to attend the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (“Vis Moot”) to be held in Vienna in April 2012 and the runner-up team to attend the Vis (East) Moot to be held in Hong Kong in March 2012. CIETAC Arbitration Rules will be adopted in both moots.

Since the 1st CIETAC CUP Moot in 2000, more than 700 students from over 60 law schools in China have participated in the event. Given its increased popularity and influence among universities and students, CIETAC CUP has become one of the regular events on the competition agenda prepared by the law schools and departments of Chinese universities for their students. The CIETAC CUP has even prompted some universities to include special courses on commercial arbitration in their curriculum, thus playing an important role for training legal professionals who have both the knowledge on the mechanism for settling international commercial disputes and the ability to participate in the resolution of such disputes. By sponsoring Chinese students to participate in the international competitions held in Vienna and Hong Kong, CIETAC has not only expanded its global reach, but also enabled the law students of other countries to update their knowledge and understanding on China’s arbitration system, which will have a long-standing influence on their application of China’s arbitration services in their future career.