On 28 December 2018, CIETAC held a symposium in Beijing themed on “40 years of Reform and Opening-up and Arbitration in China”. Mr. Fei Zongyi, honorary arbitrator of CIETAC and member of Expert Consultative Committee of CIETAC, Mr. Wang Liming, Executive Vice President of Renmin University of China and Vice Chairman of CIETAC, Mr. Huang Jin, President of China University of Political Science and Law and Chairman of International Private Law Association of China, Ms. Zhou Xiaoyan, Director of Ministry of Commerce of People’s Republic of China Department of European Affairs and experienced arbitrator of CIETAC, Ms. Gao Xiaoli, Vice President of Civil Adjudication Tribunal No.4 of the Supreme People's Court, Ms. Yan Siyi, honorary arbitrator of CIETAC, Mr. Shen Sibao, member of Expert Consultative Committee of CIETAC and other senior arbitrators attended this symposium. The symposium was hosted by Mr. Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC. Mr. Li Hu, Deputy Secretary General of CIETAC and Sectary of the Party Committee, Mr. Zhao Jian and Mr. Gu Yan, Vice Presidents of the Arbitration Court of CIETAC attended the symposium.  

Mr. Wang Chengjie extended gratitude towards Mr. Fei Zongyi and other experts’ continued supports for CIETAC, and thanked the Supreme People's Court for its active efforts to create a friendly judicial environment for arbitration in China. He briefly reviewed CIETAC’s major achievements on business growth, institutional development, team construction and international communication and introduced the highlights of CIETAC’s work in 2018 and its service upgrades, etc.

The experts reviewed the historical achievements of China's arbitration development in the past 40 years of reform and opening up. In retrospect, it was deeply felt that CIETAC has been a vivid epitome of China's arbitration development since the policy of reform and opening up was adopted for the past 40 years. CIETAC is a banner of Chinese arbitration and a monument for generations of practitioners and has always been the leader of China’s arbitration. The experts also believed that arbitration practice in China has made great progress and development during the 40 years of reform and opening up. The arbitration system has been steadily improved, the team of arbitrators has continued to grow, the management and services provided by arbitration institutions have been continuously upgraded, and the credibility of arbitration has been continuously enhanced. However, the competition of arbitration is getting fiercer at the same time. The experts are fully aware that the urgency and necessity for China’s arbitration to undertake reform under the new circumstances. Taking into consideration of the practical problems during China’s arbitration development, opinions and suggestions on further deepening China's commercial arbitration reform were raised.

In the experts’ consideration, improvements can be made in theoretical and practical development of China’s arbitration. Researches on arbitration theory should be further enhanced because currently the theoretical studies of arbitration lack treatises with international influence to reflect the achievements of China’s arbitration development in a timely, effective and comprehensive manner. In the practice of arbitration, party autonomy should be valued in the arbitration services. Arbitration work should be more standardized and arbitration rules and institutional management system need to be made in accordance with China’s national condition as well as international arbitration trend. Arbitration informatization construction need to be strengthened by accepting online disputes on one hand and solving commercial disputes by applying internet technology on the other hand, especially applying big data analysis to arbitration informatization. It is necessary to promote the internationalization of arbitration, actively expand international arbitration business, and learn from other international arbitration experiences in light of Chinese practice. To keep abreast with latest development, it is also necessary to accelerate modernization construction, continue to advance successful experience of the combination of arbitration and mediation, and to strengthen modernization of arbitration theory, arbitration system, and arbitration rules.

Mr. Fei Zongyi expressed that it has been four decades since the reform and opening up, China’s arbitration has achieved rapid development, and the promulgation and implement of Arbitration Law has brought China’s arbitration into the stage of legalized development. However, some issues occurred during the rapid development. It is urgent to amend the Arbitration Law and promote reform, encouraging arbitration to play a greater role in the diversified dispute resolution mechanisms. Mr. Fei Zongyi put forward several specific thoughts and suggestions: Firstly, the amendment of Arbitration Law should adhere to the principles of arbitration by agreement, final and binding, independence and impartiality. It is necessary to clear the position of arbitration as a public beneficial legal service that utilizes social forces to settle commercial disputes, and to clarify arbitration institutions are non-governmental and independent of government intervention. Secondly, to facilitate adjustment of arbitration institutions and create favorable conditions for competent arbitration institutions to expand and grow stronger, so that they can play a more important role in China’s foreign trade. Third, arbitration institutions should focus on arbitrators, strengthen the training of arbitrators, raise the bar of becoming arbitrators, focus on the quality and integrity of arbitrators, enhance the qualification credentials system of arbitrators, and assist the arbitrators in order to ensure the quality of arbitral awards. Fourth, to vigorously publicize Chinese arbitration practices, enhance Chinese arbitration culture and confidence in experiences. In addition, experiences such as “combining arbitration with mediation” in dispute resolution could be promoted to the world. Western experiences could be absorbed based on our actual national conditions but not blindly and mechanically copied. Fifth, a more open attitude is needed to increase the competitive power in international arbitration, forcing China’s arbitration institutions to reform system and mechanism in order to boost competitiveness and promote healthy development of arbitration industry.

After hearing the views from the experts, Mr. Wang Chengjie concluded that the most important thing is to create legal environment in the new age. He hoped that under the support and joint efforts, the legal services of CIETAC will exert a more significant impact on reform and opening up in the future. CIETAC will focus on important issues, grasp key points, remain true to its mission and strive to achieve new breakthroughs in the reform and opening up from a new starting point, and to build a first-class international arbitration institution with strong competitiveness, making contributions to the furthering reform and opening up.