On June 25, The CISG@40 Celebration Conference was held in Beijing. The conference was jointly organized by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law(“UNCITRAL”), the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China (“MOFCOM”), China Council for the Promotion of International Trade(“CCPIT”) and China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”). Vice Chairman of CCPIT Lu Pengqi, and Director General of MOFCOM’s Department of Treaty and Law Li Yongjie attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Secretary of UNCITRAL Anna JOUBIN-BRET delivered a keynote speech via video. Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC Wang Chengjie, presided over the opening ceremony.

The conference was held both online and offline, and the online platform was broadcast to a global audience of more than 46,000 people from nearly 40 countries and regions.

(the scene of the conference’s opening ceremony)

(Vice Chairman Lu Pengqi gave a speech at the opening ceremony)

Vice Chairman Lu Pengqi pointed out that the CISG has gone through 40 years of ups and downs since its adoption in 1980, establishing a modern and fair contractual system for international sale of goods, providing important basis for the improvement of the international trade’s legal certainty and the reduction of transaction costs. Facing the challenges brought by the impact of the pandemic and the rising uncertainty and instability of the world economy, the Chinese arbitration community should work closely with UNCITRAL and colleagues around the world, to promote the use of the Convention and further research. We should stick to the requirements of the high-quality development of economic globalization and the Belt and Road Initiative, adhere to and strengthen the international cooperation, and establish a stable order for international economic development; We should accelerate the research and judgment of new legal issues, and add the new impetus to the development of international trade and dispute settlement; We should promote the wide use of the Convention and expand more space for international dispute settlement. Lu said that, standing on a new and higher starting point in history, we should enhance the new development of the Convention, firmly maintain the international system with the United Nations at its core, and accelerate the construction of a more stable and win-win international economic and trade order and governance system.

(Director General of MOFCOM’s Department of Treaty and Law Li Yongjie spoke at the opening ceremony)

Director General Li Yongjie said that, in the past 40 years, the Convention has been widely used in international trade practices and has provided useful guidance for the legislation and justice of various countries. China's accession to the Convention in the early stage of Reform and Opening up demonstrated China's desire to open to the outside world and integrate with the world. It also promoted the internationalization of China’s legal system and had a profound influence on China's legislation and judicial practice. The Convention has played a positive role in promoting the development of China's foreign trade., and China will continue to deepen cooperation with international organizations including UNCITRAL with an open and active attitude, making more contributions to the formulation and improvement of international economic and trade rules, and the development of economic globalization in a more open, inclusive and win-win direction.

（Secretary of UNCITRAL Anna JOUBIN-BRET gave a keynote speech）

Secretary Anna JOUBIN-BRET stated in her keynote speech that the Convention has played a great part in promoting the unification and coordination of trade laws and regulations, and has become one of the most successful unified legal documents in the world. China is one of the early signatories of the Convention, and the provisions of the Convention have been flexibly transformed into the domestic contract law and the latest civil code. CIETAC applied the Convention in cases and contributed to the application and improvement of the Convention. UNCITRAL hopes to show the advantages of the Convention to countries around the world, especially non-parties, and to further expand the scope of application of the Convention.

(Secretary General Wang Chengjie gave a special report)

During the conference, Secretary General Wang Chengjie gave a special report on the application of the Convention in Chinese arbitration. In the report, he fully affirmed the positive influence of the Convention in establishing a modern, unified and fair contractual system of international sale of goods, introduced in detail the close relationship between the Convention and China and Chinese arbitration, and summarized the rich experience of CIETAC in terms of the cases related to the Convention. He made a deep analysis of key issues such as, the application of the Convention, the validity and performance of a contract, electronic data, etc. CIETAC has long been actively involved in the reporting of the regulations and case law to UNCITRAL, and it is also the only arbitration institution of China that provides cases to the Convention database of Pace University, America. The Convention database shows that from 1988 to 2001, it included 224 cases related to the Convention concluded by CIETAC. From 2002 to 2020, there were 553 awards related to the Convention in the CIETAC database.

He said that, CIETAC will also strengthen the training of arbitrators, study and analyze new legal issues, and improve the capacity to apply the Convention and hear the cases; It will explore the system of publicizing and sharing the precedents related to the Convention, through the construction of digital library and other methods, and make full use of the advantageous platform of the “Beijing Joint Declaration of the ‘Belt and Road’ Arbitration Institutions”，promoting the universal application of the Convention.

(the Chinses and English versions of “The Application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods in Chinese Arbitration”)

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the adoption of the Convention, CIETAC published the Chinese and English versions of “The Application of the Convention in Chinese Arbitration” and officially launched it at the conference.

During the conference, representatives from international organizations and the Belt and Road countries, well-known legal scholars and experts on dispute settlement at home and abroad focused on four topics, including “Experience and Challenges of Application of CISG in China” “CISG—Right Solution for B&R Trade Disputes” “E-CISG” and “Dispute Settlement Regarding Sales of Goods”, sharing the latest practical results of the Convention in the dispute settlement of the international sales of goods.

[Speakers of Session 1 "Experience and Challenges of Application of CISG in China ", from top to bottom, and from left to right: Law Professor at China Foreign Affairs University and Senior arbitrator Lu Song, Judge from the Supreme People’s Court of China Wang Haifeng, Member of the CISG Advisory Council, Law Professor at Tsinghua University and Senior arbitrator Han Shiyuan, Former General Counsel of China General, Consulting & Investment Co., Ltd. and Senior arbitrator Huang Rui, Partner of AnJie Law Firm and Senior arbitrator Dong Xiao, Executive Chairman of ICC China Commercial Law and Practice Commission, Law Professor at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) and Senior arbitrator Gao Xiang]

The speakers introduced the application of the Convention by Chinese courts, their research and thinking on the Convention, the application of the Convention in the contracts of Chinese companies’ projects, their experience in handling cases involving the Convention, suggestions to Chinese users, Incoterms ® and its application under the Convention. They approved the active role of the Convention in the international trading system, summarized the application and interpretation of the Convention, and made suggestions for improving the Convention.

[Speakers of Session 2  “CISG—Right Solution for B&R Trade Disputes” From top to bottom, and from left to right: Director of China-EU Economic Consultant Committee, Member of Board of Adviser of International Development Law Organization, Former Director General of the Department of European Affairs of MOFCOM and Senior arbitrator Zhou Xiaoyan, Sri Lankan Ambassador to China Palitha KOHONA, Chief of ADR and General Counsel of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) Christian ALBERTI, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong Lutz-Christian WOLFF, Senior full-time arbitrator and Member of the International Commercial Expert Commission of the Supreme People’s Court of China Philip YANG, Associate Professor of Law at University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) and Senior arbitrator Liu Tong]

In the context of the Belt and Road Initiative, the establishment of a dispute-settlement mechanism has become the focus of attention of many parties. The speakers on this topic combined the advantages of the Convention’s application to international trade disputes in the countries along the Belt and Road, affirmed the role of the Convention in settling trade disputes in the Belt and Road Initiative, and discussed the risks and countermeasures of excluding the provisions of the Convention, providing solutions for the establishment of the mechanism for settling the trade disputes in the BRI.

[Speakers of Session 3 “E-CISG” From top to bottom, and from left to right: Founding Partner of Beijng Huanzhong&Partners and Senior arbitrator WANG Xuehua, Legal Officer in the Secretariat of the UNCITRAL Luca CASTELLANI, Former Chair of the UNCITRAL Working Group on Electronic Commerce and Vice President of the UK-based Forum on International Conciliation and Arbitration (FICA) Jeffrey Chan, Director of Beijing Normal University Internet Policy and Law Research Center and Senior arbitrator Xue Hong, Vice President and General Counsel of China Merchants Energy Shipping Co., Ltd. and Chairman of Advisory Body of Legal Affairs (ABLM) of International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and Senior arbitrator Yang yuntao, Legal and Policy Expert at Tencent and Researcher at Wuhan University Center of Economic Diplomacy Wang Youyou]

The speakers at the conference focused on the application of the Convention in the digital economy era, and discussed the unified framework of e-commerce contract law provided by UNCITRAL, the role of intellectual property in digital trade, the constraints and development trends faced by electronic bills of lading, and the impact on the development of the Convention in the digital era. They pointed out that the Convention should conform to the trend of the times and promptly respond to the new needs of digital development, and then they put forward ideas for the improvement the Convention in the digital era.

[Speakers of Session 4 “Dispute Settlement Regarding Sales of Goods” From top to bottom, and from left to right: Partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm and Senior arbitrator Cao Lijun, International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court and Former Judge of the Hong Kong High Court and Senior arbitrator Anselmo REYES, Regional Representative CEDR Asia Pacific and World Bank Group Regional Mediator and Trainer Asia Mr. Danny MCFADDEN, Senior Partner at Peter and Kim in Seoul and Advisory Board Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and Senior arbitrator Kevin KIM, General Counsel of Aluminum Corporation of China and CIETAC arbitrator HU Zhenjie, Senior Partner of Dentons China and CIETAC arbitrator LI Tao]

The speakers, from different perspectives, elaborated on the innovative practices of the Singapore International Commercial Court, the mediation experience of the UK's Effective Dispute Resolution Center, the trade dispute settlement mechanism between North Korea and South Korea, the characteristics of the goods trade dispute resolution mechanism and its resolution methods, and the thinking about dispute settlement in the post-epidemic era. They discussed the latest development of dispute settlement mechanisms for trade in goods, and looked forward to the development of the mechanisms under the epidemic.

The conference achieved fruitful results in a warm and lively atmosphere. Participants highly praised the achievements of the Convention in unifying international trade laws and reducing international trade costs over the past 40 years, and put forward constructive suggestions for the further improvement of the Convention. Experts at the conference generally believed that the scope of the application of the Convention should be further expanded worldwide, which will promote the improvement of the global multilateral trading system and contribute to the recovery of the world economy in the post-epidemic era.

(Vice President of the CIETAC Arbitration Court Xie Changqing gave a closing speech)

Vice President of the CIETAC Arbitration Court Xie Changqing, delivered a speech at the closing ceremony, stating that the Convention provides a solid guarantee for the rapid development of international trade. Faced with the complex international trade pattern, the work of strengthening the construction of the international legal environment is urgent and will not wait for us. CIETAC is willing to deepen cooperation with international and domestic institutions to jointly promote the development of international dispute settlement and contribute to the prosperity and stability of the world economy.

This 40th anniversary event is to summarize the successful experience of the Convention in China, show the rich experience of international arbitration institutions represented by CIETAC in applying the Convention, and provide important references for the unified interpretation and application of the Convention. In addition, it will further expand the scope of application of the Convention, maintain a stable, fair, transparent, and predictable global multilateral trading system, and build a human community with a shared future.

CISG was formulated by UNCITRAL and passed at the diplomatic conference held in Vienna in 1980. Since its adoption, the Convention has played an important part in establishing universal economic and trade laws and regulations, promoting legislative reforms in contracting states, maintaining a global governance system with the United Nations at its core, and promoting the process of economic globalization. As one of the early signatories, China submitted its ratification for the official accession in the CISG to the Secretary-General of the United Nations in 1986. The Convention has entered into force in China since 1988 and has had a profound influence on the development of China's market economy and contract law.