On the morning of December 18, the 2021 IPBA International Forum on the Rule of Law in the Capital Market (“Forum”) was held in Shanghai. The Forum was hosted by the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), the first Asian-based major international lawyer association, and organized by the East China University of Political Science and Law. This Forum focuses on the theme of “New Opportunities for International Cooperation of the Rule of Law in the Capital Market”. Nearly 100 well-known legal experts, financial experts, arbitration experts and lawyers from China, Japan, Italy and other countries and regions participated in the Forum. They shared wisdom, conveyed friendship and worked together.

Li Zhiqiang, President of IPRA, presided over the opening ceremony of the Forum. Li Fei, Chairman of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National People's Congress, Chen Jing, Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress and President of the Shanghai People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, Ye Qing, President of the East China University of Political Science and Law, and Ding Wei, Director of the Shanghai Institute of Legislative Studies, attended the Forum. 

At the invitation of the Forum, Secretary General Wang Chengjie delivered a keynote speech online on the title of “Grasping the New Opportunities of International Cooperation of the Rule of Law in the Capital Market and Building a New highland of Capital Market Dispute Resolution”. He stressed that China's capital market shall be market-oriented, law-based and internationalized. It also needs to strengthen the deepening of reform and opening-up, implement the new development philosophy and build up a new development pattern. The rule of law is the foundation of the security of the capital market. Only by international legal cooperation can we ensure the safe and stable operation of the international capital market. In the context of economic globalization and regional integration, the capital markets of various countries and regions have become a dependent and inseparable whole. In the post-epidemic era, the rule of law in the capital market must rely on international cooperation. The Belt & Road Initiative also requires comprehensive international cooperation of the rule of law in the capital market. In this critical period, how to build a high-level and international capital market dispute resolution mechanism is worth pondering.

Secretary General Wang Chengjie pointed out that arbitration has the natural connection with the rule of law in the capital market. The recent case data of CIETAC shows that the disputes related to the capital market have the typical characteristics of high professionalism, wide-ranging involvement, large dispute amount and strong influence. The fundamental nature of arbitration such as professionalism, efficiency and independence, as well as the value orientation of respecting party’s autonomy and market logic, has natural and unique advantages in solving the diversified and complex disputes of the capital market, and promoting the law-based operation of the capital market. The promulgation of CIETAC Arbitration Rules and CIETAC Financial Disputes Arbitration Rules, which are internationally advanced, will help to expand the diversified service areas such as innovative mediation, investment arbitration and so on. CIETAC also endeavors to construct a professional, international and diversified arbitrator team, conduct extensive cooperation in related fields, and improve the professional level of capital market arbitration services. CIETAC devotes itself to providing high-quality international arbitration services for the capital market and establishing a new highland of high-level capital market arbitration services.

In May this year, CIETAC Shanghai International Arbitration Center for  Securities/Futures and Financial Disputes was established, becoming China's first capital market arbitration center. This major step aims to maintain the order of the securities and futures market, strengthen the legal environment of the capital market, and promote the healthy development of the financial market. In the future, CIETAC will continue to play the leading role in the industry and deepen the cooperation mechanism with industrial associations such as Securities Association of China (SAC), China Futures Association (CFA), Asset Management Association of China (AMAC) and China Association for Public Companies (CAPCO). CIETAC will also dedicate to play a key positive role in improving the internationalization and professionalism of the capital market dispute resolution services.