On the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the establishment of CIETAC, Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of CIETAC, accepted an exclusive interview at the invitation of "China’s Arbitration Restart" Series in the weekly "Democracy and Legal System". The article was titled "Development of China’s Arbitration: From the Perspective of the First Arbitration Institution in China", and reviewed the 65-year development history of CIETAC. As the earliest arbitration institution in China, CIETAC shoulders the historical responsibility to stand up to the forefront. Facing major changes in today’s world unseen in a century, CIETAC will uphold the idea of advancing with the times, unite the great power of forging ahead, and take a long-term view of the development trend.
Source: Democracy and Legal System Weekly, Issue 46, 2021
Editor's note
As an ancient dispute resolution mechanism, arbitration came into being earlier than litigation. The evolution and development of arbitration has a very long history. There are many manifestations and records of arbitration in the ancient myths and stories of the West and the ancient legal system of China. Stars are shifted in battles, and worlds are shifted in time. This time-honored dispute resolution mechanism has become more vigorous and shining after being endowed with modern significance, and it plays an important and irreplaceable role.
In China, though the arbitration system in the modern sense has a history of one hundred years, the arbitration system, has not developed sufficiently due to the special historical environment. It was not until the promulgation of the Arbitration Law in 1994 that the arbitration system in China had developed in an all-round way. Today, 26 years have passed since the implementation of the current Arbitration Law. China's arbitration system has undergone leapfrog development, and the achievements are obvious to all. Arbitration can be called a "sunrise career" with broad prospects and great potential. However, we must face up to the fact that this law has been unable to meet the needs of practice, and there have been some problems that are not suitable for the development of the times. In this sense, the amendment of the Arbitration Law is imminent. In July 2021, the long-awaited draft for the amendment of the Arbitration Law was finally published, which arose immediate discussions in arbitration theory and practice community.
At an essential time in the development of China’s arbitration, "Democracy and Legal System" published a series of reports, starting from approaching the development of arbitration in China, to exploring China’s arbitration system from different perspectives such as courts and arbitration institutions. This journal also invited well-known experts and scholars to provide suggestions on the amendment of the Arbitration Law to facilitate an earlier completion of amendment.
It is worth noting that the draft for this consultation has not yet entered the deliberation process of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. This journal will continue to pay attention to the subsequent progress.
China’s Arbitration Restart Series 3
Development of China’s Arbitration: From the Perspective of the First Arbitration Institution in China
As a major trading country, China has become one of the countries that has used arbitration to resolve civil and commercial disputes the most. Since the implementation of the Arbitration Law in 1995, China has founded over 270 arbitration institutions, and accepted more than 4 million arbitration cases in total, with the dispute amount involved exceeding RMB 5 trillion yuan.
Speaking of this, one institution must be mentioned——China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as "CIETAC"). As both the first arbitration institution founded in China and one of the most important international commercial arbitration institutions in the world, CIETAC has gone through 65 years, witnessing and promoting the development of China's arbitration legal system.
To Blaze a New Trail – The Founding of China’s First Arbitration Institution
To some extent, the development process of CIETAC is the most important epitome of the development of China's arbitration legal system. "CIETAC was originated from a transaction, founded by a decision, and flourished through a set of rules." In an interview with our reporter, Wang Chengjie summed up straightforwardly.
"One Transaction"
From July to November 1953, the China National Animal Products Company and the British Oilseeds Company negotiated a 29-ton sheep wool transaction by telegram. After the transaction was concluded, the British company sent a written Letter of Confirmation to the Chinese company for review and signature. The Confirmation Letter stipulated that if any dispute arose out of the transaction, it would be arbitrated before a British association. The Chinese party was upset about the arbitration in the British. However, they could not provide an alternative solution due to the lack of a specialized international arbitration institution in China. The situation was uneasy at that time.
In those days, the dilemma faced by the Chinese company was quite representative in China's foreign trade. "Before the founding of PRC, there was no such independent institution in China to administer international commercial arbitration cases. For disputes arising from international commercial transactions, Chinese parties can only submit to foreign arbitration institutions for arbitration." Wang Chengjie said, "In order to adapt to the needs of the development of foreign trade, the State Council decided to establish a specialized arbitration institution."
"One Decision"
On May 6, 1954, the 215th session of the Government Administration Council passed the "Decision Concerning the Establishment of a Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission Within the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade." According to this decision, CIETAC (formerly known as the "Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission" and later renamed as the "Foreign Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission", collectively referred to as "CIETAC") was formally established in 1956.
Since then, for the first time in the history of China, an independent and impartial arbitration institution for resolving international commercial disputes has appeared, starting the course of practical exploration in China's foreign-related arbitration.
"One Set of Rules"
According to the decision of the State Council, the "Provisional Arbitration Rules for Arbitration Procedures of the Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission" (hereinafter referred to as "the 1956 Rules") was promulgated and implemented in 1956. This is China's first set of foreign-related arbitration rules.
The 1956 Rules stipulated that CIETAC accepted foreign trade disputes on the basis of arbitration agreement, and established the principles of party autonomy, non-governmental arbitration, expert adjudication, and finality. These rules also provided that the committee members may serve as arbitrators, and allowed the parties to freely appoint Chinese or foreign persons to act as their arbitration agents. As such, the 1956 Rules established a Chinese foreign-related arbitration system that conformed to the internationally accepted arbitration practices.
These provisions reflected CIETAC's absorption and reference to the prevailing international commercial arbitration principles and practices at the time, filled the gaps in China’s foreign-related commercial dispute resolution system, and contributed to China’s breakthrough against the Western economic blockade under the special background of the times. From a long-term perspective, the framework and principles for the foreign-related arbitration system set up in the 1956 Rules have also laid a solid foundation for China's arbitration legislation and the long-term development of arbitration.
From Founding Period to Rapid Development.
During the first 10 years following its establishment, CIETAC has gone through a developing process of "crossing the river by feeling the stones". At that time, due to the underdevelopment of China’s foreign trade, the outside world did not know much about CIETAC. So there were not many cases that were officially settled by arbitration. A large number of disputes were resolved by negotiations between the parties with CIETAC acting as a mediator.
In the 1980s, with the spring breeze of reform and opening-up policy blowing across the vast land of the motherland, trade between China and other countries has flourished, which greatly promoted the development of China's arbitration. In order to meet the needs of opening up to the outside world and the continuous development of foreign economic and trade relations, the State Council made a decision in February 1980 to expand CIETAC’s scope of cognizance. As a result, CIETAC could accept cases relating to joint ventures, foreign investment to build factories in China, and credits and loans between Chinese and foreign banks. Since then, CIETAC has developed rapidly, with significant breakthroughs and improvements in the scope of cases, the number of cases, and the complexity of the cases. In particular, the number of CIETAC’s accepted cases has leaped to the top among commercial arbitration institutions in the world.
During this period, as the only arbitration institution in China that specializes in handling foreign-related commercial disputes, CIETAC played a huge role in resolving economic, trade and investment disputes between Chinese mainland enterprises and enterprises from other countries and regions. It has made important contributions to China’s reform and opening up and economic prosperity.
In 1986, China's arbitration cause ushered in another important historical node. In order to comply with the requirements of reform and opening up and economic development, China formally accessed the "Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards" (hereinafter referred to as the "New York Convention"). Since then, China’s arbitration awards can be recognized and enforced in more than 100 member states in the world.
Based on the practical needs of foreign-related arbitration, CIETAC actively called for China’s accession to the New York Convention. Moreover, CIETAC organized research, compiled professional materials, and publicized the importance of the New York Convention in settling international commercial disputes. Overall, CIETAC has done a lot of work to promote China to join the New York Convention. After China acceded the New York Convention, CIETAC actively promoted the domestic implementation and enforcement of the Convention, and sought strong judicial support for arbitration at all levels, which vigorously facilitated the smooth enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in China in accordance with the New York Convention.
CIETAC benefits from China’s reforming and development, and it also acts a practitioner and pioneer in the construction of the rule of law in China. As the earliest arbitration institution in China, CIETAC has contributed numerous rules exploration and practical experience for the formulation of China's Arbitration Law, and has also drawn a picture of the rule of law for the development of foreign-related arbitration.
To Pursue Innovation on the Basis of Tradition – The Innovative Amendments of CIETAC Arbitration Rules
CIETAC promulgated its first arbitration rules in 1956. After eight times of amendments, the current 2015 Rules are the ninth version. Each time when amending the rules, CIETAC focuses on the overall situation of the country's social and economic development and closely follows the development trend of international trade and investment. It also focuses on the frontier issues of international dispute resolution, and aims to better serve the diversified dispute resolution needs of Chinese and foreign parties. As Wang Chengjie said, from the amendment of the rules, we can see the trajectory of CIETAC's innovation and development.
After the implementation of the first set of rules, with the continuous deepening of China's reform and opening up and the rapid development of China’s foreign economic and trade undertakings, CIETAC has enlarged the scope of accepting cases, enriched its experience in handling international disputes, and further improved its reputation. However, the arbitration rules that had been in force for more than 30 years were far from meeting the needs of the developing situation at that time. In June 1988, the State Council authorized CIETAC to amend the 1956 Rules.
"Since the beginning of 1987, CIETAC has collected, compared, and studied the laws of various countries and the rules of other arbitration institutions in the world. Combined with the actual situation in China, CIETAC has made substantial and detailed amendments to the first version of arbitration rules." Wang Chengjie introduced. The 1988 Rules reflected the innovative practices of CIETAC in many ways. For example, the scope of cases was expanded to cover all international economic and trade disputes; the panel of arbitrators was formally established; Hong Kong, Macao and foreign arbitrators were listed in the panel for the first time; the arbitrator challenge mechanism was established; and the tribunal may mediate the dispute during the arbitral proceedings. These rules are more in line with China's opening-up policy and international commercial arbitration practices, reflect the further opening up of China's foreign-related arbitration, benefit to the development of foreign economic and trade business, and help to further encourage foreign businessmen to invest and operate in China.
The time came to 1994. In this year, China's first separate arbitration law, the "Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China" came into force. This is an important event in the history of China's arbitration, and it marks that China’s arbitration has entered into a new historical stage of rapid development. The Arbitration Law is an important law with Chinese characteristics and in line with international practices. It not only drew on the long-term successful experience of foreign-related arbitration accumulated by Chinese arbitration institutions as represented by CIETAC, but also made reference on the advanced concepts of the UNCITRAL Model Law.
Wang Chengjie recalled that, at that time, a working group of the Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress visited CIETAC for research. CIETAC provided a full set of arbitration laws of various countries to the Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. CIETAC also put forward opinions and suggestions on the important principles in the arbitration law, and held seminars on arbitration legislation. In this sense, CIETAC has done a lot of work to promote China’s arbitration legislation.
Since then, CIETAC has amended the arbitration rules for several times with constant innovation and creation, paving a broad path for China's international commercial arbitration. For example, the 1994 Rules stipulated for the first time the arbitrator disclosure system and summary procedure. It also clarified the principle of independence of arbitration agreements. In particular, it stipulates that, for cases applying the summary procedure, a sole-arbitrator tribunal will hear the case in principle; the arbitral tribunal may examine the case based on documents only or hold the hearing for only one time; and the defense period and the time limit for the award are shortened, etc. Those provisions aim to support the arbitral tribunal to examine less-disputed cases with small amount in dispute more efficiently. Over the years, this system has worked effectively. It has been continuously improved and developed, and has gradually been accepted by the Western arbitration community. It can be said that the "Expedited Arbitration Rules" recently adopted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (hereinafter referred to as the "United Nations Trade Law Commission") is the "international version" of CIETAC’s summary procedure.
The 1995 Rules have been amended in accordance with the provisions of the Arbitration Law. According to this version of rules, CIETAC began to accept domestic securities disputes, and for the first time CIETAC established the award scrutiny mechanism. The 1998 Rules further expanded the scope of cases to cover disputes involving foreign-investment enterprises and various disputes arising from the use of foreign capital.
The 2000 Rules came into being under the new situation and development. On the one hand, since 1998, large-scale arbitration promotion activities have been actively carried out across the country. Parties in foreign trade, insurance, finance and other industries have increasingly used arbitration to resolve disputes, and their demand for arbitration services has increased. On the other hand, with the acceleration of China's accession to the World Trade Organization and the opening up of the legal service market, China's arbitration institutions must adjust themselves in order to be fully prepared. Therefore, the main modification of the 2000 Rules is to extend the scope of cases to "other domestic disputes agreed by the parties to be arbitrated by CIETAC" and to add a new chapter of "Special Provisions for Domestic Arbitration".
The 2005 Rules stipulated for the first time that the arbitral tribunal may be authorized to make jurisdictional decisions; the parties may agree to select arbitrators outside the panel of arbitrators; the arbitral tribunal may hear cases in an inquisitorial or adversarial manner; and the time limit for making an award was greatly shortened.
The 2012 Rules stipulated for the first time that the arbitral tribunal may determine the language of arbitration and the place of arbitration according to the specific circumstances of the case. The parties can agree on the method of exchange of arbitration documents. These rules also provided for consolidation of arbitrations, and stipulated that the arbitral tribunal may make interim measures where permitted by applicable laws. It also clarified that CIETAC shall designate a case manager to assist the tribunal in the procedural administration of the case. Those provisions confirmed CIETAC’s long-term practical experience and the characteristics of institutional arbitration in the arbitration rules.
The current 2015 Rules are praised by the arbitration community as modern and international. These rules provide for joinder of additional parties, multiple contracts arbitration, and further improve regulations regarding the consolidation of arbitrations. The summary procedures are applicable to cases where the amount in dispute exceeds RMB 5 million. The rules also add special provisions for Hong Kong Arbitration and procedures for emergency arbitrators. These provisions, introduced by CIETAC in China for the first time, conform to the development of international commercial arbitration, draw from the common practice of international arbitration, and fully embody the innovation, advancement, internationalization and modernization of CIETAC arbitration rules.
It is worth mentioning that at the beginning of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, CIETAC took the lead in issuing the "Guidelines on Proceeding with Arbitration Actively and Properly during the COVID-19 Pandemic" and in creating a smart, digital and modern Intelligent Hearing Platform. By doing this, CIETAC encouraged the parties to file cases online, promoted the use of virtual hearings by the arbitral tribunals and the parties, and vigorously advocated electronic service of documents. As a result, the difficulty of filing cases and holding hearings during the pandemic have been promptly alleviated. These rapid and innovative measures taken by CIETAC are pioneering in the arbitration community both at home and abroad.
Who knows changing tend to win, who keep integrity tend to make progress. CIETAC has always been oriented to better serve the parties’ needs and keep improving the quality of it's rules. The strength of pioneering and creativity are the core competitiveness of CIETAC, and also the reason why CIETAC has taken root in international arbitration community.
Chinese Wisdom – The Oriental Experience of Arbitration-Mediation
A distinctive feature of CIETAC arbitration practice is the combination of arbitration and mediation. This system was initially created by CIETAC and later absorbed by China’s Arbitration Law. Such practice, being referred to as "Oriental Experience", has also been increasingly recognized by the international arbitration community.
Wang believes that mediation emphasizes the principle of voluntariness of the parties and promotes the spirit of "harmony is valuable", thereby providing commercial entities with a dispute resolution method that is lower-cost, weaker-confrontation, flexible and conducive to repairing relationships. Therefore, the combination of arbitration and mediation will make dispute resolution more efficient, economical and friendly, and help the parties continue to maintain cooperative relationship after reaching settlement agreement for mutual benefit and win-win results.
However, for a long time in the past, Western arbitration culture has had certain doubts about the combination of arbitration and mediation. There is a view that the coexistence of the roles of arbitrator and mediator will bring the problem of “changing hat” and affect the fairness of arbitration procedures.
Nowadays, with the continuous development of international trade and investment, the number of international commercial disputes have increased significantly. Convenient and efficient resolution of disputes has become a common demand of global commercial entities. The combination of arbitration and mediation, reflecting Chinese wisdom and Chinese experience, has been increasingly welcomed and accepted by foreign parties and arbitrators. For example, the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation ("Singapore Convention") has been reviewed and adopted in 2018. The Singapore Convention takes mediation as an important part of dispute resolution, reflecting the trend of diversified settlement of international commercial disputes. In 2019, 46 countries, including China, signed the Singapore Convention. It is foreseeable that the international commercial mediation mechanism will usher in greater development in the future.
From heavily questioned to widely recognized, the combination of arbitration and mediation explored by CIETAC is full of cultural genes with Chinese characteristics and rooted in the profound and broad Chinese civilization. It represents important institutional contributions made by China to international dispute resolution and has become a highlight of China's modern civil and commercial dispute resolution system.
Recalling the establishment and development of the combination of arbitration and mediation, Wang Chengjie told reporters that in the first decade since the establishment of CIETAC, mediation has been the main method of CIETAC to resolve disputes.
In the 1970s, CIETAC further strengthened exchanges and cooperation with foreign arbitration institutions. It not only improved its international status, but also developed practice for resolving disputes. For example, the joint mediation mechanism established by CIETAC and the American Arbitration Association (AAA) is a pioneering work in the history of arbitration. The main approach is that, if disputes arise between Chinese party and American party and cannot be resolved through friendly negotiation, the Chinese company and American company may respectively request CIETAC and AAA to contact with each other. Then the two arbitration institutions will each appoint an equal number of mediators to resolve disputes. If the mediation fails, the parties to the dispute can still refer to arbitration in accordance with the arbitration clause contained in the contract.
In 1977, CIETAC and AAA jointly mediated a fee dispute between the China Textile Import and Export Corporation and the U.S. Palance Cotton Cooperative in a cotton transaction, making the complex dispute which amounted as high as 2.4 million US dollars resolved successfully. After the case was resolved, Mr. David Ding, Director of the US Liaison Office in China, held a cocktail party for this and said with satisfaction: "I am very happy that the dispute was resolved in this way."
Following the development footprint of CIETAC, it can be clearly seen that the mechanism of combining arbitration and mediation has been established in an early stage in CIETAC arbitration rules, and has been continuously improved and developed in practice. The provisions regarding the "combination of arbitration and mediation" first appeared in the 1988 Rules. The short provisions laid theoretical and practical basis for the combination of arbitration and mediation in China. The relevant provisions were retained in the subsequent versions of rules, and they have been standardized, enriched and improved on the basis of evolving experience. It highlights the distinctive features of CIETAC's diversified dispute resolution.
Specifically, the parties may choose three methods of combining arbitration and mediation to deal with disputes. First, if a settlement agreement is reached through negotiation or mediation before the start of the arbitration proceedings, the parties may request CIETAC to form an arbitral tribunal and make an award in accordance with the content of the agreement. Second, during the arbitration proceedings, if both parties have the intent to mediate, the arbitral tribunal may conduct mediation and make an arbitral award or a conciliation statement based on the content of parties’ agreement. Third, during the arbitration proceedings, the parties can also negotiate by themselves and request the arbitral tribunal to make an award or a conciliation statement based on the content of the agreement.
Standing at a new historical point, CIETAC does not stand still. In order to continuously meet the diversified dispute resolution needs of the parties, CIETAC established its Mediation Center in May 2018 and issued the Mediation Rules in the same year. In the eyes of many arbitration practitioners, this is a major move taken by CIETAC to promote the construction of one-stop commercial dispute resolution mechanism to resolve social conflicts, enhance social harmony, and build modern law-based business environment. It is believed that this will add a brighter color to the "Oriental Experience".
New Chapter – To Bravely Undertake the Mission of the Era
Providing Assistance to Arbitration Law Amendments
The Arbitration Law implemented in 1995 is a milestone in the history of the development of China’s arbitration system. It laid the foundation for the arbitration legal system in socialist market economy with Chinese characteristics, and promoted the development of China’s arbitration cause to achieve world-renowned achievements.
Nowadays, with the development and changes of the social economy around the world and the continuous innovation of arbitration practice, the Arbitration Law, which has been implemented for 26 years, has once again ushered in major amendments.
CIETAC has always been paying close attention to the development of arbitration in China. It contributes practical experience in commercial arbitration, and actively provides advice and suggestions. CIETAC attaches great importance to the amendment of the Arbitration Law. The reporter learned that in the process of seeking opinions within the Ministry of Justice at the early stage and later soliciting opinions publicly, CIETAC actively gave full play to its professional advantages, listened to opinions extensively, organized many discussions and exchanges with industry experts and relevant persons, and submitted more than 100 pieces of advice in three times. These opinions and suggestions reflect CIETAC's unremitting efforts to promote the development of China’s arbitration in the direction of marketization and internationalization.
Injecting Vitality into Theoretical Research
Arbitration research has a strong guiding significance for the development of practice. It is also an important manifestation of the cutting-edge and advanced nature of an arbitration institution.
It is learnt that since 2015, CIETAC issues the Annual Report on International Commercial Arbitration in China each year, providing experience and materials for promoting the development of China's international commercial arbitration. Since 2016, CIETAC organized research team to conduct research on arbitration systems of 37 countries, and published a six-volume series of "Research on International Commercial Arbitration Systems in Countries Along the Belt & Road". This series provides guidance and suggestions for preventing legal risks and effectively resolving disputes when Chinese companies conduct commercial activities in B&R countries and receives positive responses.
At the same time, on the premise of strictly keeping relevant information confidential, CIETAC selected a large number of cases in some hot fields. By systematic analysis and summary, CIETAC carefully selected classic cases and organized them into books. For example, the Belt & Road Arbitration Case Selection provides theoretical and practical references for the Belt & Road and international trade and investment dispute resolution. The Equity Transfer Arbitration Case Selection reminds the equity transfer market entities to pay attention to risk prevention.
It is worth noting that the latest book "The Application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods" in Chinese Arbitration publicized by CIETAC this year was included in the UNCTAD Library. It selected 109 typical CIETAC cases applying CISG. After processing confidential information, the book analyzes and studies the application and interpretation of CISG in CIETAC practice. It can be said that, this is another contribution to international arbitration theory made by CIETAC and reflects the Chinese wisdom.
In addition, CIETAC has also carried out research on cutting-edge topics such as third-party funding in arbitration, including the “Guidelines for Third-Party Funding in Arbitration” issued by CIETAC Hong Kong Arbitration Center. CIETAC also publishes Chinese and English versions of "Foreign-related Arbitration Yearbook", "Arbitration and Law" and other publications. CIETAC participates in key research projects of the National Social Science Fund, participated in the compilation of college legal textbooks, and provided rich theoretical source for the promotion of arbitration practice.
Making Efforts for Diversified Dispute Resolution
Insisting on putting the alternative dispute resolution mechanism to the front, CIETAC has constructed and formed a new pattern of diversified dispute resolution services in which commercial arbitration, investment arbitration, and commercial mediation go hand in hand.
In 2018, the Supreme People’s Court established the China International Commercial Court (CICC) and the International Commercial Expert Committee to build a “one-stop” international commercial dispute resolution platform that integrated mediation, arbitration and litigation. CIETAC became the first arbitration institutions to enter the CICC “one-stop” diversified dispute resolution mechanism, and participated in many tasks such as the selection of the International Commercial Expert Committee members and other work relating to the construction of “one-stop” platform.
In addition to the commercial mediation mentioned above, CIETAC has also created a comprehensive service map for diversified dispute resolution. In 2003, CIETAC formulated the Financial Disputes Arbitration Rules to provide parties with more professional, economical and rapid financial dispute resolution services. In 2000, CIETAC established the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center to resolve .CN/中国 domain name disputes under the authorization of the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC). CIETAC also acts as the Beijing Office of the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center, and resolves disputes involving generic top-level domains (gTLDs) such as .com, .org, .net, etc. as well as new gTLDs.
In 2005, the Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center started to concurrently use the "Online Dispute Resolution Center". In the same year, CIETAC released its Online Arbitration Rules, setting a precedent for online dispute resolution in China.
In 2017, CIETAC promulgated China's first International Investment Arbitration Rules to provide arbitration services for international investment disputes between investors and host states, filling the gap in this field in China. In 2012 and 2017 respectively, as the only mainland arbitration institution to resolve investment disputes by the Cross-Strait Investment Protection and Promotion Agreement, and by the Investment Agreements under the Mainland/Hong Kong, Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangements, CIETAC is authorized to resolve investment disputes between Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau investors and the mainland through mediation.
In 2010, CIETAC publicized the "Construction Project Disputes Review Rules" to facilitate the parties to prevent, reduce and promptly resolve construction project disputes by means of dispute review. In 2017, CIETAC promulgated and implemented the CIETAC Hong Kong Arbitration Center Rules as Appointing Authority in Ad Hoc Arbitrations, which provides services for non-institutional arbitration procedures and pioneers the practice of ad hoc arbitration.
Enhancing the Belt & Road Initiative
High-quality co-construction of the Belt & Road Initiative is inseparable from the guarantee of the rule of law and needs open and shared legal cooperation mechanism.
In 2019, CIETAC held the Roundtable Forum of Belt & Road Arbitration Institutions and the Roundtable for Leaders of Belt & Road Arbitration Institutions (Private Session) in Beijing. Besides, CIETAC initiated and announced the Beijing Joint Declaration of the Belt & Road Arbitration Institutions with nearly 30 international arbitration institutions and 13 domestic arbitration institutions and proposed an initiative to jointly build a closer cooperation mechanism for the Belt & Road arbitration institutions, which received high evaluation.
This year, CIETAC successfully held the 2nd Roundtable Forum of Belt & Road Arbitration Institutions and launched the Cooperation Mechanism of the Beijing Joint Declaration of the Belt & Road Arbitration Institutions, which was signed by 32 foreign arbitration institutions and organizations and 15 domestic arbitration institutions. It further deepens the institutionalized cooperation among Belt & Road international arbitrations, marking that arbitration services have entered a new stage in the co-construction of the Belt & Road Initiative.
"Facing the future, the joint construction of the Belt & Road will surely continue to bring greater development opportunities for international arbitration." Wang said, “CIETAC will play a greater role and make more contributions in promoting the Belt & Road arbitration communication and cooperation.”
Increasing Cohesion of International Exchanges
To build an international arbitration brand has been the unique advantage and development direction of CIETAC. To this end, CIETAC vigorously builds international exchange and cooperation platforms, actively participates in international arbitration governance and rule-making, continuously expands the "friend circle" of international arbitration exchanges and cooperation, and strives to enhance the international influences and status of China’s arbitration, all of which vividly showing CIETAC’s international vision and world mind.
Stating China’s stories well. Over the years, CIETAC has created China Arbitration Week, China Arbitration Summit, CIETAC Global Arbitrators Forum, "CIETAC Cup" International Commercial Arbitration Moot, "CIETAC Cup" International Investment Arbitration Moot, International Investment Arbitration Forum and a number of influential and well-known brand events. By holding these events, CIETAC has built an international stage for exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and foreign arbitration and legal circles, and has opened an important window for publicizing the achievements of China's arbitration legal system, which have received high attention and praise at home and abroad.
Making the voice of China heard. In order to facilitate international trade and investment and promote the gradual harmonization of international trade laws, the United Nations Commission on Trade Law convenes regular meetings to discuss and draft relevant legal texts. As an observer since 2009, CIETAC has attended meetings of the UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration and Mediation/Dispute Resolution, Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform, Electronic Commerce, etc.
This year, Wang Chengjie was appointed as the Chairman of the Asian Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center. By deeply involved in dispute resolution affairs of international organizations, CIETAC has continuously enhanced China's international influences and amplified China’s voices in related fields.
Carrying out international exchanges and cooperation well. CIETAC actively maintains good relationships with international arbitration institutions and the arbitration community of various countries. Through exchanging visits, cooperating to hold professional conferences and signing friendly cooperation agreements, CIETAC continuously increases consensus with others, strengthens cooperation, expands external publicity, and enhances international influences.
As the earliest established arbitration institution in China, CIETAC has been one of the major permanent commercial arbitration institutions in the world. Grown up along with China’s reform and opening up, CIETAC has gone through the development of China’s arbitration from scratch. For all the time, CIETAC upholds the development concept of international arbitration, works hard to promote the development of arbitration in China, and makes unremitting efforts to establish and continuously improve the arbitration legal system with Chinese characteristics, by which demonstrating its mission in the new era. It also devotes to promoting China’s arbitration legislation and contributing valuable practical experience in foreign-related arbitration. The efforts made by CIETAC have been widely praised by the arbitration community. In the 2021 International Arbitration Survey jointly released by Queen Mary University of London and the White & Case LLP in May this year, CIETAC was rated as one of the top-5 most preferred arbitration institutions in the world. This is the first time that a Mainland arbitration institution ranks among the top five in the globally authoritative arbitration survey. It reflects the widespread recognition of CIETAC and demonstrates the influences of China's arbitration.
History illuminates the future, and there is no end to keep fighting. CIETAC, rooted in China's arbitration practice and based on a high starting point, will further integrate into the world with a more international and modern attitude. CIETAC will continue to play a leading role in the new journey, and contribute to the globalization of China’s arbitration in the new era.
Author:Zhang Chun
Edit:Li Wanqi Lu Jiaqi
