On December 20, 2023, the Colloquium on the Research on Market Demands and Development of Commercial Arbitration in China (“Colloquium”) was held in the multifunctional hall on the 9th floor of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”). The Colloquium aimed to further understand the needs and expectations of enterprises on commercial dispute resolution, listened to experts’ opinions on the research project on the market demands and development of commercial arbitration in China organized by CIETAC, and improved the quality and efficiency of CIETAC’s arbitration services. Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Liu Yu, Director of Division III of the Bureau of Laws and Regulations of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council (SASAC), attended the meeting and made a concluding speech. Nearly thirty legal affairs leaders from large state-owned enterprises and central enterprises participated in the discussion.

(Secretary General Wang Chengjie delivered a speech)

Secretary General Wang Chengjie said that commercial arbitration served enterprises and CIETAC always paid attention to listening to and understanding the ever-developing and changing dispute resolution needs of enterprises in practice. It is CIETAC’s eternal responsibility and unchanging working theme to serve Chinese enterprises, especially state-owned enterprises and central enterprises, to go global. After nearly 70 years of development, CIETAC’s dispute resolution experience becomes richer, its capacity has been comprehensively upgraded, and its international credibility has been widely recognized, laying a good foundation and providing the necessary prerequisites for serving enterprise dispute resolution. In the future, CIETAC will increase its research on the dispute resolution needs of state-owned enterprises and central enterprises. With the support of SASAC, CIETAC will actively explore economic, efficient and diversified dispute resolution mechanisms, so as to better safeguard the lawful rights and interests of enterprises in both domestic and overseas economic and trade activities, and to provide escort for the implementation of the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the enterprises’ “Going Global” Strategy.

(Nie Ying, an arbitrator of CIETAC, presented the research)

Nie Ying, an arbitrator of CIETAC, introduced the basic situation of the research on the market demands and development of commercial arbitration in China to the attending guests.

(Experts attending the Colloquium joined the discussion )

At the Colloquium, the heads of legal affairs from large-scale state-owned enterprises and central enterprises such as the Sinopec Group, Aluminum Corporation of China, China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation Limited, China National Aviation Holding Company, China Railway Construction Group Co.,Ltd. and China General Technology (Group) Holding Co Ltd. conducted in-depth discussions on three topics, i.e., “Enterprises’ Basic Understanding of Arbitration Institutions’ Handling of Dispute Cases”, “Advantages of Arbitration in Commercial Dispute Resolution for Enterprises” and “Dispute Resolution Options in Cross-Border Commercial Activities”. By combining with dispute resolution practice of companies, they exchanged ideas on the application of mediation, arbitration, litigation and other means of dispute resolution in different industries, some specific practices and difficulties encountered when recommending arbitration in the past, and the actual needs of enterprises in dispute resolution, and focused on conducting in-depth discussions on how to better play the role of mediation in dispute resolution.

(Director Liu Yu made concluding remarks)  

Liu Yu, Director of Division III of the Bureau of Laws and Regulations of SASAC, pointed out in her concluding remarks that SASAC issued the Measures for the Administration of Cases Involving Legal Dispute with Central Enterprises in June this year, advocating the use of diversified dispute resolution methods to resolve disputes between central enterprises and state-owned enterprises, and encouraging the choice of arbitration as a means of dispute resolution in foreign-related cases. SASAC will strengthen its communication with CIETAC to provide high-quality dispute resolution services for enterprises to conduct economic and trade activities, especially “Going Out” activities.

(Venue of the Colloquium)

During the Colloquium, the guests made enthusiastic speeches and had a lively discussion. The Colloquium reached the expected goal. Jiao Yani, Director of the Arbitration Research Institute of CIETAC, presided over the Colloquium. Lu Fei, Director of the Business Development Department of CIETAC, and Su Sa, Deputy Director of the Arbitration Research Institute of CIETAC, participated in the Colloquium.