From December 23 to 24, 2023, the China Academy of Arbitration Law 2023 Annual Conference & the 16th China Arbitration and Justice Forum (“Forum”), with the theme of “High-Quality Development of Arbitration in the New Era”, was held in Kunming. Mr. Xu Yanbo, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Secretary General of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”), and Mr. Gu Yan, Vice President of the Arbitration Court of CIETAC, were invited to attend the Forum.

On the morning of December 23, Secretary Xu Yanbo, as the Vice President of China Academy of Arbitration Law, attended the General Assembly of China Academy of Arbitration Law, the Meeting of the Board of Directors and the Meeting of the Executive Council. The meetings considered and approved the 2023 work and financial report of China Academy of Arbitration Law and voted on other related matters.

On the afternoon of December 23, the 16th China Arbitration and Justice Forum was held. The Forum was organized by China Academy of Arbitration Law, executively organized by Kunming Arbitration Commission, and co-organized by CIETAC and China Maritime Arbitration Commission (CMAC). Mr. Yu Jianlong, Vice Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), attended the Forum and delivered a speech at the opening ceremony; Mr. An Enfa, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Kunming Municipal Committee, Vice Mayor of the Kunming Municipal People’s Government, and Chairman of the 4th Kunming Arbitration Commission, Mr. Zhang Wanming, Chief Legal Counsel of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, and Director of the Bureau of Laws and Regulations, Mr. Wang Weiguo, Second Grade Inspector of the Research Department of the China Law Society; Mr. Shi Hai, Second Grade Inspector of the Bureau of Public Legal Services Administration of the Ministry of Justice and Vice President of China Academy of Arbitration Law, attended the Forum and delivered speeches. The opening ceremony of the Forum was presided over by Mr. Tan Jian, Secretary General of China Academy of Arbitration Law.

Vice Chairman Mr. Yu Jianlong said that the theme of the Forum was “High-Quality Development of Arbitration in the New Era”, which aimed to study and implement Xi Jinping’s thought on the rule of law, focused on the key and difficult issues faced by the arbitration industry, and discussed the ideas and initiatives to further promote the high-quality development of the arbitration cause in the new era. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to foster a number of international first-class arbitration institutions and to train a group of talents in the field of foreign-related rule of law with a firm political stance, excellent professional qualities, knowledge of international rules and proficiency in foreign-related legal practice. He pointed out that, judging from the current situation of arbitration in China, there was still a gap to reach the high-quality development of arbitration. The main manifestation was that, firstly, arbitration, as an important mean of commercial dispute resolution, had not yet played a sufficient role in supporting economic development; secondly, the polarization of arbitration institutions was prominent, and some small and medium-sized institutions had difficulties in operation; thirdly, the quality of cases handling by some institutions was not high, which affected the credibility of arbitration; and fourthly, the international competitiveness and influence of China's arbitration were not yet strong enough and there was still a gap between China's international arbitration institutions and that of the international large-scale institutions. He said that the experts should focus on the topics of the annual conference, speak freely, express their insights, and contribute to promoting the high-quality development of China’s arbitration.

The Forum set up six topics, namely, “The Construction of International Commercial Arbitration Center”, “Deepening the Reform of Arbitration Institutions”, “Building Credibility and Competitiveness of China's Arbitration” “Cultivation of Foreign-Related Arbitration Talents”, “New Exploration on Optimization of Arbitration Procedures” and “New Development of Professional Arbitration”. The Forum centered on the discussions of international and domestic arbitration hotspots. Vice President Gu Yan chaired the discussion on the topic of “New Exploration on Optimization of Arbitration Procedures”. The speakers of this topic were: Mei Yonghong, Director of Case Department III of Chengdu Arbitration Commission; Bi Liyan, Director of Legal Department of China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC Group); Lu Bin, General Manager of Legal Affairs of INSPUR Co., Ltd.; Peng Zhu, Partner of Fangda Partners; Mao Huigang, Director of Shanghai Jin Mao Law Firm; and Wang Nannan, Partner of King & Wood Mallesons (Shanghai). The speakers shared their insights on the optimization of the arbitration process from the different perspectives of arbitral institutions, parties, lawyers and arbitrators. Vice President Gu Yan summarized the practices of CIETAC in the relevant fields and briefly introduced the new features of the CIETAC Arbitration Rules (2024 Version). Finally, Dr. Wu Zhenguo, the author of the award-winning paper of the annual meeting, shared the main points of his paper.

At the closing ceremony, Secretary Xu Yanbo made a closing speech. In his speech, Mr. Xu Yanbo reviewed the new progress made by CIETAC in 2023 in terms of institution building, career development, and the strategic layout of participating in and serving foreign-related rule of law. He put forward three initiatives to the participants on arbitration practice and theoretical research: Firstly, to speed up the construction of international first-class arbitration institutions. Arbitration institutions should respond to Xi Jinping’s thought on the rule of law and important instructions, take the initiative and actively participate in and serve the strategic layout of foreign-related rule of law. Secondly, to actively promote the creation of an arbitration-friendly legal system and social environment. Thirdly, to jointly built a mechanism for international cooperation of arbitration. Secretary Xu Yanbo said that CIEATC warmly welcomed other arbitration institutions to participate in the construction of the international cooperation mechanism of arbitration institutions in the “Belt and Road”, as well as the regional international cooperation mechanisms in ASEAN, Central Asia, Latin America and so on.

A total of about 155,000 judges, heads of arbitration institutions, experts and scholars, representatives of legal counsels and lawyers from all over the country participated in the Conference through online and offline means. The Conference and Forum were a complete success.