On September 8, 2023, “China Arbitration Week - The 2nd BRICS Arbitration Forum: The Development and Mission of BRICS Arbitration Under the Background of International Trade Frictions” was successfully held in Beijing. The Forum was organized by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) and undertaken by Beijing DHH Law Firm,  with the support of Bar Association of India,  Arbitration Foundation of South Africa,  Brazil BRICs Institute,  Law Faculty of Moscow State University,  Weihai International Arbitration Court (“WIAC”)  and other institutions and units. The Forum invited more than twenty arbitrators, lawyers, scholars, business representatives and other experts both in China and overseas to attend and deliver speeches. As the forum was held with live-broadcast, there were more than 10,000 people watching online. Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, attended the Forum and delivered a welcome speech.

(Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, delivered a welcome speech)

Secretary General Wang Chengjie pointed out that the BRICS mechanism, after 17 years of history, has shown good prospects for cooperation, continued to increase its influence and attractiveness, and has become a constructive force in promoting the growth of the world economy, perfecting global governance, and pushing the development of the international order in a more just and reasonable direction. He emphasized that arbitration in BRICS countries has very important tasks and missions, and all parties have a very good basis for cooperation. For a long time, CIETAC has attached great importance to regular interaction and institutional cooperation with all institutions. With rich experience in arbitration of foreign-related disputes, CIETAC has handled 183 cases involving BRICS countries in the past five years, with a subject matter of about RMB 2.7 billion, involving ten countries other than China. In order to meet the future dispute resolution among countries, including the BRICS countries, CIETAC has made significant efforts to optimize the arbitration rules, adjust the layout of arbitrators, innovate the digital leadership, improve the multi-disputes resolution mechanism, and strengthen the international cooperation. He said that in the future, CIETAC is willing to strengthen cooperation with arbitration institutions and organizations in BRICS countries to promote the development of international arbitration and help the high quality development of economy and trade in BRICS countries.

(In the first session from left to right, top to bottom: Mr. Prashant Kumar, Professor Alexander Molotnikov, Mr. Liu Kejiang, Mr. Jia Shen and Ms. Mao Xiaofei)

The first session of this year’s BRICS Arbitration Forum was moderated by Ms. Mao Xiaofei, Head of the Department of Laws of Nations at the Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (“CASS”), Deputy Director of the Center for Studies of Foreign-Related Laws,  who delivered a speech focusing on the “Tasks and Missions of BRICS Arbitration against the Backdrop of International Trade Frictions”. Prashant Kumar, Chairman of the Bar Association of India, Partner of Trinaya Law Firm,  Alexander Molotnikov, Professor of the Law Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, and Dr. Liu Kejiang, Managing Partner of the Beijing DHH Law Firm and President of Weihai International Arbitration Court, delivered keynote speeches, expressing the hope of attracting legal institutions and practitioners of BRICS and other emerging countries to strengthen communication and mutual understanding and to promote the development of the arbitration together. Jiashen, Director of CIETAC, shared the development trend of major arbitration institutions and arbitration rules in recent years on the latest convergence of international commercial arbitration rules and the inspiration for the synergistic development of arbitration rules in BRICS countries, and analyzed the causes of the above trend changes, so as to provide suggestions for the common development of the rules in BRICS countries.

(In the second session from left to right, top to bottom: Mr. Marcus Vinicius De Freitas, Mr. Lu Bin, Ms. Jiang Wenqing, Mr. Liu Sen) 

The second session of the Forum was hosted by Mr. Liu Sen, Senior Partner of Beijing DHH Law Firm, focusing on the “Development and Suggestions of Arbitration in BRICS Countries under the Background of International Trade Friction”, with keynote speeches delivered by Marcus Vinicius De Freitas, Researcher of BRICS Institute of Brazil,  Lu Bin, General Manager of the Legal Department of Wave Electronic Information Industry Co. Marcus Vinicius De Freitas, researcher of Brazilian BRICS Institute, Lu Bin, Legal General Manager of Inspur Electronic Information Industry Co., Ltd.  and Jiang Wenqing, Counsel of Legal Department of new Development Bank, delivered keynote speeches respectively, analyzing the development stage of arbitration in the BRICS countries at the present moment, the dilemmas faced and the advantages possessed by BRICS countries in the context of their own theoretical and practical experiences, and putting forward the idea of drawing a blueprint of the unified standards and arbitration mechanism for BRICS countries. 

 (In the third session from left to right: Dr. Liu Rundong, Ms. Jiang Xing, Mr. Ing Loong Yang and Mr. Luo Yi)

The third session was a discussion session moderated by Dr. Liu Rundong, Senior Co-Partner of Beijing DHH Law Firm,  with the theme of “Hot Spots and Trends of Arbitration in BRICS Countries in the Context of International Trade Friction”. Jiang Xing, Legal Director of Lenovo Group,  Ing Loong Yang, Partner of Aikin & Gump Hong Kong Office,  CIETAC Arbitrator, and Luo Yi, Senior Counsel of Beijing DHH Law Firm, delivered speeches and shared their views on the topic of the discussion, which centered on the arbitrability of monopoly disputes among BRICS countries, the mechanism of cooperation among competition law enforcement agencies, and the tendency of arbitration institutions of multinational corporations, respectively.

This year’s Forum has been an in-depth discussion on the key hot issues of arbitration in the BRICS countries, with warm exchanges among the guests, and has achieved a complete success.