On September 8, 2023, the 2023 China Youth Arbitration Forum and the Award Ceremony of the 11th Zhong Lun Cup Commercial Arbitration Essay Competition, organized by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”), Renmin University of China and Beijing Lawyers Association, was held in Beijing. Scholars, lawyers, in-house counsels, and representatives of arbitration institutions, as well as representatives of the winners of the Essay Competition and students attended the forum.

It is a one-day event including the opening ceremony, keynote speech, award ceremony, and discussion sessions in the morning and the debate, discussion, and scenario simulation session in the afternoon.

Xie Changqing, Vice President of the Arbitration Court of CIETAC, Zhang Xuebing, Founding Partner of Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm, Du Huanfang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Dean of the Law School at Renmin University of China, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Wang Qingyou, Vice President of All China Lawyers Association and Beijing Lawyers Association made a keynote speech titled "To the Young Arbitration Group". Su Sa, Deputy Director of the CIETAC Research Institute, presided over the opening ceremony.

Xie Changqing, Vice President of the Arbitration Court of CIETAC, pointed out that, the China Youth Arbitration Forum has participated in the China Arbitration Week for ten years. In several events, the China Youth Arbitration Forum has been widely praised for its unique perspective, bright and sharp views, and peculiar planning. Young people are the new force of arbitration and they hope to promote the development of Chinese arbitration. It is delighted that more and more young people in arbitration are up and coming in different positions and have become vital forces in promoting the development of Chinese arbitration. CIETAC has always attached great importance to the cultivation of young people in arbitration, actively undertaken social responsibilities, and built platforms for young practitioners and college students to understand and experience international arbitration. CIETAC will continuously cooperate with the units, support the China Young Arbitration Forum to be successful, and become an important exchange platform for gathering wisdom and sharing information, supporting the improvement and development of young people in arbitration.     

Director Zhang Xuebing, Founding Partner of Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm, mentioned in his opening speech that Zhong Lun Law Firm has been a supporting unit of the Zhong Lun Cup Commercial Arbitration Essay Competition since the 1st China Youth Arbitration Forum. Some of the young students who once submitted essays have now become the main force in arbitration. Zhang believed that the Zhong Lun Cup Commercial Arbitration Essay Competition not only improves the entire arbitration industry, but also allows students to understand the significance of arbitration and arbitration procedures during their studies. Additionally, it helps identify aspiring young people dedicated to the work of arbitration lawyers in law schools, enabling them to get familiar with business knowledge as soon as possible, master professional skills related to arbitration and undertake the arbitration work better in the future. In the end, Zhang expressed his hope that lawyers should continuously improve their professional and practical ability, encourage parties to use arbitration for commercial dispute resolution, and make full use of arbitration in the process of rule of law.        

Du Huanfang, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Dean of the Law School of Renmin University of China recalled that the China Young Arbitration Forum has been held for ten years, which is tireless in teaching and never gives up. With the vision of growing with the Chinese arbitration and the idea of “Communication, Friendship and Confrontation”, we jointly discuss cutting-edge practical issues and improve the practice and research ability of young people in arbitration through an essay competition. I would also like to thank the sponsors of the Forum for providing us with such an opportunity. Prof. Du introduced that arbitration is an effective public product for the parties and companies to resolve disputes, and accordingly, there are the arbitration market, opportunity for arbitration, brand of arbitration, especially the team of arbitration talent. While our country provides good opportunities for the development of arbitration, it also puts forward higher expectations on practitioners. Prof. Du encouraged the young people in arbitration to overcome restlessness, pursue their dreams, work hard, and strive to become respectable professionals.   

Subsequently, Wang Qingyou, Vice President of All China Lawyers Association and Beijing Lawyers Association made a keynote speech titled "To the Young Arbitration Group" with the topic "Developing a fair spirit, fair law and fair capability, becoming a qualified arbitrator", profoundly analyzed the whole perspective of the arbitration process and all the parties involved. Wang introduced that young people in arbitration are the future of arbitration, and play a crucial role in the healthy development of arbitration. Young people in arbitration should fasten the first button, adhere to the right direction and values at the beginning of their career, develop a fair spirit, effectively apply fair laws, cultivate fair capabilities to become promoters of the development of arbitration, and the defenders of the legitimate rights and interests of the parties, the guardians of the integrity of the arbitration community. The future of arbitration belongs to younger generation, and they should maintain the objectivity, independence, and impartiality of arbitration, carry the banner, and play their roles. 

Song Lianbin, Professor of China University of Political Science and Law announced the winners on behalf of the organizing committee in the 11th Zhong Lun Cup Commercial Arbitration Essay Competition Award Ceremony. Representatives of the winners received the awards and took photos with the presenters. 

The award ceremony ended with a seminar session. The first seminar session centered on "Improving Hearing Measures and Increasing the Efficiency of Arbitration". This session was moderated by Dong Xiao, Partner of Junhe Law Firm.

Zhang Ye, Director of CIETAC Case Management Division, introduced the time period for rendering a CIETAC award, procedures for extending the time period, etc., and shared how cases are managed internally in CIETAC to improve the efficiency of arbitration from the view of the arbitration institution. Zhang Haoliang, Director of BAC/BIAC Business Development Division (International Case Division), emphasized that efficiency must be improved on the basis of fairness and quality and that the efficiency of each case should be dealt with in accordance with the needs of the parties concerned in the case, help the parties to resolve their disputes while maintaining fairness and high quality. Xue Yuan, a Professor from the Law School of the University of International Business and Economics introduced the construction of a dispute resolution mechanism and the priority of choices. He explained that arbitration, as a dispute resolution mechanism, is highly valued by parties for its high efficiency. Dai Wen, Partner of Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm, introduced the special factors that may affect the efficiency of arbitration in practice based on practical experience, such as the language barrier between the parties, and affirmed the significance of improving the efficiency of arbitration. He Haifeng, Partner of TianTong Law Firm, from the perspective of the agent, emphasized that the parties' experience of efficiency should be taken into account. In addition, experts also discussed issues such as the scrutiny of the arbitral awards mechanism.

The debate, discussion, and scenario simulation sessions were held in the afternoon.

The debate topic was "Limits of Words and Behavior of Arbitrators Outside the Tribunal" and this session was moderated by Zhan Hui, Deputy Director of the Committee on Arbitration and Diversified Disputes Mechanism of the China Intellectual Property Law Society. Xing Keke, Partner of Yuanhe & Twelve Tables, Liu Yang, Partner of Fangda Partners, Chen Mi, Secretary of CIETAC Supervision and Coordination Division, Liu Wenpeng, Consultant of Beijing Tiantai Law Firm, Wu Zhenguo, Doctor of Laws of China University of Political Science and Law, and Yang Ruiqi, Doctoral Candidate of University of International Business and Economics, took part in the debate.

Xing Keke, from the point that freedom of speech is the right enjoyed by citizens, established the affirmative motion that arbitrators have the freedom of speech, the words outside the tribunal can not impact the validity of arbitral awards. Wu Zhenguo, by saying that arbitrators are required by the arbitration rules to deal with the case impartially and that the words and behavior outside the tribunal are directly related to the fair hearing, came up with the opposing view: the words and behavior of arbitrators are directly related to their impartiality, which can affect the validity of arbitral awards. Subsequently, both sides discussed whether the words and behavior outside the tribunal of the arbitrators could constitute legal grounds for setting aside or not enforcing the arbitral award, whether constraints on the words and behavior outside the tribunal of the arbitrators were mainly based on morality and professional ethics, and whether the correlation between words and behavior outside the tribunal of the arbitrators and the arbitral award could affect the impartiality of the award. In the final speech, both sides summarized and reiterated their points of view. Zhan Hui, Deputy Director of the Committee on Arbitration and Diversified Disputes Mechanism of the China Intellectual Property Law Society, spoke highly of the debate session.

The topic of the third session was "Third Party Funding and the Development of Commercial Arbitration". This session was moderated by Jiang Yujuan, Partner of Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm. Four experts shared their views on third-party funding from the perspectives of extra-territorial experience, Chinese practice, case studies, and academic analysis.

Yang Ling, Deputy Secretary General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), discussed the influence of the reform of arbitration fees and third-party funding from the perspective of an international arbitration institution. Liang Yu, Senior Vice President of Hold Capital Investment, introduced the current development of third-party funding in Mainland China as well as the risks and challenges that could be encountered from the perspective of an investment institution. Dong Chungang, Partner of Jingtian & Gongcheng Law Firm, shared the judicial review case he represented and analyzed the attitude of courts towards third-party funding from a practical perspective. Hou Peng, Consultant of King & Wood Mallesons Law Firm, as an early researcher on third-party funding in Mainland China, elaborated his understanding of third-party funding on the relationship between capital and justice.

The scenario simulation session was an emergency arbitrator hearing and was moderated and commented on by Song Lianbin, Professor and doctoral supervisor at China University of Political Science and Law.

Meng Ting, Founding Partner of Golden Gate Law Firm, acted as the emergency arbitrator, Li Qishi, Partner of Commerce & Finance Law Offices, and Wang Xiuzhu, Attorney of HanKun Law Firm, represented the Claimant, and Li Huijun, Partner of Dowway & Partners Law Firm, and Zhou Lingshuang, legal assistant of Jingtian & Gongcheng Law Firm, represented the Respondent. Arbitrator Meng Ting first introduced the case background of the emergency arbitrator hearing, and then both parties expressed their opinions on the three core issues: the facts of the case, the urgency and rationality of the claims, and the balance of interests, and answered the questions raised by the emergency arbitrator.

Professor Song Lianbin expressed his gratitude to Arbitrator Meng Ting and the four agents for their well preparation and excellent presentation. He commented that the hearing was a teaching show of the emergency arbitrator procedure, which helped everyone to understand more about the emergency arbitrator procedure and interim measures.

In the end, Cao Lijun, Partner of Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm, made a closing speech. He expressed his gratitude to the guests, participants, and organizers of the Forum, and spoke highly of the discussions, debates, and simulations. He pointed out that the Youth Arbitration Forum has become more and more experienced, and hoped more people would pay attention to and participate in the Forum so that the "Zhong Lun Cup" Commercial Arbitration Essay Competition and the Youth Arbitration Forum would have a greater influence among arbitration researchers and practitioners.

The China Youth Arbitration Forum came to an end in a warm atmosphere. This Forum not only promotes communication and exchange in the community, but also facilitates excellent young people to pay attention to and devote themselves to the arbitration career, and contribute to the development of Chinese arbitration.