On September 27, the “Rule of Law and Opening-up Forum”, a parallel forum of Global Business and Law Conference 2024, was successfully held in Beijing. The event was hosted by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (hereinafter referred to as "CCPIT") and co-organized by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as "CIETAC") and International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization (hereinafter referred to as "ICDPASO"). The forum centered around the theme of “Dispute Resolution and Global Economic Win-win.” Li Qingshuang, Vice President of CCPIT, and Maria Chiara Malaguti, President of International Institute for the Unification of Private Laws, addressed the forum. Over 20 international organizations and arbitration institutions from various countries and regions, along with leaders and representatives from Chinese and foreign enterprises, were in attendance. Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman & Secretary-General of CIETAC, presided over the opening ceremony.

(Forum site)

Li Qingshuang, Vice President of CCPIT, pointed out that, CCPIT has always taken it upon itself to serve the business community, actively promoting the construction of domestic and foreign-related rule of law, and offering suggestions on how to steadily expand institutional openness. It also proposes the construction of a more diverse, open, convenient, fair and efficient international commercial dispute resolution mechanism. She suggested that the business and legal communities of all countries come together to deepen their cooperation consensus, jointly promote the construction of a high-level open policy, and contribute new solutions and wisdom to the improvement and development of the global economic governance system.

(Li Qingshuang, Vice President, addressed the opening ceremony)

Maria Chiara Malaguti pointed out in her speech that international law serves as a code of conduct for the international community and is a fundamental cornerstone for maintaining international order, promoting international cooperation, and safeguarding international peace and security. With the increasing severity of global economic and trade frictions, international law is of significant importance for arbitration, which is one of the mechanisms for resolving international commercial disputes.

(Maria Chiara Malaguti，President, addressed the Opening Ceremony)

(Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman & Secretary General of CIETAC, presided over the opening ceremony)

Wang Chengjie, as the moderator, briefed the attendees on the core topics of the forum. He expressed the hope that through this forum, all sectors would adhere to and uphold international order, deepen exchanges and cooperation in the rule of law, actively participate in global legal governance, share the outcomes of rule of law construction, and contribute new momentum to the mutual success of global business.

The keynote speech session was chaired by Shen Peilan, Secretary General of ICDPASO. Hamid Sharif, expert member of International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People's Court and former Director of Asian Development Bank PRC Resident Mission, Datuk Lim Thiam Suan, Director of Asian International Arbitration Centre, Xi Xiangyang, a second senior judge of the Fourth Civil Division of The Supreme People's Court of The People's Republic of China and China International Commercial Court and Kang Yu, Secretary-General of the Belt and Road International Lawyers Association, spoke on the theme of " Joining Hands: Global Rule of Law Escorting High Level Opening-up”. They advocated for deepening the cooperation mechanism between the business and legal communities, promoting high-level openness on the basis of the rule of law, and advancing global rule of law construction in the process of expanding openness. They also called for actively promoting the construction of the international rule system, including the formulation and improvement of arbitration rules, continuously improving the supervision and support of arbitration by the judiciary, and giving full play to the professional role of international organizations, to jointly build a high-level open rule system, to safeguard global economic interests in accordance with the rule of law, and to contribute to the construction of an open world economy.

(From left to right are: Hamid Sharif, Lim Thiam Suan, Xi Xiangyang, Kang Yu)

(Photo of Shen Peilan presiding over the keynote speech)

The round-table discussion was moderated by Wang Han, expert member of International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People's Court and Executive Director of Center for Foreign Legal Affairs at Northwest University of Political Science and Law. Gu Yan, Deputy Director of CIETAC Arbitration Court, Chuan Wee Meng, CEO of Singapore International Mediation Center, Hu Zhenjie, Chief Legal Advisor of Aluminum Corporation of China, Dong Gang, Chairman of Morgan Stanley China, and Cai Weiping, Deputy Director of AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre, shared their insights on the theme “Progressing Steadily: Institutional Opening-up Promoting Global Economic Development”. They discussed the construction and innovation of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as arbitration and mediation, the establishment of a rule-based international trade and economic system, and the relationship between institutional opening-up and the development of foreign enterprises. All participants emphasized the significant role of the rule of law in the construction of business environment, calling for strengthening cooperation among the business, legal, and arbitration communities. They urged for joint efforts to maintain an open, transparent, and predictable rule-of-law-based international business environment to foster global economic win-win outcomes.

(From left to right: Wang Han, Gu Yan, Wang Quanmin, Hu Zhenjie, Dong Gang and Cai Weiping)

Nearly 300 representatives from the global business community, universities, law firms, arbitration and mediation organizations, as well as representatives from local and trade associations attended the forum in person. The forum was a fruitful and successful one.