On 26 September, 2024 China Arbitration Summit and the China-MENA Arbitration Summit was successfully held in Beijing. The Summit was co-hosted by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI), and the All China Lawyers Association (ACLA).

Ren Hongbin, Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (“CCPIT”) and CIETAC, Li Mingzheng, Vice Minister of Justice, Wang Shumei, Full-time Member of the Adjudication Committee of the SPC (Deputy-Ministerial level) and Second-Class Grand Justice of SPC, Ismail SELIM, President of IFCAI and Director of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (“CRCICA”), attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Anna JOUBIN-BRET, Secretary of UNCITRAL, delivered a speech via video. Marcelo VÁZQUEZ-BERMÚDEZ, Chair of the United Nations International Law Commission (ILC), and Shen Hongyu, Chief Judge of the Fourth Civil Division of the SPC and Head of the Second International Commercial Court, presented keynote speeches. Yu Jianlong, Vice Chairman of CCPIT and CIETAC, moderated the Opening Ceremony. Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, presided over the Achievements Announcement.

(Venue of the Summit)

Leaders from relevant departments such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Justice (“MOJ”), and ACLA attended the Opening Ceremony. Over 500 representatives from major arbitration institutions, judges, arbitrators, lawyers, scholars, and industrial and commercial practitioners from 47 countries and regions attended the Summit in person, nearly 120 of whom are foreign guests, including 50 heads of 37 international organizations and major foreign dispute resolution institutions. The live streaming of the Summit received more than 5.03 million watches from 76 countries and regions

(Ren Hongbin, Chairman of CCPIT and Chairman of CIETAC, addressing the Opening Ceremony)

Ren Hongbin emphasized in his opening speech that the arbitration system is an essential component of foreign-related rule of law. Important directives were given in multiple occasions on arbitration work, with new deployments made on deepening the reform of the arbitration system, improving the international commercial arbitration and mediation system, and cultivating world-class arbitration institutions. With its long history and outstanding achievements, CIETAC has established China's leading position in arbitration, created an international brand for Chinese arbitration, and forged its credibility. Looking ahead, it is necessary to maintain a global perspective, deepen international legal exchanges and cooperation, strive for excellence in international commercial arbitration services, and focus on the future to accelerate the digital empowerment to international commercial arbitration, in order to make greater contributions to the high-quality development of the international arbitration, promote the recovery and prosperity of the world economy, and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

(Li Mingzheng, Vice Minister of Justice, addressing the Opening Ceremony)

Li Mingzheng emphasized in his speech that the MOJ has upheld the rule of law, fulfilled its responsibilities in coordinating the advancement of domestic and foreign-related legal governance, and the international influence and competitiveness of Chinese arbitration has been continuously enhanced. CIETAC has always been committed to serving the Belt and Road Initiative and the national strategy of higher-level opening up, and extensively carried out international exchanges and cooperation. CIETAC has been widely recognized at home and abroad for its independent, fair, and efficient arbitration services. In the future, Chinese arbitration should adhere to innovation while maintaining its principles, accelerate the improvement of arbitration rules and systems; strengthen mutual learning and joint construction to build global service brand. Meanwhile, Chinese arbitration should deepen international exchanges, and expand the breadth and depth of cooperation. At the same time, he expressed his hope that CIETAC will contribute more to the exploration of rules and practical experience in building China into a highland of international commercial arbitration services.

(Wang Shumei, Full-time Member at Deputy-Ministerial level of the Adjudication Committee of the SPC and Second-Class Grand Justice of SPC, addressing the Opening Ceremony)

Wang Shumei noted that Chinese courts attach great importance to the judicial review of arbitration, actively promote the continuous improvement of arbitration legal rules, support the innovative development of the arbitration mechanism, and support the sound advancement in building pilot international commercial arbitration centers. Chinese courts focus on promoting institutional innovation in arbitration, enhancing the ability of arbitration to participate in global governance, and continuously strengthening international cooperation, ensuring the cross-border enforcement of commercial arbitration awards, effectively promoting the connection between litigation and arbitration, and promoting the alternative resolution of commercial disputes. In the future, Chinese courts will continue to support the high-quality development of arbitration and work together to create a favorable legal environment for building an international arbitration that transcends eras.

(Anna JOUBIN-BRET, Secretary of UNCITRAL, delivering a speech via video)

Anna JOUBIN-BRET stated that in recent years, UNCITRAL has done a significant amount of work in promoting the integration and transformation of international arbitration, including the introduction of systems such as early dismissal and preliminary awards, the issuance of several documents including the Code of Conduct for Arbitrators in International Investment Disputes, and research on how to address the development of electronic arbitration. In the future, UNCITRAL will maintain a forward-looking and flexible perspective, continue to pay attention to and actively adapt to the new opportunities and challenges faced by dispute resolution in the new era.

(Ismail SELIM, President of IFCAI, addressing the Opening Ceremony)

Ismail SELIM indicated that as the world becomes more interconnected, arbitration stands at a historic crossroads as a vital means of resolving international disputes. IFCAI is committed to promoting arbitration institutions as active facilitators in the resolution of international disputes, as well as in the formulation of international rules and international economic and trade exchanges. Facing the development trend towards intelligence and informatization, arbitration should be sharing, forward looking, transforming, inclusive, and interconnected. International commercial arbitration institutions should continue to build a platform for dialogue among global arbitration institutions to jointly promote the development of arbitration in the new era.

(Yu Jianlong, Vice Chairman of CCPIT and Vice Chairman of CIETAC, moderating the Opening Ceremony)

In order to cater to the needs of the era, address the new opportunities and challenges brought about by the changing international arbitration landscape, and promote the development of international arbitration cooperation, under the active advocacy of CIETAC, 29 international arbitration institutions with regional influence, including CRCICA, the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA), the Dubai International Arbitration Center (DIAC), the Association for the Promotion of Arbitration in Africa (APAA), and the Libyan International Commercial Arbitration Center (LCICA), have responded positively and formed a consensus. Together, they have issued the International Arbitration Cooperation Initiative 2024 (“Initiative”), reaching a broad consensus on deepening exchanges, expanding cooperation, and promoting high-quality development in international arbitration.

The launching ceremony of the Initiative was held during the Summit, which is moderated by Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC. Chairman Ren Hongbin, Vice Minister Li Mingzheng, Full-time Member Wang Shumei, Vice Chairman Yu Jianlong, Secretary General Wang Chengjie, Chairman Marcelo VÁZQUEZ-BERMÚDEZ, President Ismail SELIM, and representatives from 10 major arbitration institutions from the Middle East and North Africa jointly launched the Initiative on the stage. The audience erupted into warm applause to mark the celebration.

(Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, moderating the launching ceremony of the Initiative)

(From left to right: George Z. Georgiou, Director of the Cyprus Arbitration and Mediation Centre (“CAMC”), Sheikh Thani, Member of the International Relations Council of the Qatar International Mediation and Arbitration Centre (“QICCA”), Rayan Kouatly, Secretary General of the Lebanese Arbitration and Mediation Centre (“LAMC”), Hamed Hassan Merah, CEO of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (“SCCA”), Gaston Kenfack Douajni, President of the APAA and African Arbitration Association (“AFAA”), Wang Chengjie, Secretary General of CIETAC, Marcelo VÁZQUEZ-BERMÚDEZ, Chairman of ILC, Li Mingzheng, Vice Minister of Justice, Ren Hongbin, Chairman of CCPIT and CIETAC, Wang Shumei, Full-time member of the Adjudication Committee of the SPC, Yu Jianlong, Vice Chairman of CCPIT and CIETAC, Ismail SELIM, President of IFCAI, Tawakol KHURAM, CEO of the Afghanistan Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ACDR”), Saad I BENSHARRADA, Director General of the Libyan Center for International Commercial Arbitration (“LCICA”), Blossom HING, Member of the court of arbitration of the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (“arbitrateAD”), Said BENGANA, Head of Legal Affairs and Litigation at the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (“CACI”), Dennis CAI, Deputy Director of the AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre (“AALCOHKRAC”)

The Initiative indicates that international arbitration is an indispensable dispute resolution mechanism for cross-border commercial disputes. To deepen international arbitration cooperation, it is necessary to continuously adhere to fairness and justice, ensure the transparency and independence of arbitration; deepen the cultural exchange of arbitration, advocate open and win-win cooperation, actively seek judicial support, and strengthen the enforcement of cross borders awards. It is also necessary to work together to make good use of technological innovation, striving to achieve green arbitration, gather the strength of alternative dispute resolutions to improve the quality of arbitration services, and work together to train talents to solidify the foundation for future development.

In addition, to further deepen the practical cooperation between international arbitration institutions and legal service providers, at the Summit, CIETAC has signed cooperation agreements with six internationally renowned arbitration institutions and legal service providers with high regional representativeness and global influence, including the International Centre for Dispute Resolution of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA-ICDR”), CRCICA, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board International Arbitration Center (“KCAB INTERNATIONAL”), QICCA, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (“SCC”), and Jus Mundi. The Agreements have reached institutionalized arrangements in aspects such as jointly carrying out researches, co-organizing trainings, mutually recommending arbitrators, and sharing hearing facilities.

(CIETAC signing Cooperation Agreements with AAA-ICDR, CRCICA, KCAB INTERNATIONAL, QICCA, SCC and Jus Mundi)

During the keynote speech session, Marcelo VÁZQUEZ-BERMÚDEZ, Chairman of ILC, and Shen Hongyu, Chief Judge of the Fourth Civil Division of the SPC and Head of the Second International Commercial Court, delivered keynote speeches respectively.

(Marcelo VÁZQUEZ-BERMÚDEZ, Chairman of ILC, delivering keynote speech)

Marcelo VÁZQUEZ-BERMÚDEZ noted that with the development of economic globalization, arbitration centers in Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa are increasingly emerging in response to the growing demand for dispute resolution, and international arbitration is showing regional and multipolar development trend. The important role of international law is to ensure the consistency of international rules in this trend, to ensure that disputes are resolved in a fair and just manner, and especially in resolving investor-state investment disputes, international law is of great significance in balancing the interests of investors and state sovereignty.

(Shen Hongyu, Chief Judge of the Fourth Civil Division of the SPC and Head of the Second International Commercial Court, delivering keynote speech)

Shen Hongyu introduced the practice of international arbitration judicial review cases in Chinese courts in recent years. She stated that Chinese courts have always maintained a low rate in annuling arbitration awards and a high rate in assets preservation, and have insisted on respecting the parties' autonomy in reviewing foreign-related arbitration cases. They have adhered to a position conducive to the enforcement of awards, actively promoted the communication and connection between arbitration and judiciary, and strictly followed the provisions of international conventions to recognize awards made by foreign arbitration institutions and earnestly fulfilled the judicial position of fulfilling international treaty obligations.

The Summit, with the theme of International Arbitration Transcending Eras, featured 35 experts from the arbitration legal community, corporate practice, and academia from 17 countries and regions. They delivered themed speeches respectively on three topics, including The Era of Integration: Building a Global Arbitration Community with shared visions, The Era of Revolution: Mapping New Development of International Arbitration, and The Digital Era: Embracing New Trend of Intelligent Connectivity of Everything. They engaged in lively discussions on cutting-edge issues such as the latest developments in international arbitration, the modernization of arbitration rules, the application of digital technology in arbitration, and the improvement of cross-border dispute resolution mechanisms.

[Topic I: The Era of Integration: Building a Global Arbitration Community with shared visions
This topic is moderated by Ismail SELIM, President of IFCAI. From left to right and top to bottom: President Ismail SELIM, Athita KOMINDR, Head of UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (“RCAP”), Khalid Ali Al OBAIDLI, President of Investment and Trade Court of the State of Qatar, Xie Changqing, Vice President of CIETAC Arbitration Court, Gaston KENFACK DOUAJNI, President of APAA and AfAA, Rouven BODENHEIMER, Vice President of the German Arbitration Institution (“DIS”), and Hamed Hassan MERAH, CEO of the SCCA.]

In the first topic, the panelists engaged in in-depth discussions on issues such as jointly promoting the construction of regional arbitration legal systems and fostering cooperation in dispute resolution. They reached a broad consensus on strengthening inter-institutional cooperation and coordination, eliminating barriers through innovation in rules and mechanisms, and enhancing the transparency of international arbitration. They also advocated for a global collaboration to collectively address the opportunities and challenges faced by international arbitration.

[Topic II: The Era of Evolution: Mapping New Development of International Arbitration
This topic is moderated by Teresa Cheng, Adjunct Professor at Tsinghua University, Co-Chair of Asian Academy of International Law (“AAIL”), Former Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong SAR, and CIETAC Arbitrator.
From left to right: Teresa Cheng, Adjunct Professor at Tsinghua University, Co-Chair of AAIL, Former Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong SAR, and CIETAC Arbitrator, Seung Wha CHANG, Chairman of KCAB Internatoinal, Former Judge of the WTO Appellate Body; Thara GOPALAN, Vice President of AAA-ICDR, Caroline FALCONER, Secretary General of SCC, Christopher CAMPBELL-HOLT, Registrar and Chief Executive of the Astana International Financial Centre (“AIFC”) Court and International Arbitration Centre, Khaled ELGARHE, Chief Legal Advisor of QICCA, Zhao Jian, Senior Counsel of Zhong Lun Law Firm and CIETAC Arbitrator, David HOLLOWAY, Partner of Al Tamimi & Co. and CIETAC Arbitrator.]

In the second topic, the panelists focused on the latest developments in international arbitration amidst the era of evolution. They discussed the evolution of arbitration legal systems and rules across different jurisdictions, as well as the current state of cutting-edge practices such as expedited arbitration, online case management, early dismissal, and third-party funding. These discussions provided new perspectives for promoting innovative development in international arbitration.

[Topic III: The Digital Era: Embracing New Trend of Intelligent Connectivity of Everything
This topic is moderated by Wang Xuehua, Arbitrator of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”), Co-Founding Partner of Beijing Huanzhong & Partners (“BHP”), and CIETAC Arbitrator.
From left to right: Fei Ning, Governing Board Member of International Council for Commercial Arbitration (“ICCA”), Managing Partner of Huizhong Law Firm, and CIETAC Arbitrator, Wang Xuehua, Arbitrator of ICSID, Co-Founding Partner of BHP, and CIETAC Arbitrator, Yoshihisa HAYAKAWA, Convener of the Strengthening Economic and Legal Infrastructure Project (“SELI”) of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (“APEC”) and Professor at Rikkyo University, Blossom HING, Member of arbitrateAD, Gao Gang, Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer, and Global General Counsel of NIO; Zhao Xiaohai, founder of Peking University Legal Information (PKULaw), CEO of Chinalawinfo Co., Ltd., and Deputy Director of Peking University Legal Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Xu Jun, Vice Chair of Banking Commission Steering Committee of International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) and Observer to UNCITRAL Working Group VI (“Negotiable Cargo Documents Convention”), Ana STANIC, Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”) Arbitrators, Founding Partner of E & A Law Limited, and CIETAC Arbitrator.]

In the third topic, panelists delved into how arbitration can embrace the new trends of intelligent connectivity in the digital age, particularly the new demands for dispute resolution brought about by the development of industries such as cross-border e-commerce, smart logistics, and energy transformation, as well as the impact of new technologies such as artificial intelligence and the intelligent connectivity on enhancing the efficiency and transparency of arbitration. They suggested that while fully focusing on digital development, the principles of confidentiality and impartiality in arbitration should be maintained.

The one-day conference concluded amidst lively discussions and mutual exchanges. At the Closing Ceremony, Gao Zicheng, President of the ACLA, and Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, delivered the closing remarks. The Closing Ceremony was moderated by Xu Yanbo, Deputy Secretary General of CIETAC.

(Gao Zicheng, President of the ACLA, addressing the Closing Ceremony)

In the closing remark, Gao Zicheng pointed out that international arbitration is facing unprecedented opportunities and challenges. To address the changing landscape, global arbitration institutions should join hands in cooperation to provide parties with more high-quality, efficient, and credible arbitration services. The ACLA will continue to fully support the arbitration cause, unite and lead the industry to continuously improve professional standards, regulate practice behaviors, and together write a new chapter of international arbitration that transcends the eras.

(Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, addressing the Closing Ceremony) 

Wang Chengjie stated that in the face of changes in the world, the times, and history, the international arbitration community must join hands to promote the integrated development of international arbitration and lead a new course for international arbitration through cooperation. It is necessary to adapt to and integrate into the trend of new technology and industrial innovation, shaping a new future for international arbitration that transcends the eras. The unique advantages of international arbitration should be fully utilized to create new tracks for arbitration services. CIETAC will adhere to the concept of win-win cooperation and joint development, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the international arbitration community, and jointly promote the leapfrog development of international arbitration in the new era.

(Xu Yanbo, Deputy Secretary General of CIETAC, moderating the Closing Ceremony)

The Summit has provided a high-level platform for domestic and international arbitration communities to discuss the development of international arbitration and cooperation. The attendees have reached a broad consensus on promoting international arbitration exchanges, mutual learning, and collaborative development, achieving practical results， which is of great significance for further deepening regional arbitration legal cooperation, advancing the cause of international arbitration, and upholding the global economic and trade order. The extensive cooperation achievements reached during the Summit indicate that the cohesion and appeal of Chinese arbitration, represented by CIETAC, are increasingly evident on the global stage. The construction of China’s International Commercial Arbitration Center is gradually making progress, and the new global destination for international arbitration is taking solid steps forward.

(Group photo of some representatives after the Summit)