Beijing Arbitration Commission

On June 26, 2013, the fifth BAC arbitrators’ salon of 2013 (98^th in total) was held successfully in the international conference hall of BAC. More than 100 BAC arbitrators and corporate counsels, lawyers and postgraduate students who are interested in international commercial arbitration participated in the salon in person or by watching the live video. The salon was presided over by Ms. Teresa Cheng, a BAC Arbitrator, Senior Counsel in Hong Kong, Vice-chairperson of the International Court of Arbitration of ICC and Vice-chairperson of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC).

Ms. Teresa	Speaker Mr. Richard Naimark and commenter Ms. YE Lu

The salon was divided into two parts. The topic discussed in the first part was “whether you are actually internationalized and how to understand the complicated cultures in cross-border disputes”,. The speaker in this part was Richard Naimark, Senior Vice-chairman of American Arbitration Association. During the speech, Mr. Richard Naimark first described the internationalization from his perspective, i.e. internationalization is the interpersonal, cross-border and cross-cultural communication. Afterwards, he offered several suggestions for the practitioners in the practice of internationalization by combining his personal experiences. Ms. YE Lu, Partner of King & Wood Mallesons, commented on the speech of Mr. Richard Naimark. She indicated that the cultural diversity has created more paths towards success. We should become a qualified “culture translator” to be actually internationalized. The wonderful speech of Mr. Richard Naimark and the profound comment of Ms. YE Lu triggered extensive reflection of the participants, who raised questions with enthusiasm and rushed to express their discovery and confusion in international arbitration practice. Mr. Richard Naimark and Ms. YE Lu patiently answered their questions with the experience and wisdom accumulated from their personal experiences in international arbitration practice, from which the questioners benefited a lot.

Speaker Mr. Michael Lee and commenter Mr. ZHENG Runhao	Speech by a BAC arbitrator

The topic of the second part is a deep analysis of the rules and procedures of International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR)/American Arbitration Association (AAA) from a practical point of view. Michael Lee, Asian principal of American Arbitration Association, acted as the speaker. Mr. Michael Lee deeply analyzed the rules and procedures of ICDR/AAA from the perspective of the institutions. He indicated the great importance of flexibility in arbitration and how to balance the flexible mechanism and strict system of  the institutions. Mr. Michael Lee,  referring to such stages of process as the charge, content of notification, appointment of arbitrators and urgent relief measures, introduced in detail what should be learned from the rules and procedures of ICDR/AAA. Afterwards, Lawyer ZHENG Runhao, Partner of Beijing Office of Clifford Chance LLP, commented on the speech of Mr. Michael Lee. He further analyzed the several notable characteristics of American arbitration by combining his working experiences in international arbitration. The participants raised questions as to arbitration rules and procedures towards Mr. Michael Lee and Mr. ZHENG Runhao, including the testimony of the witness, the disclosure of evidence, the time limit for adducing evidence, the supervision of arbitrators and other hot topics. Finally, the salon came to a successful conclusion with the splendid summary of Ms. Teresa Cheng.

Questions by audience	Salon site

The BAC arbitrators’ salons are geared to all professional fields on a long-term basis, providing timely , authoritative and non-profit academic trainings by combining practice and theory, for the purpose of triggering the attention and discussion within the business on relevant issues. This salon was held amid the APRAG Conference 2013. As BAC is a leading arbitration organization in the country with increasing international influence, the salon is not only helpful to BAC arbitrators in strengthening their understanding of international arbitration and to establish a favorable basis for the resolution of cross-border disputes by BAC, but also offers professional guidance for international arbitration professionals to deal with, decrease and avoid cross-border disputes in practice. Please maintain your attention on BAC website for details of the next salon.