Beijing Arbitration Commission

    In the afternoon of October 30, 2013, the “Cocktail Party & Conference” jointly held by the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC), China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC) was successfully held in the international conference hall of BAC. It attracted nearly 100 participants including representatives of the three arbitration commissions, BAC arbitrators, lawyers, legal consultants and other people of diverse background who are interested in commercial arbitration. The BAC Secretary-General Lin Zhiwei, Deputy Secretary-General Chen Fuyong, Section Chief of Business Department II Jiang Qiuju and Vice-Section Chief of Business Department III Zhang Haoliang were present at the conference This conference was presided over by the BAC Deputy Secretary-General Chen Fuyong.

Deputy Secretary-General of BAC Chen Fuyong is hosting the conference	Section Chief of BAC Jiang Qiuju is introducing the new BAC Arbitration Rules (Draft for Comment)

Section Chief of CIETAC Wang Jie is giving the speech	Deputy Secretary-General of HKIAC Liu Jing is giving the speech

    In the first session of the conference, the representatives of the arbitration commissions presented amendments, application and development of their own arbitration rules.

    First, the Section Chief of BAC Jiang Qiuju presented the new Arbitration Rules of the Beijing Arbitration Commission (Draft for Comment) and introduced certain important matters which are relevant to the amendment of the Rules. Ms. Jiang explained that this is the eighth amendment to the BAC’s Arbitration Rules since the establishment of the BAC. This amendment aims to improve the transparency, flexibility and predictability of arbitration proceedings, respect the arbitral tribunal’s discretion, further guarantee the autonomy of the parties, and promote the internationalization of the Arbitration Rules. The amended Rules will include such measures as cross claims, rectification and supplement to the statement of conciliation, employment of typists, as well as additional rules on arbitration costs bearing, etc, which will ensure a more just and efficient arbitration proceedings for the BAC. This new version of the BAC Arbitration Rules is expected to be adopted at the end of this year and be effective as from April 1, 2014. Ms. Jiang sincerely wishes that useful and valuable comments and suggestions can be provided to the amended Rules (Draft for Comment) from all viewers. Following that, the CIETAC Section Chief Wang Jie introduced the background and key points of the new CIETAC Rules 2012 and the feedbacks they have received after it has been formally released and implemented for nearly one year. Ms. Wang said, comparing to the law of arbitration in china, CIETAC Arbitration Rules 2012 have brought several breakthroughs and highlights. The autonomy of the parties and internationalization trends was reflected better in the CIETAC Arbitration Rules 2012 and the response to the new Rules has been positive. However, some of the international arbitration rules and principles were not being able to be adopted due to various reasons. Ms. Wang made a detailed analysis of the specific issues relating to the amended rules, such as appointing arbitrators, arbitration language and perseverance in arbitration, etc. Later on, the HKIAC Deputy Secretary-General Liu Jing made a comprehensive summary of the cases accepted by the HKIAC, and announced the new 2013 Rules in Chinese version. Mr. Liu mainly discussed the advantages of the HKIAC dealing with commercial disputes and stressed some measures that they handles differently to the arbitration commissions in mainland China. He expressed his hope that more enterprises in mainland will choose the HKIAC to solve their disputes.

The Section Chief Chen Sheng is hosting the second session	Six senior executives are giving the speech

    During the second session of the conference which was hosted by the BAC arbitrator as well as the Section Chief of the Financial Innovation Supervision Department of CBRC Chen Sheng, senior executives and general counsels from six large companies gave their suggestions and recommendations to the arbitration practice as representatives of arbitration clients. The Vice-General Counsel of China Aerospace Sciences and Technology Corporation (CASIC) Wang Yaoguo, BAC arbitrator and the General Legal Counsel of China Aviation Oil Holding Company Xu Yongjian, BAC arbitrator and the Secretary of Board of Directors of Taikang Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Duan Donghun, the Vice-General Manger of the legal department of China Mobile Limited Yu Mang, the Secretary of Board of Directors of SINOTRANS Ltd. Gao Wei and the General Manager of legal compliance department of Bank of Beijing Han Xu held speeches and unanimously stated that currently companies are aware of the advantages of arbitration and regard arbitration as important means to settle disputes. At the same time, the six representatives proposed their own suggestions and ideas on some specific issues in arbitration, such as perseverance in arbitration.

Lawyers Shi Hong, Cao Lijun and Ma Zhihua are introducing the international experience in arbitration	Chairman Teresa Cheng is summarizing the conference

    During the third session of the conference, the partner of Fangda Law firm Shi Hong, partner of Zhonglun Law Firm Cao Lijun and partner of Herbert Smith Freehills Ma Zhihua, which all are senior associates in international arbitration practice, shared their practical experience in international arbitration and practitioners’ angle in arbitration. Based on examples from international arbitration practice, they had presented the rules on emergency arbitrators, arbitration proceeding meetings and mediation in international arbitration, etc. Moreover, they talked about how to deal with the special measures in international arbitration. They also said that in the current international arbitration practice, common law has been increasingly integrating with continental law and arbitration rules follow this trend, which requires special attention of arbitration commissions while working on the amendment of their arbitration rules.

    Finally, BAC arbitrator, senior associate of Hong Kong and the next HKIAC chairman Teresa Cheng gave the summary speech. Ms. Cheng said it was a valuable experience for the three arbitration commissions to share their own experience together and she also appreciated the suggestions and feedbacks from the arbitration clients. On behalf of all the participants Ms. Cheng, expressed thankfulness to the organizers for the meticulous preparation of the conference.

    After the conference, all the participants raised their glasses. The conference came to an end in happy and friendly atmosphere

Conference site	Conference site

    The new Arbitration Rules of BAC (Draft for Comment) has been formally released and placed on the BAC website. The BAC warmly welcomes experts, scholars, lawyers and all the users to raise suggestions to the Draft. Please visit the website:
    http://www.bjac.org.cn/news/view.asp?id=2328。