Publish time: Tue Dec 18 08:53:21 CST 2018
On the afternoon of December 4 2018, the launch event of the Commercial Arbitration and Mediation in China: An Annual Review and Preview (2018) and the award ceremony of the 6th “BAC Cup” essay competition on commercial arbitration for national college students jointly organized by the Beijing Arbitration Commission / Beijing International Arbitration Center (the “BAC”) and the China Council for the Protection of International Trade / China Chamber of International Commerce Mediation Center was successfully held at the BAC international conference hall. The event was based on the Annual Report, unveiling the latest trends of commercial arbitration and mediation development of the past year, and leading to exchanges on the existing opportunities and challenges of the dispute resolution industry. Dispute resolution experts from various industries and areas have attended this event.
The launch event
At the beginning of the event, Dr. Chen Fuyong, Deputy Secretary General of the BAC, extended warm welcome to all the participants. He said that this was for the third time the BAC works with the China Council for the Protection of International Trade / China Chamber of International Commerce Mediation Center in this year. Earlier this year, the two institutions signed a cooperation agreement and jointly held a symposium in July, and then in September the BAC attended the international summit on mediation in Changsha hosted by the China Council for the Protection of International Trade / China Chamber of International Commerce Mediation Center as a supporting institution. The cooperation between the two institutions not only established a better platform of exchange on mediation, but also provided the society with more convenient diversified services with combination of arbitration and mediation. When talking about this event, he pointed out that it has already become a tradition of the BAC to organize and publish the Commercial Dispute Resolution in China: An Annual Review and Preview series which has been conducted for six consecutive years. Such tradition as reflected in Chinese/English bilingual reports based on summaries of more than ten professional areas of the past years is of real vitality, and worthy of the BAC’s constant endeavors. This is because such tradition was an accumulation of the wisdom efforts of experts from various industries, by which the outside world could better understand China, and the Chinese legal thought could be better presented to the world, and thus China’s transaction cost of integrating into the global trade was reduced.
Dr. Chen Fuyong
Thereafter, Deputy Secretary General Ms. Wang Fang delivered a speech on behalf of the China Council for the Protection of International Trade Commercial Legal Service Center and the China Council for the Protection of International Trade / China Chamber of International Commerce Mediation Center. She said that the signing of cooperation agreement and cooperation conducted between the China Council for the Protection of International Trade / China Chamber of International Commerce Mediation Center and the BAC was a powerful combination, and a joint effort to promote the development of international commercial mediation and arbitration. The BAC has enjoyed quick growth in recent years, and has dealt with a number of commercial disputes, and thereby built a well credibility both at home and abroad and became an internationally well-known arbitration institution with strong credibility. She sincerely expected that the two dispute resolution institutions could have better planning and open thinking, and jointly provide more efficient mediation and arbitration services, continuously provide qualified and efficient legal services for enterprises of countries involved in the “Belt and Road”, and make due efforts for building an impartial, transparent and predictable business environment.
Ms. Wang Fang
Session one of the event was focused on the Commercial Arbitration in China: An Annual Review and Preview (2018). Moderated by Dr. Chen Fuyong, Dr. Wang Xuehua, Chief Partner of Beijing Huanzhong & Partners, made a keynote speech, followed with comments provided by Mr. Ma Jun, Chief Judge of the Civil Division of the Fourth Intermediate People’s Court of Beijing, Prof. Du Huanfang, Vice President of Renmin University of China Law School, Ms. Kang Yi, Partner of JunHe LLP, respectively.
Dr. Wang Xuehua firstly presented an overall review of the development of international and domestic commercial arbitration in 2017, stressing that “arbitration is emerging as a key trend of effective resolution of disputes globally”. Meanwhile, he pointed out that “the arbitration industry in China has experienced leap-forward development during the past year, with a friendlier judicial environment for arbitration practice, a more comprehensive system of laws and regulations, more in-depth theoretical researches and practical explorations”. Then, he shared the annual report in details from perspectives of new explorations of arbitration institutions, enforcement of arbitral awards by PRC courts, overseas arbitration and investment arbitration.
Dr. Wang Xuehua
Next, Mr. Ma Jun shared his understanding of the whole annual report and the relationship between litigation and arbitration in practice with a sample case of judicial review of international arbitration that he has dealt with. Prof. Du Huanfang supplemented the development trend of international arbitration, and talked about his understanding of the arbitration system in the context of PPP projects. Ms. Kang Yi shared her feeling and experience about arbitration and in particular mediation based on international arbitrations and mediations she has been engaged in.
Mr. Ma Jun
Prof. Du Huanfang
Ms. Kang Yi
Session two was the award ceremony of the 6th “BAC Cup” essay competition on commercial arbitration for national college students, where Mr. Ding Jianyong, Deputy Secretary General of the BAC, Mr. Ma Jun, Prof. Fu Yulin of Peking University Law School and Dr. Wang Xuehua presented the first, second, third and honorable prizes to the winners, and took group photos with them.
Session three was focused on the Commercial Mediation in China: An Annual Review and Preview (2018). Moderated by Ms. Wang Fang, Mr. Fei Ning, Managing Partner of Hui Zhong Law Firm, provided a keynote speech, followed with comments by Mr. Liu Xinquan, President of China Iron and Steel Association Legal Affairs Branch, Prof. Fu Yulin and Mr. Sun Wei, Partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm.
Starting with the quick growth of commercial mediation, Mr. Fei Ning shared his views from perspectives of mediation by lawyers, non-governmental diversified mediation, maturity of traditional mediation concepts and the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation. In addition, he provided an outlook that “if we make mediation more mature and more institutionalized, and vest mediation with higher enforceability, mediation will enjoy a better future in China, help resolve social conflicts, propel the economic and social orders forward in stability and harmony, and this is exactly mediation’s core difference from other dispute resolution means”.
Mr. Fei Ning
Thereafter, Mr. Sun Wei prospectively shared the formulation process and content of the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation that he has participated in, such as the identification of the internationality of a settlement agreement, the application requirements and rebuttals in mediation. Mr. Liu Xinquan commented from the view of mediation users, expecting that dispute resolution means could better serve enterprises. Prof. Fu Yulin talked about her understanding of mediation and her expectation of the annual reports in next years from the similarities and differences between the East and the West in mediation approaches and ADR experiences.
Mr. Sun Wei
Mr. Liu Xinquan
Prof. Fu Yulin
At last the event came to its end in the warm applause given by the audience to thank the speakers. It was already getting dark outside the building, but the conference hall was brightly lit with passion and expectation, as each audience was looking forward to the Commercial Dispute Resolution in China: An Annual Review and Preview of the next year.
As the very first practical study report series organized by a Chinese arbitration institution, authored by experts of various areas of expertise and aimed at continuously looking into the development, change and tendency of commercial dispute resolution in China, the Commercial Dispute Resolution in China: An Annual Review and Preview series have attracted much attention ever since its initial launch in 2013, and have become valuable practical references for both domestic and overseas readers to have in-depth understanding of the development of commercial dispute resolution in China. After six years of efforts, this annual report series have included more than 50 sub-reports in various areas, and on the ground of such research findings the BAC so far has held over 10 launch events in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Cologne, Hague, Vienna, Zurich, Hong Kong and Beijing, attracting dispute resolution experts such as scholars, lawyers and in-house counsels from around the globe.
We sincerely welcome professionals from different areas to continue to pay attention to the annual report of 2019. You are also welcome to pay attention to the BAC’s official website and WeChat account for more information.