SCIA Delegation Attends Asia-Pacific ADR Conference

From 6 November 2017 to 10 November 2017, LIU Xiaochun, President of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (also known as the “South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, hereinafter the “SCIA”) and HU Jiannong, SCIA Council Member and Director-General of the Legislative Affairs Office of the Government of Shenzhen Municipality, together led the SCIA Delegation to visit the Republic of Korea and attended the 6th Asia-Pacific ADR Conference. As a representative from arbitration institutions in China, President LIU Xiaochun delivered a speech on the innovations of China’s arbitration institutions and the “China Shenzhen Rules” in the Conference.

　  The ADR Conference is jointly held by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (hereinafter the “UNCITRAL-RCAP”), the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (hereinafter the “KCAB”), the ICC International Court of Arbitration (hereinafter the “ICC”) and the Seoul International Dispute Resolution Center (hereinafter the “SIDRC”). The SCIA served as one of the supporting institutions for the Conference. The theme of this year’s Conference is titled “Access to Justice Innovations in Transnational Trade and Investment Disputes”. International experts, practitioners, government officials, judges, researchers and scholars from 56 States shared their views and research findings on the topics of “Innovation by the International Arbitral Institutions”, “How to Prevent Abuse of Process in International Arbitration”, “New Areas of International Arbitration”, “International Investment Dispute Settlement, What Perspectives?” and “New Frontiers in Sports Arbitration”. João RIBEIRO, Regional Head of the UNCITRAL-RCAP delivered a welcoming speech and chaired the session on “Innovation by the International Arbitral Institutions”. Keynote speeches were delivered by legal professionals from Asia-Pacific region countries (China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Singapore, etc.) and European countries (UK, Germany, Span, Netherlands, and Switzerland) as well as those from International Institutions (ICC and ICCA).

President LIU Xiaochun pointed out in his speech that, the robust innovative development of international arbitration in China is basically along with China's reform and opening up process and the development of market economy. Since 1983, the SCIA has been always sticking to its core values and principles including independence, impartiality and innovation. To satisfy the increasing needs for domestic and international dispute resolution service, the SCIA has taken positive steps to explore new pathways together with other arbitration institutions, business and legal communities both at home and abroad, contributing to the internationalization and the modernization of arbitration in China. Very lately, the SCIA, fixing its eyes on the “Greater Bay Area” covering Shenzhen Qianhai, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR, has achieved innovative progress in the following three aspects. Firstly, the SCIA has innovatively adopted a Council-centered governance structure. According to a unique statutory-body legislation in 2012, the SCIA became the first arbitration institution authorizing its corporate governance structure with an international Council. Currently, over half of the total 13 SCIA council members are from foreign jurisdictions. Secondly, the SCIA has developed diversified harmonious dispute resolution mechanisms. It combines different dispute resolution mechanisms together in a nutshell tailored to parties’ needs, e.g. “mediation + arbitration”, “facilitation + arbitration” etc. Moreover, various platforms/centers have been established to provide multiple services, such as the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Mediation Alliance, the Shenzhen Securities and Futures Dispute Resolution Center, the Negotiation Facilitation Center, etc. Thirdly, the SCIA has launched a mega-rules system under the "One Belt, One Road" Initiative. The SCIA new rules were promulgated on 26 October 2016 and entered into force on 1 December 2016, including the SCIA Arbitration Rules, the SCIA Guidelines for the Administration of Arbitration under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, the Special Rules of Maritime and Logistics Arbitration, the Negotiation Facilitation Rules and the Procedure Guidelines for Online Arbitration. By enforcing the new rules, the SCIA is the first arbitration institution in Mainland China to hear investor-state arbitrations and administer cases under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.

Apart from attending the ADR Conference, the SCIA Delegation paid a visit to the UNCITRAL-RCAP and had discussions with João RIBEIRO about the application of the SCIA Guidelines for the Administration of Arbitration under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Further cooperation between the two institutions is in prospect. The SCIA Delegation also visited the KCAB (met with President Sung Bae JI), the SIDRC (met with Chairman Hi-taek Shin, SCIA arbitrator and Young Seok Lee, Secretary-General of the SIDRC) and Shin & Kim Law Firm (met with Senior Partner Doo-Sik Kim and other lawyers of Shin & Kim’s international dispute resolution group). A proposal for establishing a mutual international dispute resolution platform between China and the Republic of Korea was envisaged.