Xia Yuanjie

szrbgracexia@126.com

LIU XIAOCHUN, president of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), recently spoke highly of the effectiveness of the Shenzhen government's self-reform in accelerating the establishment of the rule of law and presented the efforts the SCIA has made to create a legalized, market-oriented and globalized arbitration environment in China and Shenzhen.

The institution provides commercial arbitration and mediation services for clients from China and abroad. Currently, its services have been extended to 119 countries and regions. The SCIA is the first arbitration institution on the Chinese mainland whose arbitral award has been enforced overseas. Over the years, the SCIA has ranked first in the enforcement of arbitral awards handled by Hong Kong courts, according to sznews.com.

“Over the past 37 years, the organizational innovations of the SCIA have strengthened the independence and impartiality of arbitration in Shenzhen and enhanced the confidence of domestic and foreign parties in Shenzhen’s rule of law and China’s arbitration,” said Liu.

In 2012, Shenzhen issued Regulations on Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (for Trial Implementation) to be in accordance with the National People’s Congress’s special authorization for legislation in the special economic zone. “It is unique in the world that a municipal government formulated special local legislation for a specific arbitration institution,” said Liu.

At the core of this legislation is the establishment of a statutory body governance mechanism designed to separate the implementation responsibilities between decision-making and supervision, which is the leading reform for arbitration institutions worldwide.

A global professional council was gathered in 2012. At present, seven out of 13 council members are from either Hong Kong or overseas and they exercise a statutory right to make decisions and supervise the executive management.

This composition strengthens SCIA’s arbitration independence and eliminates the potential for local protection, administrative interference or insider control.

“The Shenzhen government is characterized by enlightenment, openness, innovation and self-reform,” Liu said. The government’s authority over the SCIA is limited to two respects: firstly, it, in accordance with regulations, is permitted to appoint council members every five years, and secondly, it can appoint the executive head under the nomination of the council.

In 2015, SCIA accepted a cross-border investment case between Chinese and American companies, in which the amount in dispute exceeded 13 billion yuan (US$1.997 billion). The SCIA took 13 days to fully resolve this high-stake case, with the final award fully satisfying both parties.

“The 2015 milestone arbitration case has proven the success of our reform. As more and more Chinese enterprises go global and invest global, not only them, but also their foreign counterparts, choose to handle the disputes by arbitration in Shenzhen, without worrying about partisanship,” said Liu.

The SCIA also built the most global arbitrator panel on the Chinese mainland, with international panelists accounting for over 41 percent of the total. The 934 SCIA arbitrators, amongst whom 385 are from beyond the Chinese mainland, are from 77 countries and regions.