Chuck Peng’s speech topic is “China, as seat of arbitration and destination of acknowledge and enforcement of foreign arbitration award”.

• Why China has not historically been a popular seat for arbitration

Chinese arbitration law does not recognise the seat of arbitration theory, but an alternative theory: the place of arbitration institution, and China made a reservation on arbitration in WTO negotiations, so only Chinese arbitration institution can produce arbitration award seated in China.

• How the Chinese judiciary tries to solve the problem in practice

Chuck introduced a series of cases where the Chinese courts are trying to apply the seat of arbitration theory to solve the discrepancy between Chinese arbitration and international arbitration mainstream. The attitude of the Chinese Supreme People's Court is also moving towards in favor of the seat of arbitration theory gradually. The leading case is the Brentwood vs. Guanddong Fa'anlong, where the court clearly states that the seat of arbitration theory shall apply and ICC can produce a foreign-related arbitral award seated in China.

• The future of Chinese arbitration and China's pro-arbitration stance

China has a very good record of over 90% recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards in the past 10 years. Moreover, only two international arbitration cases has been set aside due to violation of China’s public policy. China is in the legislative process to make a new arbitration law which fully embraces the seat of arbitration theory. In addition, China has already applied the seat of arbitration theory in the free trade zone where it has legislative autonomy.

The panel was attended by in-house counsel of leading companies and international lawyers and practitioners from around the world, including Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, Singapore International Arbitration Centre, UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.