The first International Arbitration and Mediation Workshop was successfully held in Beijing on June 5, 2021. The workshop was sponsored by CASS Institute of International Law and Singapore International Arbitration Centre with the support of Beijing Financial Street Service Bureau.

At the workshop, Mr. Gary Born, a member of the Expert Committee of the International Commercial Tribunal of the Supreme People's Court and President of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre Court of Arbitration, and Mr. Xi Xiangyang, a judge at the Supreme People’s Court, each gave a keynote speech on “the latest trend and characteristics of international commercial arbitration” and “the current practice of judicial review of arbitration in China”, respectively.

Mr. Born pointed out in his speech that, in recent years, the number of parties to the New York Convention has been growing continuously; courts in major jurisdictions (including China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Singapore, etc.) have issued a series of arbitration judicial interpretations and judicial documents aimed at promoting international arbitration; the number of cases accepted by major international arbitration institutions, including SIAC, has increased significantly; remote court hearing has become the norm during the pandemic; and procedural tools including emergency arbitrator procedure, summary procedure, and early dismissals have been widely used in international arbitration and produced positive effects. Mr. Born also introduced the situation of international financial arbitration in particular, pointing out that more financial institutions now choose international arbitration as their dispute resolution method. Finally, Mr. Born the new development of international investment arbitration, including the trend of shortening the dispute resolution cycle of arbitration.;

In his speech, Judge Xi Xiangyang systematically reviewed and analyzed some issues concerning the establishment of arbitration agreements, the determination of the validity of arbitration agreements, judicial review of arbitration awards, and some recent viewpoints expressed in judicial reviews. In discussing the establishment and validity of arbitration agreements, Judge Xi focused on the judicial viewpoints and practices relating to the independence of arbitration agreements, third parties to arbitration agreements, arbitration institutions, and arbitrable matters. Regarding the issue of judicial review of arbitration awards, Judge Xi focused on the reasons for judicial review from such aspects as the composition of the arbitration tribunal, defects in arbitration procedures, evidence, corruption of arbitrators, and violations of public interests. Finally, Judge Xi made a personal interpretation of some of the characteristics and cutting-edge viewpoints of current arbitration judicial review practice in China, and the urgent need for amending the Chinese arbitration law.

The workshop was attended by experts from such research and practical institutions as CASS Institute of International Law, Tsinghua University, China Maritime Arbitration Commission, China Academy of Arbitration Law, Sina Group, and Yingke Law Firm.