Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Chinese Arbitration Law

My apologies to Woody Allen. 

Peter Yuen, an attorney in the dispute resolution department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, (one of the world's biggest and best law firms) recently wrote a very informative article on arbitration in China.  Mr. Yuen, who has been counsel in arbitration proceedings in Beijing, Shanghai, London, Singapore and Tokyo arbitrations under CIETAC, ICC, LCIA and UNCITRAL, works out of Freshfields' Hong Kong office.

Mr. Yuen's article focuses on the Chinese Supreme People's Court's recently issued interpretations of China's Arbitration Law and it is an excellent short summary of both the interpretation itself and where it falls short. The Court's new interpretation provides substantial guidance on two key issues in arbitration: the validity of arbitration agreements and challenges to arbitral awards. 

Because Mr. Yuen's article is itself a summarization, rather than my simply re-hashing nearly the entire article, I suggest those interested in arbitration in China be sure to read it. 

Mr.Yuen was also kind enough to send me a copy of a much longer (20 pages actually) he co-wrote on the "Supreme People's Court's Draft Interpretation on Application of the PRC Arbitration Law," which draft Mr. Yuen tells me is "99% identical to the approved version."  This longer article is an excellent overview of the state of arbitration in China and is great reading for lawyers who write contracts with Chinese companies or get involved in China related arbitration.