Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHIAC)

Background

The Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (SHIAC) (Shanghai International Arbitration Center, formerly known as the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission Shanghai Commission) was established in 1988 and is regarded as a leading Chinese arbitration institution dealing with domestic and international arbitration cases.

Parties from more than 70 countries and regions have participated in SHIAC arbitrations. SHIAC’s arbitral awards have been recognised and enforced under the New York Convention in more than 50 countries and regions.

Latest statistics for 2019

• SHIAC accepted 1,620 new cases; the total amount in dispute reached 36.435 million yuan; the average amount in dispute for an individual SHIAC case exceeded 22 million yuan.
• The number of foreign-related cases: 112.
• Out of 112, 18 of them involved both parties from jurisdictions other than Mainland China.
• Participants from 134 individuals or legal entities from countries and regions other than Mainland China joined in the proceedings.
• The top three types of disputes are: (1) finance, with a number of 397, accounting for 24.54%; (2) sales of goods and international transaction, with 352, accounting for 21.76%; and (3) corporate equity and investment management, with 198, accounting for 12.24%.
• The governing law clauses between the parties provided more choice, including in the laws of Italy, the United Arab Emirates, HK SAR, as well as the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
• SHIAC made 1,988 arbitrator appointments.

Outreach

SHIAC adheres to the strategy of internationalisation and professionalism. Since 2013, SHIAC has consecutively established the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Court of Arbitration and the Shanghai International Aviation Court of Arbitration (SIACA), which respectively represented the leading practice in Chinese FTZ area and the world’s first aviation arbitration institution. Up to the end of 2020, the FTZ Court of Arbitration had accepted more than 886 cases. In addition, in the second BRICS Legal Forum and the sixth Forum on China–Africa Cooperation Legal Forum, SHIAC also established two other platforms, the BRICS Dispute Resolution Shanghai Center and the China–Africa Joint Arbitration Shanghai Center.

To mitigate the negative impact of covid-19, SHIAC introduced virtual hearing and other online procedural management to avoid unnecessary delays in ongoing cases. Meanwhile, SIACA launched the aviation dispute resolution Green Passage, officially the Shanghai International Aviation Court of Arbitration “Arbitration Aids Aviation” project, to relieve the burden on aviation enterprises. In this project, SHIAC provides some incentives as the mediation cases accepted only charge a case registration fee of 1,000 yuan, without any further mediation fees, and arbitration fees will be partially reduced for arbitration cases.

Structure (Committee and Secretariat)

SHIAC is governed by the Board Committee, which is composed of leading professionals and practitioners in the field of law and various industries.

SHIAC provides professional secretarial services. Currently, there are 23 case managers, with an average age of 32. All of them graduated from prestigious domestic and foreign universities and the average work experience is 8.83 years. About 80% of the case managers have graduate degrees, and 52% have overseas study backgrounds. The arbitration can be administered bilingually.

Arbitrators and mediators

SHIAC has a panel of arbitrators, made up of 958 arbitrators. They come from 74 countries and regions. On Mainland China, there are 598 arbitrators, while the 360 who make up the remaining 37.58% are from the Hong Kong SARS, Macau SARS and Taiwan region.

SHIAC introduced a panel of mediators in line with the Mechanism of Mediation by Mediator under the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Arbitration Rules. There are 42 members in the current panel, including 40 in China and two foreign mediators.

Facilities, fees and journal

Centrally located in Shanghai, SHIAC provides prime facilities to support daily operation at consultation, registration, hearing and medium-size conferences. Apart from the headquarters, SIACA lies in Hongqiao Airport Economic Park adjacent to Shanghai Hongqiao Transport Hub and National Exhibition and Convention Center (Shanghai). The FTZ Court of Arbitration moved to the Shanghai International Dispute Resolution Center in 2019, which is also home to the Shanghai Arbitration Association and Singapore International Arbitration Centre Representative Office. SHIAC’s arbitration fee is collected based on the amount of the dispute and SHIAC adopts a cumulative declining system. As the amount of the dispute increases, the arbitration fee charged by SHIAC is more cost-effective.

SHIAC has an influential annual journal called the Shanghai International Arbitration Review.

7th-8th Floor, Jin Ling Mansion,
28 Jin Ling Road (w),
Shanghai 200021, China

Tel: +86 21 63875588
Fax: +86 21 63877070
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.shiac.org

MA YI
Vice Chairman and Secretary-General