General

With the continuous improvement and upgrading of China ASEAN friendly cooperation, the trend of enterprises' international layout has been strengthened, and the demand for legal services has also increased dramatically. All parties should constantly improve the level of commercial legal services to provide high-quality legal services and guarantees for the high-quality implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP). Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Recently, the RCEP and ASEAN International Arbitration Summit Forum (hereinafter referred to as the Forum) held in Nanning took "Sharing Opportunities and Creating Prosperity - Innovation and Development of China ASEAN International Arbitration in the Context of RCEP" as the theme, focusing on how countries carry out practical cooperation, jointly promoting the diversified construction of the international commercial dispute settlement mechanism, and promoting the sustained, stable and healthy development of China ASEAN economic and trade cooperation.

The demand for soft connection is increasingly prominent

As an important way to resolve trade and investment disputes internationally, arbitration plays an indispensable role in dealing with international commercial disputes, optimizing the international business environment, and promoting the construction of the international rule of law. With the further implementation and effectiveness of RCEP, in addition to continuing to strengthen hard connectivity such as infrastructure construction, the demand for soft connectivity such as rules, standards and systems has also become increasingly prominent.

Ke Liangdong, Vice President of CCPIT, proposed in his speech that all countries should strengthen institutional coordination, realize rule connectivity, build a stable, fair, transparent and non discriminatory rule and institutional framework, and fully release the positive benefits of RCEP connectivity; Effectively resolve disputes, strengthen legal protection, equally protect the legitimate rights and interests of all parties involved, properly resolve disputes, and create a legal business environment; Suggestions on rule of law cooperation, such as expanding rule of law exchanges, promoting mutual trust in the rule of law, and constantly improving their own rule of law capabilities and levels.

Qian Xueming, vice chairman of the CPPCC Guangxi Autonomous Region, said in his speech that we should deepen international arbitration cooperation, promote regional friendly cooperation, and strive to provide high-quality, efficient and professional legal services and legal protection for international economic and trade exchanges; Strengthen trade and investment cooperation, help regional economic recovery and development, constantly expand the scale of mutual investment in goods trade and service trade, promote the deep integration of industrial chain, supply chain and value chain, and achieve win-win cooperation; Promote the upgrading and development of the Summit, better serve the high-quality implementation of RCEP, actively promote the docking and cooperation of commercial law, international arbitration and other professional aspects, and help regional enterprises enjoy the dividends of RCEP.

The effective implementation of RCEP not only constructs a new global pattern and becomes an important driving force for world economic growth, but also brings new opportunities for Guangxi's opening up and development.

Chen Hong, member of the Standing Committee of Nanning Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor of Nanning, Guangxi, said in his speech that Nanning would seize the opportunity of the construction of the China ASEAN Free Trade Area Version 3.0, fully implement the commitments and rules of RCEP market opening, and actively serve and integrate into the new development pattern; Fully cooperate with the construction of China RCEP Economic and Trade Center, and provide professional services such as business, legal, customs and finance for Chinese enterprises to enter the market of RCEP member countries and enterprises of RCEP member countries to enter the Chinese market; We will make every effort to build a China ASEAN cross-border industrial chain, fully open cross-border channels, and promote the integration and development of the "three chains" of the cross-border industrial chain supply chain value chain; Strive to create a first-class business environment.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, as an important outcome of this forum, the ASEAN Court Trial Center of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Court Trial Center) was officially unveiled. The Court Trial Center is an arbitration service institution set up by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission and dedicated to ASEAN. It will help Guangxi build a regional arbitration base for RCEP member countries, especially ASEAN countries, create a legal and international business environment, create a convenient arbitration environment for both parties to disputes between China and ASEAN, and encourage foreign-funded foreign trade enterprises to actively use arbitration to resolve disputes.

This forum is the first event under the framework of the 19th China ASEAN Business and Investment Summit, co sponsored by the High People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the Guangxi Branch of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, the Department of Commerce of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region/the Working Office of the China (Guangxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the Nanning Municipal People's Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

New Opportunities and Challenges for Dispute Resolution in the Age of RCEP

With the acceleration of the regional economic integration market, properly resolving the commercial disputes arising in this process in accordance with the law, equally protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the market subjects of regional member countries, and striving to create a fair and just legal business environment have become an important issue faced by all RCEP member countries. Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation Report.

Zhang Shuming, Vice President of the Fourth Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court, said that RCEP's dispute settlement mechanism adheres to the concept and thinking of the WTO dispute settlement mechanism, and takes full account of the characteristics of the Asian region, especially the different levels of economic development and dispute settlement traditions of different economies, with its own characteristics. For example, it encourages cooperation and consultation among contracting parties, builds a final decision model of the expert group, allows organizers to settle disputes through fork clauses, and also stipulates special and differential treatment for the least developed countries, which fully reflects the efficiency, transparency and inclusiveness of RCEP as a multilateral trade agreement.

Zhang Shuming pointed out that under the opportunity of signing the RCEP, the People's Court will uphold the judicial attitude of supporting and supervising arbitration according to law, build a more efficient judicial review system for arbitration, form a more unified judicial review standard for arbitration, coordinate the revision of the Arbitration Law, create a more friendly legal environment for international arbitration, and strengthen the research on the RCEP dispute settlement mechanism. At the same time, the Chinese courts will also further deepen judicial exchanges with the courts of ASEAN member countries, improve the mutual legal assistance mechanism, and accelerate the docking of the new RCEP economic and trade rules.

After its entry into force, RCEP has effectively promoted the flow of goods, services, capital, enterprises and personnel among member countries, as well as the accelerated development of trade and investment. While bringing a series of new opportunities, it will also bring new demands and challenges to legal services, especially dispute resolution services.

According to Huacheng Import and Export Data Observation, Lin Meien, CEO of the Singapore International Arbitration Center, said that international commercial arbitration has become the main form of cross-border commercial contract disputes. These characteristics of international commercial arbitration and institutional arbitration can enable RCEP to give full play to its economic potential, quickly reduce legal risks, and convince commercial parties of their rights and obligations. She said that the Singapore Mediation Convention is gaining more and more attention. At present, the New York Convention is one of the most mature conventions, allowing enforcement in more than 170 countries or regions. Therefore, this mixed procedure may be very important in the coming years.

Qin Yuxiu, a distinguished researcher of CSCEC Strategic Research Institute and former general counsel of CSCEC, shared the dispute resolution in the context of RCEP from the perspective of enterprises. She pointed out that in the past three years, the turnover of Chinese enterprises in the ten ASEAN countries has remained at the level of 30-40 billion US dollars. The signing of RCEP is good for contractors. For example, the promise of zero tariff in goods trade is conducive to expanding foreign contracting and reducing costs; In terms of service trade, the opening of housing construction, transportation, transportation and other fields will improve business opportunities, and economic and technical cooperation and technical assistance will also bring more opportunities to contracting enterprises.

How can enterprises avoid legal risks and resolve disputes through arbitration? Qin Yuxiu suggested that "going global" enterprises should attach great importance to compliance management, and embed the compliance system into their operations to avoid non compliant behaviors; Strengthen the control of political risk in the contract, and improve the ability of detailed risk management while selecting countries. For example, make scientific allocation in the contract and negotiation, ensure the performance of the contract, and effectively help all parties to the contract to jointly deal with risks. Special attention shall be paid to the contract terms and management measures related to integrity, the integrity management system, guide and manual of the whole process shall be well implemented, and the systemic risk caused by individual problems shall be avoided. In addition, as the differences in the legal systems of the countries involved in RCEP are more than commonalities, enterprises operating in the region should try arbitration, mediation and other methods more, choose an arbitration institution suitable for themselves, and make a good layout in advance. Huacheng's import and export data observation report.