Hong Kong New List of Recognized Mainland Arbitral Authorities

On December 23, 2016, Mr. Rimsky YUEN, Secretary forJustice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the “HKSAR”), announced a list of the mostrecent recognized mainland arbitral authorities (the “list”). The list, provided by the PRC Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council through the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, is promulgated on the Government Notice No. 7226 on the HKSAR Government Gazette, pursuant to Section 97(1) of the Arbitration Ordinance (Chapter 609). The South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (also known as the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, the “SCIA,” and previously named as the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission South China Subcommission) is enlisted as one of the recognized mainland arbitral authorities, with its new name stipulated on the list.

According to statistics released by the HKSAR judicial institutions, the High Court of HKSAR enforced a total of 29 arbitral awards from Chinese mainland between 2013 and 2015, 9 of which were arbitral awards from the SCIA, constituting 31% of the overall enforced awards. The SCIA was the first Chinese arbitration institution to have its arbitral award enforced outside Chinese mainland under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign  Arbitral Awards in 1989.

Following the reunification of the HKSAR, the High Court of HKSAR has enforced Chinese mainland arbitral awards in accordance with the Arrangement of the Supreme People’s Court on Reciprocal Enforcement of Arbitration Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. From then on, all SCIA arbitral awards for which enforcement has been sought in the HKSAR have been successfully enforced.