Guangdong & Macao Advance International Arbitration Cooperation

On May 7, 2019, together with the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government, World Trade Center Macao Arbitration Center and the Voluntary Arbitration Center of the Macao Lawyers’ Association, the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (also known as “South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission” and “Shenzhen Arbitration Commission”, the “SCIA”) held the “Co-construction, Integration, Convergence, Symbiosis - Seminar on International Arbitration Cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and SCIA Macao Arbitrator Appointment Ceremony” at the Legal Affairs Bureau of the MSAR Government. It was the first seminar on international arbitration co-organized by Guangdong and Macao since the introduction of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the “Outline”) and the jointly issuance of the Opinions on Improving the Arbitration System to Strengthen the Credibility of Arbitration by the general offices of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. The event focused on the plans stated in the Outline, including “improving international commercial dispute resolution mechanism, building an international arbitration center, supporting the exchanges and cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao arbitration and mediation institutions and offering arbitration and mediation services to facilitate the economic and trade development in the Greater Bay Area”. It also aims to advance mutual recognition, symbiosis, integration and convergence between the arbitration systems, arbitration rules and arbitration cooperation mechanisms of Guangdong and Macao, in order to jointly build an international arbitration hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau of the MSAR Government, Liu Dexue, delivered an opening speech. Liu Xiaochun, the President of the SCIA, presided over the ceremony for the appointment of Macao arbitrators, while Director Liu Dexue, Professor Shen Sibao (Chairman of SCIA Council, Chairman of China International Economic and Trade Law Association, Member for the CICC International Commercial Expert Committee) and Professor Huang Yaying (SCIA Council Member, Dean of the Intellectual Property School of Shenzhen University) presented letters of appointment to SCIA Macao arbitrators. Representatives from Guangdong Lawyers Association, Zhuhai Lawyers Association and Dongguan Lawyers Association and close to one hundred legal and business professionals from Macao attended the event.

Chaired by Liu Qian,legal expert from the Legal Affairs Bureau of the MSAR Government, the seminar invited keynote speakers including Emília Santos, a legal expert from the Legal Affairs Bureau of the MSAR Government, Liu Xiaochun, the President of the SCIA, Huang Shuxi, the Secretary-General of the World Trade Center Macao Arbitration Center, and Guo Yingmei, lawyer from the Voluntary Arbitration Center of the Macao Lawyers’ Association. The speakers shared their insights on arbitration legislation and arbitration system in Macao,new developments of international arbitration in the Greater Bay Area and innovations and breakthroughs of the 2019 new arbitration rules of the SCIA, the history and development of the World Trade Center Macao Arbitration Center and the construction of Sino-Portuguese and Greater Bay Area arbitration platforms, and the development of the Voluntary Arbitration Center of the Macao Lawyers’ Association and co-construction of the Greater Bay Area and integration between Shenzhen and Macao.

In the closing remarks by Shen Sibao, Chairman of SCIA Council, he referred to this event as the new start of the arbitration cooperation between Guangdong and Macao. Both sides need to seize the great opportunities brought by the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In the context of “One Country, Two Systems, Three Jurisdictions”, the SCIA will enhance the cooperation and interaction with Macao’s legal community to jointly build a new mechanism for arbitration cooperation in the Greater Bay Area and set the standard for international arbitration at large, said Shen.

During the visit to Macao, the delegation of SCIA was also invited to visit the Legal Affairs Bureau of the MSAR Government on May 6, 2019 and exchanged ideas with the Director, Liu Dexue, the Deputy Director,ZhongYingyi, the Head of the Department of Legal System Study and Legislative Coordination, Chen Zhiyang, the Head of the Department of Legislative Drafting,FENG Bingjie, the Head of the Department of Legal Translation,Wu Zhiqiang, and other legal experts. The two sides discussed the local arbitration legislation in Macao, the innovative development of SCIA,the cooperation in the Greater Bay Area, and established common ground on how to jointly build a new mechanism for international arbitration cooperation in the Greater Bay Area.