| Category | ARBITRATION | Organ of Promulgation | The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress | Status of Effect | In Force |
| Date of Promulgation | 1994-08-31 | Effective Date | 1995-09-01 |
|
Arbitration Law of the People’s Republic of China |
|---|
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Arbitration Commissions and the Arbitration
Chapter III Arbitration Agreement
Chapter IV Arbitration Proceedings
Chapter V Application for Rescission of Award
Chapter VI Execution
Chapter VII Special Provisions for Foreign-related
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Annex: The Relevant Articles of the Civil Procedure Law
(Adopted at the Ninth Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People’s Congress on August 31, 1994, promulgated by
Order No.31 of the President of the People’s Republic of China on August 31, 1994, and effective as of September 1, 1995)
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated for the
purpose of ensuring the impartial and prompt
arbitration of economic disputes, protecting the
legitimate rights and interests of the parties, and
guaranteeing the sound development of the socialist
market economy.
Article 2 Disputes arising out of contracts and
other disputes relating to rights and interests
in property between citizens, legal persons and other
organizations that are equal subjects may be
submitted to arbitration.
Article 3 Disputes coming under the following
categories shall not be submitted to arbitration:
(1) disputes arising from marriage, adoption,
guardianship, support and inheritance; and
(2) administrative disputes that, according to
law, should be handled by administrative authorities.
Article 4 The parties’ submission to arbitration
to settle their dispute shall be on the basis of both
parties’ free will and an arbitration agreement
reached between them. Failing an arbitration
agreement, the Arbitration Commission shall not accept
the application for arbitration submitted by either
of the parties.
Article 5 In case of an arbitration agreement,
a suit brought before a people’s court by either of
the parties to the arbitration agreement shall not be
accepted, except the arbitration agreement is null
and void.
Article 6 The Arbitration Commission shall be
selected by the parties by agreement.
In arbitration, there shall be no level competency,
nor territorial jurisdiction.
Article 7 In arbitration, disputes shall be
settled on the basis of facts, in conformity with
law and in a just and reasonable manner.
Article 8 The arbitration shall be conducted
independently by virtue of law, and shall not be subject
to interference by any administrative agency, public
organization or individual.
Article 9 The arbitral award shall be final.
Once an arbitral award has been made, neither the
Arbitration Commission nor the people’s court shall
accept the application for arbitration submitted,
or the suit brought, by either of the parties as to
the same dispute.
Where an arbitral award has been ordered to be
rescinded or not to be executed by a people’s court
according to law, either of the parties may submit
the dispute to arbitration according to the
arbitration agreement reconcluded between them, or
bring a suit before a people’s court.
Chapter II Arbitration Commissions and the Arbitration
Association
Article 10 An Arbitration Commission may be set up
in the capital city of a province, autonomous region
or municipality directly under the Central Government,
and also in other cities divided into districts if the
circumstances require, with no need to set up at every
administrative level.
In setting up an Arbitration Commission, the
people’s government of the city as mentioned in the
preceding paragraph shall arrange for the departments
concerned and the relevant chambers of commerce to
organize such Commission in a unified manner.
For setting up an Arbitration Commission, the
registration procedure shall be completed with the
judicial administration of the province, autonomous
region or municipality under the Central Government.
Article 11 An Arbitration Commission shall meet
the following requirements:
(1) has its own name, domicile and constitution;
(2) has the necessary property;
(3) has the personnel constituting the Commission; and
(4) has appointed arbitrators.
The constitution of an Arbitration Commission shall
be formulated in accordance with this Law.
Article 12 An Arbitration Commission shall be
composed of one Chairman, two to four Vice-Chairmen
and seven to eleven members.
The posts of Chairman, Vice-Chairman and member
of an Arbitration Commission shall be held by
specialists in the fields of law, economy and
trading and persons with practical experience. The
specialists in law and in economy and trading shall
not be less than two-thirds of the personnel of an
Arbitration Commission.
Article 13 An Arbitration Commission shall appoint
their arbitrators from among persons who are just and
upright.
An arbitrator shall have one of the following
qualifications:
(1) has been engaged in arbitration for eight
years or more;
(2) has practised law as a lawyer for eight years
or more;
(3) has served as a judge for eight years or more;
(4) has been engaged in legal research or legal
education and has a senior professional post_title; or
(5) with an acquaintance with law, has been
engaged in the professional work of economy and
trading, etc. and has a senior professional post_title
or has attained the equivalent professional level.
An Arbitration Commission shall draw up rolls of
arbitrators according to different professions.
Article 14 Arbitration Commissions shall be
independent of administrative agencies and there
shall be no subordinate relationship between an
Arbitration Commission and any administrative agency,
nor that between the different Arbitration Commissions.
Article 15 China Arbitration Association shall
be a social organization with the status of a legal
person. All Arbitration Commissions shall be members
of China Arbitration Association. The constitution
of China Arbitration Association shall be formulated
by the National Congress of the Members.
China Arbitration Association shall be a
self-disciplining organization of Arbitration
Commissions, and it shall conduct supervision
over the undisciplined activities of Arbitration
Commissions and their members and arbitrators.
China Arbitration Association shall formulate
arbitration rules in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the Civil Procedure Law and this Law.
Chapter III Arbitration Agreement
Article 16 The term “arbitration agreement”
shall mean either an arbitral clause in a contract
or any arbitration agreement in other writing form
concluded before or after the dispute arising.
An arbitration agreement shall contain the
following particulars:
(1) the express intention of arbitration;
(2) matters that may be submitted to
arbitration; and
(3) the Arbitration Commission appointed.
Article 17 An arbitration agreement shall be
null and void if it comes under any of the following
circumstances:
(1) the agreed matters for arbitration are beyond
the arbitral scope provided for by law;
(2) one or more parties of the arbitration
agreement are persons having no capacity for civil
conduct or persons with limited capacity for civil
conduct; or
(3) the arbitration agreement was concluded as
a result of coercion.
Article 18 Where they have not or not expressly
appointed the matters for arbitration or the
Arbitration Commission in their arbitration agreement,
the parties may make an additional agreement; failing
the additional agreement, the arbitration agreement
shall be null and void.
Article 19 An arbitration agreement shall be
independent of contracts, and no modification,
rescission, termination or invalidation of a contract
shall affect the effect of the arbitration agreement.
The Arbitration Tribunal shall be enpost_titled to
confirm the effect of a contract.
Article 20 Where any party challenges the effect
of an arbitration agreement, he may either submit it
to the Arbitration Commission for a decision or bring
it before the people’s court for an order. If one party
submits it to the Arbitration Commission for a
decision while the other one brings it before the
people’s court for an order, the people’s court shall
rule an order.
The party who intends to challenge the effect of
the arbitration agreement shall put forward his
challenge before the first hearing of the Arbitration
Tribunal.
Chapter IV Arbitration Proceedings
Section 1 Application and Acceptance
Article 21 Where any party intends to submit a
dispute to arbitration, the following requirements
shall be met:
(1) there is an arbitration agreement;
(2) he has a concrete claim, together with facts and
grounds; and
(3) the dispute is within the arbitral scope of
the Arbitration Commission.
Article 22 In applying for arbitration, a
party shall submit to the Arbitration Commission
the arbitration agreement, an application for
arbitration and its duplicates.
Article 23 An application for arbitration shall
include the following particulars:
(1) the name, sex, age, occupation, place of
work and domicile of the parties, or if the party is
a legal person or other organizations, its name and
domicile, and the name and position of its legal
representative or of the person in charge;
(2) the arbitration claim and the facts and
grounds on which the claim is based; and
(3) the evidence and its source, as well as the
names and domiciles of witnesses.
Article 24 Within 5 days after receiving an
application for arbitration, the Arbitration
Commission shall, if it deems that the requirements
for acceptance have been satisfied, accept the
application and notify the party, or if it deems
that the requirements for acceptance have not been
satisfied, notify the party in writing that the
application has been rejected and provide due
explanation.
Article 25 After accepting the application, the
Arbitration Commission shall, within the time limits
as provided for by the arbitration rules, serve the
Claimant with the arbitration rules and the roll of
arbitrators, and serve the Respondent with a
duplicate of the application for arbitration, as well
as the arbitration rules and the roll of arbitrators.
After receiving the duplicate of the application
for arbitration, the Respondent shall, within the time
limits as provided for by the arbitration rules,
submit his defence to the Arbitration Commission.
After receiving the defence, the Arbitration Commission
shall, within the time limits as provided for by the
arbitration rules, serve the Claimant with a
duplicate of the defence. Failure by the Respondent
to file a bill of defence shall not prevent the
arbitration proceedings from being carried out.
Article 26 In the event that a party, despite
of the existence of an arbitration agreement, brings
a lawsuit before a people’s court without a
statement of the existence of the agreement, and the
people’s court has accepted it as a case, if the
other party submits the arbitration agreement
before the first hearing of the court, the people’s
court shall reject the suit with the exception that
the arbitration agreement is null and void; if
the other party does not raise any challenge to the
jurisdiction of the court before the first hearing,
he shall be deemed to have abandoned the arbitration
agreement, and the people’s court shall continue its
proceedings.
Article 27 The Claimant may abandon or modify
his claim. The Respondent may either accept or
refuse the claim, and he shall be enpost_titled to file
his counter-claim.
Article 28 Where it becomes impossible or
difficult to execute an arbitral award because of
the acts of the other party or for other reasons,
a party may apply for economic preservative measures.
Where a party applies for economic preservative
measures, the Arbitration Commission shall refer it
to the people’s court in accordance with the
relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law.
If the application comes to be false, the
applicant shall compensate the other party for any
loss of property due to the economic preservative
measures.
Article 29 A party or his agent ad litem may
entrust a lawyer or other agent to act on his behalf
in arbitration. Those who intend to entrust a lawyer
or other agent to act on his behalf in arbitration
shall submit to the Arbitration Commission a power
of attorney.
Section 2 Formation of Arbitration Tribunal
Article 30 An Arbitration Tribunal may consist
of either three or a sole arbitrator. Where an
Arbitration Tribunal consists of three arbitrators,
a presiding arbitrator shall be appointed.
Article 31 Where the parties have agreed that
the Arbitration Tribunal shall be composed of three
arbitrators, they shall respectively select or
respectively authorize the Chairman of the
Arbitration Commission to appoint an arbitrator,
and the third arbitrator shall be selected jointly
by the parties or be appointed by the Chairman of
the Arbitration Commission with the authorization
jointly by the parties. The third arbitrator shall
be the presiding arbitrator.
Where the parties have agreed that the
Arbitration Tribunal shall be composed of a sole
arbitrator, that arbitrator shall be selected
jointly by the parties or be appointed by the
Chairman of the Arbitration Commission with the
authorization jointly by the parties.
Article 32 Where the parties, within the time
limits as provided for by the arbitration rules,
fail to agree on the formation of the Arbitration
Tribunal or fail to select the arbitrator(s), the
formation of the Arbitration Tribunal or the
arbitrator(s) shall be decided or appointed by the
Chairman of the Arbitration Commission.
Article 33 After an Arbitration Tribunal has
been formed, the Arbitration Commission shall
notify the formation of the Arbitration Tribunal
in writing to the parties.
Article 34 Where any arbitrator comes under
any of the following circumstances, he shall
withdraw from his office, also the parties shall
have the right to make a request for a withdrawal
of him from his office:
(1) he is a party or a near relative of a
party or of the agent of a party to the case;
(2) he has a personal interest in the case;
(3) he has other relationship with a party or
the agent of a party to the case that cause doubts
to his impartiality; or
(4) he has secretly met with a party or the
agent of a party, or accepted lavish dinner and gift
offered by a party or the agent of a party.
Article 35 The party who challenges an
arbitrator shall state the reason and make a request
for withdrawal before the first hearing. Where the
reason for challenge becomes known after the first
hearing, the request for withdrawal may be made
before the end of the last hearing.
Article 36 The Chairman of the Arbitration
Commission shall decide on the withdrawal of an
arbitrator; the Arbitration Commission shall decide
on the withdrawal of the Chairman of the Arbitration
Commission as an arbitrator.
Article 37 Where an arbitrator cannot perform
his functions because of his withdrawal or for
other reasons, a substitute arbitrator shall be
selected or appointed in accordance with the
provisions of this Law.
After the substitute arbitrator has been
selected or appointed upon the withdrawal, the
parties may request that the arbitral proceedings
in progress begin anew, and the Arbitration Tribunal
shall decide to permit or not; the Arbitration
Tribunal may also decide of itself whether or not
the arbitral proceedings shall begin anew.
Article 38 Where any arbitrator comes under the
circumstances as mentioned in Item (4) of Article 34
of this Law and the case is serious, or under the
circumstances as mentioned in Item (6) of Article 58
of this Law, he shall be investigated for legal
responsibilities according to law, and the Arbitration
Commission shall remove his name from the roll of
arbitrators.
Section III Hearing and Award
Article 39 Arbitration shall be conducted by
means of oral hearing. Where the parties agree to
omit oral hearing, the Arbitration Tribunal may
make an award according to the application for
arbitration, the bill of defence and other papers.
Article 40 Arbitration shall be conducted in
camera. Where the parties agree on open hearing, it
may be done so, with the exception that any state
secrets are involved.
Article 41 The Arbitration Commission shall,
within the time limits as provided for by the
arbitration rules, notify both sides of the parties
the date of oral hearing. With justified reasons, a
party may, within the time limits as provided for by
the arbitration rules, request for an postponement
of the date of oral hearing. The Arbitration
Tribunal shall decide on the request.
Article 42 The Applicant who has been notified
in writing to but fails to appear at the hearing
without any justified reason or leaves the session in
the progress of the hearing without permission of the
Arbitration Tribunal shall be deemed to withdraw his
application for arbitration.
Where the Respondent who has been notified in
writing fails to appear at the hearing without any
justified reason or leaves the session in the progress
of the hearing without permission of the Arbitration
Tribunal, the Arbitration Tribunal may make an award
by default.
Article 43 The parties shall give evidence for
their own arguments.
The Arbitration Tribunal may, when it considers
necessary, make investigation and collect evidence on
its own initiative.
Article 44 The Arbitration Tribunal may, when it
considers necessary, refer a specialized issue for
appraisal to an appraisal agency agreed upon by the
parties or appointed by the Tribunal itself.
The appraisal agency shall, on the request of
the party or the demand of the Arbitration Tribunal,
send an appraiser to attend the hearing. With
permission of the Arbitration Tribunal, the parties
may put questions to the appraiser.
Article 45 Evidence shall be presented during
the hearings, and the parties may make challenges
thereon.
Article 46 Under circumstances where there is
a likelihood that evidence may be destroyed or
lost or difficult to obtain later on, the parties
may apply for the evidence to be preserved. Where a
party applies for any evidence to be preserved, the
Arbitration Commission shall pass the application
on to the basic people’s court at the place of the
evidence.
Article 47 The parties shall have the right to
carry on debate in the course of arbitration. The
presiding arbitrator or the sole arbitrator shall,
at the end of the debate, seek the final statements
of the parties.
Article 48 The Arbitration Tribunal shall make
a written record of the hearing. If any party or
any other participant in the hearing holds that
there is any omission or error in the records of
his statements, he shall have the right to apply
for supplement or correction. The application shall
be recorded if it is rejected.
The written record shall be signed or sealed by
the arbitrator(s), recorder, parties and any other
participants in the hearing.
Article 49 The parties may make reconcilement
of themselves after they have submitted their dispute
to arbitration. Where a settlement is reached through
reconcilement, the parties may either ask the
Arbitration Tribunal to make an award according to
the agreement on reconcilement or withdraw the
application for arbitration.
Article 50 Where he retracts after an agreement
on reconcilement has been reached, the party may
apply for arbitration again by virtue of the
arbitration agreement after the original application
for arbitration has been withdrawn.
Article 51 The Arbitration Tribunal may conduct
conciliation first before making an award. Where the
parties themselves wish to make a settlement through
conciliation, the Arbitration Tribunal shall conduct
conciliation. Failing settlement through
conciliation, an award shall be made without
delay.
Where a conciliation agreement has been reached,
the Arbitration Tribunal shall either draw up a
conciliation statement or give an award according to
the conciliation agreement. The conciliation
statement and the award shall be of equal legal
effect.
Article 52 The arbitral claim and the
settlement agreed on by the parties shall be stated
in a conciliation agreement. The conciliation
statement shall be signed by the arbitrator(s) with
the seal of the Arbitration Commission and then be
served to both sides of the parties.
The conciliation statement shall become
effective as soon as both sides of the parties have
signed for receipt thereof.
Where any party retracts before he signs for
receipt of the conciliation statement, the
Arbitration Tribunal shall make an award without
delay.
Article 53 The award shall be decided by the
majority of the arbitrators, while the minority
opinion may be put in a written record. Where no
majority is obtainable, the award shall be
decided by the presiding arbitrator.
Article 54 The award shall be written into the
arbitral claim, the facts of the dispute, the
reasons for the decisions, the result of the award,
the arbitration costs to be borne and the date on
which the award was made. The facts of the dispute
and reasons for the award may be omitted if they are
agreed to be by the parties. The award shall be
signed by the arbitrator(s) with the seal of the
Arbitration Commission. The arbitrator of the
minority opinion may either sign or not.
Article 55 The Arbitration Tribunal may, in the
process of the arbitration, make an interlocutory
award first on any facts of the case if those facts
are already evident.
Article 56 The Arbitration Tribunal shall
correct any literal error and any error in
computation, and add matters that have been
adjudicated but omitted to write in the award; any
of the parties may, within 30 days after receiving
the award, request the Arbitration Tribunal to make
a correction or addition.
Article 57 The award shall become effective as
of the date of making.
Chapter V Application for Rescission of Award
Article 58 Any party who can give evidence to
prove that the award comes under one of the following
circumstances may apply to the intermediate people’s
court of the same region where the Arbitration
Commission is located for rescission of the award:
(1) there was no arbitration agreement between
the parties;
(2) the matters as to which the award was made
were beyond the scope as specified in the arbitration
agreement or beyond the jurisdiction of the
Arbitration Commission;
(3) the formation of the Arbitration Tribunal or
the arbitral proceedings were contrary to the
statutory procedure;
(4) the evidence on which the award was made was
fabricated;
(5) the other party withheld some evidence and
the withholding was enough to impair the impartiality
of the award; or
(6) the arbitrator, while conducting arbitration
of the case, asked for or accepted bribes, played
favouritism and committed irregularities, or conducted
arbitration by twisting the law.
Where the people’s court, by forming a collegial
panel, verifies upon investigation that the award
was made under any of the circumstances as mentioned
in the preceding paragraph, it shall make an order
to rescind the award.
Where the people’s court verifies that an award
is prejudicial to the public interests, it shall
make an order to rescind the award.
Article 59 The application of the parties for
rescission of an award shall be put forward within a
period of six months after receiving the award.
Article 60 the people’s court shall make an
order to rescind the award or to reject the
application within a period of two months after
accepting an application for rescission of an
award.
Article 61 After accepting an application for
rescission of an award, if the people’s court
holds that it may be rearbitrated by the
Arbitration Tribunal, it shall notify the
Arbitration Tribunal to make a rearbitration
within a certain period of time limit, and in the
meantime, make an order to suspend the rescission
procedure. Where the Arbitration Tribunal refuses to
make a rearbitration, the people’s court shall make
an order to resume the rescission procedure.
Chapter VI Execution
Article 62 The parties shall perform the award.
Where any party fails to perform the award, the
other party may, in accordance with the relevant
provisions of the Civil Procedure Law, apply to the
people’s court for execution. The people’s court
which is applied to shall make an execution.
Article 63 In case that the person against whom
an application for execution is made gives evidence
to prove that the award comes under any of the
circumstances as mentioned in the Second Paragraph,
Article 217, of the Civil Procedure Law, the people’s
court shall, after examination and verification by a
collegial panel, make an order to disallow the award.
Article 64 In case that one party applies for
execution of an award while the other one applies
for rescission of the award, the people’s court
shall make an order to suspend the execution.
Where it makes an order to rescind