Our Partner Prof. Nazareth Romero, FCIArb develop her latest article in El Economista – Iuris & Lex Buen Gobierno y RSC Nº 90, Director Xavier Gil Pecharromán.
https://www.eleconomista.es/opinion/noticias/13424982/06/25/arbitraje-en-shenzhen-o-el-espiritu-del-loto.htmlDiplomatic relations between China and Malaysia are celebrating their 51st anniversary this year, with Malaysia currently holding the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – ASEAN in 2025. Xi Jinping, at the invitation of Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, made an official state visit to Malaysia in April. The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, SCIA, organised the seminar “China and Malaysia: Business Investment and International Arbitration” at the SCIA Tower in Qianhai, Shenzhen in May. Jointly organised by SCIA, the support of Shenzhen’s leading municipal authorities and collaborating law firms, the seminar explored issues such as investment in Malaysia, risk management and cross-border dispute resolution. SCIA is proud to contribute to deepening cooperation with the Asia International Arbitration Centre AIAC and the Malaysian legal and commercial sectors in general.
SCIA, the first arbitration institution in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao region, known as the GBA Great Bay Area: Platform for Exchange and Cooperation is a collaborative initiative to enhance international arbitration in this GBA region. It aims to take advantage of the unique benefits of the “one country, two systems” model and facilitate the resolution of cross-border disputes. The centre connects arbitration, mediation and other legal resources in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, fostering cooperation and resource sharing.
It represents China’s reform and opening-up, the development of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) and the collaboration between Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Since 1984, the SCIA led the inclusion of foreign arbitrators on the Panel of Arbitrators. In 1989, an arbitral award issued by the SCIA became China’s first arbitral award recognised and enforced in a foreign jurisdiction under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, New York Convention 1958. In 2012, the SCIA pioneered a governance mechanism of statutory bodies and a corporate governance structure with an international council as the decision-making body. In 2016, SCIA became the first arbitration institution in mainland China to accept investment arbitration cases by updating its arbitration rules. In 2018, the SCIA formed the Shenzhen Arbitration Commission, setting a precedent for the merger of arbitration institutions in China. In 2021, under the framework of the GBA’s national arbitration strategy, the SCIA incorporated “GBA International Arbitration Centre” as one of its official names to deepen cooperation with Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR, with the aim of jointly becoming an international arbitration centre. To date, its arbitration and mediation services have been extended to 140 countries and regions around the world, and its panel of arbitrators covers 114 countries and regions. In 2023, the total amount in dispute of new commercial arbitrations accepted by SCIA reached RMB 138.3 billion at € exchange rate of approximately € 17.73 million; and the highest amount in dispute for a single international commercial arbitration exceeded RMB 25 billion at € exchange rate of approximately € 3.008 million.
The International Arbitration 2025 survey, produced by Queen Mary University, its School of International Arbitration – SIA and White & Case LLP, entitled “The Way Forward: Realities and Opportunities in Arbitration”, has recognised Shenzhen for the first time as one of the most preferred arbitration venues globally, as well as including the Arbitration Rules of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) among the most preferred globally. Shenzhen is ranked among the top arbitration venues in Asia-Pacific, alongside Hong Kong, Singapore, London and Beijing. This recognition highlights Shenzhen’s growing importance in the international arbitration landscape. The SCIA Arbitration Rules are among the top ten preferred arbitration rules worldwide, joining the rules of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce ICC, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre HKIAC, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre SIAC, the London Court of International Arbitration LCIA and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law UNCITRAL, among others.
Notwithstanding, I would remark the spirit of the Lotus that is symbolised in its organisational flower, in the SCIA brand, which calls for purity, integrity and virtue from the Chinese culture to subscribe all arbitrators acting in its Court of Arbitration, among whom I include myself, to act from the Spirit of the Lotus as an intangible essence that can imbue earthly certainty to understand and better determine the unravelling subject to arbitration proceedings.