China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission

China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission ("CIETAC") is the most important permanent arbitration institution in China. CIETAC was set up in April 1956 within the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade ("CCPIT"). Since 2000, CIETAC is also known as the Arbitration Court of China Chamber of International Commerce ("CCOIC"). CIETAC independently and impartially resolves economic and trade disputes by means of arbitration and conciliation (mediation). CIETAC's headquarters are located in Beijing with two Sub-Commissions in Shenzhen and Shanghai respectively. CIETAC has also established 21 liaison offices around China to promote arbitration in their geographical area or in their special trade. At the same time, the liaison offices can provide parties with arbitration advice in time.

CIETAC, sitting as one of the major permanent international institutional arbitration centers, is quite frequently selected by parties from both domestic and abroad as the institution to resolve their disputes due to its efficient and cost effective procedure administration. It enjoys friendly relations and cooperation with major arbitration institutions throughout the world and has gained good reputation at home and abroad for its independence, impartiality and efficiency.

Functions / Activities / Services

CIETAC resolves, by means of arbitration, disputes arising from economic and trade transactions of a contractual or non-contractual nature. These disputes include:

• international or foreign-related disputes;
• disputes related to the Hong Kong Sar, the Macao SAR, or the Taiwan region; and
• domestic disputes

CIETAC arbitrations are generally conducted under the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission Arbitration Rules. The said Arbitration Rules have been revised six times respectively in the year 1989, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2000 and 2005 in order to meet with the requirements of the parties and comply with the international standard. The latest version of the CIETAC Arbitration Rules is effective as from May 1, 2005. The CIETAC Panel of Arbitrators has also been revised, and has come into effect since early 2005. Despite that most CIETAC cases are arbitrated in accordance with the CIETAC Arbitration Rules, in case the parties have agreed on the application of other arbitration rules, or any modification of these rules, the Parties¡¦ agreement shall prevail except where such agreement is inoperative or in conflict with a mandatory provision of the law of the place of arbitration.

In 2000, CIETAC Domain Name Dispute Resolution Center was established, which devotes itself to providing alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in the areas of intellectual property and information technology. It begins to use the name of CIETAC Online Dispute Resolution Center concurrently from 2005. The said Center provides dispute resolution services with regard to .CN domain names (Chinese-Character Domain Name inclusive), keywords managed by China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), as well as generic top level domain names (gTLDs) such as .com, .net and .org.

Contact Details

Website

www.cietac.org