Wuhan Arbitration Commission contributes to promoting business environment

The Tianmen branch of the Wuhan Arbitration Commission (WAC), the commission's first branch in Wuhan's metropolitan area, was officially inaugurated on July 14. It was authorized to handle civil and commercial arbitration cases and to provide legal services to market entities in the county-level cities of Tianmen, Xiantao and Qianjiang, so as to expand the scope of its "half-an-hour service circle".

The inauguration of the Tianmen branch is an important step taken by the WAC amid its sustained efforts to further improve the international law-based business environment.

In 2022, the WAC has handled 14,082 cases with a total amount in dispute reaching 21.6 billion yuan (about $3 billion), of which cases involving one or both parties from outside Wuhan accounted for over 60 percent.

As economic and trade globalization continues to deepen, the role of the international arbitration has gained unprecedented attention from countries worldwide. 

To this end, the WAC has made continuous efforts to strengthen arbitration guarantees for foreign interests, with the aim of promoting its arbitration capability in matters pertaining to foreign-related fields.

For example, the WAC established its third international arbitration center, Wuhan International Arbitration Center, in August 2022. This strategic move aims to position Wuhan as a dispute resolution hub for resolving international commercial affairs.

The WAC initiated the formation of the first professional arbitration court serving the Belt and Road in China and formulated the China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone Model Arbitration Rules, so as to provide institutional guarantees for arbitration cases relate to international commercial affairs and trade, as well as boost enterprises' confidence in resolving foreign-related commercial affairs through arbitration.

"The WAC has actively participated in establishing the rules and mechanisms on resolving international disputes, tailoring to Chinese characteristics, in a bid to contribute to facilitating high-level opening-up through arbitration," according to a senior official of the WAC.

Measures have also been taken to further promote the effective connection and coordination between arbitration mediation and affirmation.

The WAC has also fully leveraged the advantages of arbitration institutions and actively advanced the strategic cooperation on deepening the litigation coordination mechanism. Thanks to these efforts, a working mechanism integrating litigation with arbitration and mediation has been established to efficiently facilitate the complementary advantages of these two dispute resolution methods.

In addition, the WAC has also leveraged the role of modern technology to promote smart arbitration amid the robust development of the digital economy.

For instance, the WAC has promoted the wide application of AI in the arbitration field, and created an online dispute resolution platform through diversified measures. The platform has provided integrated services such as online mediation, arbitration and trials.

The smart arbitration system of the WAC features online services that coordinate multiple kinds of services, such as the mediation and arbitration. The system is also expanding to include cross-department, cross-regional and cross-network arbitration collaborated business systems.