Beijing advances comprehensive development of international commercial arbitration center

Beijing is accelerating the integration of legal service resources and promoting the development of a full-chain international commercial arbitration center, aiming to establish itself as a preferred destination for resolving international commercial disputes.

Since the operational platform of the International Commercial Arbitration Center (Beijing) was launched in May 2025, notable progress has been made in reforming and holistically developing the center.

By the end of 2025, Beijing had reached strategic cooperation intentions with 21 professional institutions both in China and abroad. In the future, the operational platform will bring together diversified dispute resolution mechanisms, including mediation, arbitration, and litigation, as well as legal service and law-related organizations in areas such as appraisal, notarization, law ascertainment, and judicial accounting, providing market entities with one-stop, comprehensive, and diversified commercial dispute resolution services.

On December 1, 2025, the Regulations on Building Beijing into an International Commercial Arbitration Center came into effect. These regulations introduce institutional innovations in cultivating world-class arbitration institutions, aligning with internationally recognized ad hoc arbitration measures, and promoting the opening-up of arbitration services. They also encourage well-known domestic and foreign arbitration institutions, commercial mediation organizations, law firms, notary offices, judicial appraisal and law ascertainment institutions, industry associations, chambers of commerce, and international organizations to operate within the center.

The launch of the operational platform and the timely formulation of relevant regulations exemplify Beijing's efforts to advance the comprehensive development of an international commercial arbitration center. Driven by policy support, arbitration institutions based in Beijing have actively reformed and improved their internal governance structures to enhance both the quality and efficiency of arbitration services.

In April 2025, the Beijing Arbitration Commission released its Mediation-Arbitration Fast-Track Procedure Rules and successfully concluded its first case under these rules within just seven days, which provided both domestic and international parties with an efficient and amicable dispute resolution experience while showcasing China's innovative progress in advancing its foreign-related legal framework.

With the coordinated rule of law development in both domestic and foreign affairs, Beijing has achieved continuous progress in building an international commercial arbitration center with growing influence. According to the 2025 International Arbitration Survey, Beijing has for the first time ranked fourth among the world's most preferred arbitration hubs. In December 2024, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre opened its Beijing Representative Office in Chaoyang district — the first renowned overseas arbitration institution to establish a representative office in the Chinese capital.

In 2024, the total disputed value of cases handled by commercial arbitration institutions in Beijing accounted for approximately 25 percent of the national total. The share of concluded foreign‑related arbitration cases was similarly around 25 percent, while the disputed value of these concluded foreign‑related cases represented about half of the national total. Arbitration awards issued in Beijing have been fully recognized and enforced in countries including the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Moving forward, Beijing will further advance the development of an international commercial arbitration center and world-class arbitration institutions. The city is committed to carrying out four flagship initiatives: the International Guest Hall, the International Shared Courtroom Center, the Full-Chain Commercial Dispute Resolution Mechanism, and the Training Base for Foreign-Related Legal Service Talent. These efforts will contribute to creating a world‑class, market‑oriented, law‑based, and internationalized business environment within the city.