BRILSA makes debut at ICCA Congress

On April 14, the Belt and Road International Legal Services Alliance (BRILSA) held a themed breakfast symposium in the Spanish capital of Madrid together with the Beijing Arbitration Commission.

Entitled "From Encounter to Integration: International Rules and Local Practices", it was part of the agenda of this year's International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) Congress.

It marked the BRILSA's first appearance in the international arbitration community and the beginning of the alliance's in-depth cooperation with the ICCA.

The ICCA is an international non-governmental organization accredited by the United Nations, which is dedicated to promoting the development of arbitration, conciliation, and other forms of dispute resolution. The ICCA is a first-level consultative body of the UN Commission on International Trade Law. Its annual congress is widely regarded as the "Olympics" of international arbitration.

At the breakfast symposium, the BRILSA delegation systematically elaborated on China's concept of rule-of-law cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). They emphasized mutual respect, win-win cooperation, and shared benefits across different legal systems, and introduced China's innovative practices aimed at fostering more inclusive and balanced development of international arbitration rules. Their insights were well received by attendees.

This year's ICCA Congress gathered more than 120 professionals from nearly 50 jurisdictions and 60 cities across six continents. Participants included arbitrators, practicing lawyers, corporate in-house counsel, staff of arbitration institutions and academics.

The BRILSA is the first international professional legal organization named after the Belt and Road. Bringing together full-spectrum legal service resources — including services by lawyers, arbitration and commercial mediation — the alliance is dedicated to fostering legal exchanges and cooperation among BRI countries and regions, while strengthening ties with global legal institutions and organizations.

The BRILSA's debut at the prominent international arbitration conference marks a practical step in supporting high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and building cross-border legal service networks. This move not only enhances the BRILSA's own international profile, but also elevates the global standing of Chinese arbitration institutions.

Moving forward, the BRILSA will continue to leverage its platform advantages, deepen legal exchanges between China and the rest of the world, improve its capacity to provide foreign-related legal services and contribute to the building of a world-class, market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment.