China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission
CIETAC

Arbitration Rules

(Revised and Adopted by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade /China Chamber of International Commerce on January 11, 2005. Effective as from May 1, 2005.)

ChapterⅠ General Provisions

Article 1 The Rules

These Rules are formulated in accordance with the Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China and the provisions of other relevant laws, as well as the "Decision" of the former Administration Council of the Central People's Government and the "Notice" and the "Official Reply" of the State Council.

Article 2 Name and Structure

1. The China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (originally named the Foreign Trade Arbitration Commission of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, later renamed the Foreign Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, and currently called the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, hereinafter referred to as the “CIETAC”) independently and impartially resolves, by means of arbitration, disputes arising from economic and trade transactions of a contractual or non-contractual nature..

2. The CIETAC concurrently uses the "Court of Arbitration of the China Chamber of International Commerce" as its name.

3. Where an arbitration agreement or an arbitration clause contained in a contract provides for arbitration by the CIETAC or one of its Sub-Commissions or by the CIETAC using one of its prior names, the parties shall be deemed to have unanimously agreed that the arbitration shall be administered by the CIETAC or by one of its Sub-Commissions.

4. Where an arbitration agreement or an arbitration clause contained in a contract provides for arbitration by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade/China Chamber of International Commerce or by the Arbitration Commission or the Court of Arbitration of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade/China Chamber of International Commerce, the parties shall be deemed to have unanimously agreed that the arbitration shall be administered by the CIETAC.

5. The Chairman of the CIETAC shall perform the functions and duties vested in him/her by these Rules while a Vice-Chairman may perform the Chairman's functions and duties with the Chairman's authorization.

6. The CIETAC has a Secretariat, which handles its day-to-day work under the direction of its Secretary-General.

7. The CIETAC is based in Beijing, and has a South China Sub-Commission (formerly known as Shenzhen Sub-Commission) in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and a Shanghai Sub-Commission in Shanghai. These Sub-Commissions are integral parts of the CIETAC. The Sub-Commissions have their respective secretariats, which handle their day-to-day work under the direction of the Secretaries-General of the respective Sub-Commissions.

8. The parties may agree to have their disputes arbitrated by the CIETAC in Beijing, the South China Sub-Commission in Shenzhen or the Shanghai Sub-Commission in Shanghai. In the absence of such an agreement, the Claimant shall have the option to submit the case for arbitration by the CIETAC in Beijing, the South China Sub-Commission in Shenzhen or the Shanghai Sub-Commission in Shanghai. When such option is exercised, the first choice by the party shall prevail. In case of any dispute, the final decision shall be made by the CIETAC.

9. The CIETAC may, in its discretion, establish arbitration centers for specific business sectors and issue arbitration rules therefor.

10. The CIETAC shall establish a Panel of Arbitrators, and may, in its discretion, establish Panels of Arbitrators for specific business sectors.

Article 3 Jurisdiction

The CIETAC accepts cases involving:

1. international or foreign-related disputes;

2. disputes related to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Macao Special Administrative Region or the Taiwan region; and

3. domestic disputes.

Article 4 Scope of Application

1. These Rules uniformly apply to the CIETAC and its Sub-Commissions. When arbitration proceedings are administered by a Sub-Commission, the functions and duties under these Rules allocated to the Chairman, the secretariat and the Secretary-General of the CIETAC shall be performed, respectively, by a Vice-Chairman authorized by the Chairman, a secretariat and a Secretary-General of the relevant Sub-Commission except for the power to make decisions on challenges to arbitrators.

2. The parties shall be deemed to have agreed to arbitrate in accordance with these Rules whenever they have provided for arbitration by the CIETAC. Where 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.

3. Where the parties agree to refer their disputes to arbitration under these Rules without providing the name of an arbitration institution, they shall be deemed to have agreed to refer the dispute to arbitration by the CIETAC.

4. Where the parties agree to refer their dispute to arbitration under the CIETAC’s arbitration rules for a specific business sector or profession and the dispute falls within the scope of such rules, the parties’ agreement shall prevail; otherwise, these Rules shall apply.

Article 5 Arbitration Agreement

1. The CIETAC shall, upon the written application of a party, accept a case in accordance with an arbitration agreement concluded between the parties, either before or after the occurrence of the dispute, in which it is provided that disputes are to be referred to arbitration by the CIETAC.

2. An arbitration agreement means an arbitration clause in a contract concluded between the parties or any other form of written agreement providing for the settlement of disputes by arbitration.

3. The arbitration agreement shall be in writing. An arbitration agreement is in writing if it is contained in a tangible form of a document such as a contract, letter, telegram, telex, facsimile, EDI, or Email. An arbitration agreement shall be deemed to exist where its existence is asserted by one party and not denied by the other during the exchange of the Request for Arbitration and the Statement of Defense.

4. An arbitration clause contained in a contract shall be treated as a clause independent and separate from all other clauses of the contract, and an arbitration agreement attached to a contract shall also be treated as independent and separate from all other clauses of the contract. The validity of an arbitration clause or an arbitration agreement shall not be affected by any modification, rescission, termination, transfer, expiry, invalidity, ineffectiveness, revocation or non-existence of the contract.

Article 6 Objection to an Arbitration Agreement and/or Jurisdiction

1. The CIETAC shall have the power to determine the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement and its jurisdiction over an arbitration case. The CIETAC may, if necessary, delegate such power to the arbitral tribunal.

2. Where the CIETAC is satisfied by prima facie evidence that an arbitration agreement providing for arbitration by the CIETAC exists, it may make a decision based on such evidence that it has jurisdiction over the arbitration case, and the arbitration shall proceed. Such a decision shall not prevent the CIETAC from making a new decision on jurisdiction based on facts and/or evidence found by the arbitral tribunal during the arbitration proceedings that are inconsistent with the prima facie evidence.

3. An objection to an arbitration agreement and/or jurisdiction over an arbitration case shall be raised in writing before the first oral hearing is held by the arbitral tribunal. Where a case is to be decided on the basis of documents only, such an objection shall be raised before the submission of the first substantive defense.

4. The arbitration shall proceed notwithstanding an objection to the arbitration agreement and/or jurisdiction over the arbitration case.

5. The aforesaid objections to and/or decisions on jurisdiction by the CIETAC shall include objections to and/or decisions on a party’s standing to participate in the arbitration.

Article 7 Bona Fide Cooperation

The parties shall proceed with the arbitration in bona fide cooperation.

Article 8 Waiver of Right to Object

A party shall be deemed to have waived its right to object where it knows or should have known that any provision of, or requirement under, these Rules has not been complied with and yet participates in or proceeds with the arbitration proceedings without promptly and explicitly submitting its objection in writing to such non-compliance.