为落实中央政府与香港特区政府签署的《内地与香港关于建立更紧密经贸关系的安排》（CEPA）中关于法律服务的相关安排, 董松根副会长和黄仁龙司长近日分别代表中国贸促会和香港律政司在《商事法律事务及仲裁服务合作安排》上签字。

《商事法律事务及仲裁服务合作安排》在鼓励和推动内地与香港法律和仲裁服务机构之间的交流与合作，共同为内地与香港企业的商事及仲裁法律培训提供协助和便利，鼓励两地企业建立更健全的商事法律风险防范及争议解决机制，共同推动中国国际贸易促进委员会下设法律服务机构与香港有关法律服务机构在仲裁、调解、知识产权保护等领域开展合作与交流等方面进行了安排。
 

 The mainland’s desire to take its commercial arbitration service quality to an international level, along with Hong Kong’s call for more arbitration cases, has created a need to give businesses in Greater China more confidence to arbitrate locally. This has led to the recent signing of the bilateral cooperation agreement on legal services for commercial matters in arbitration (part of the effect of the Closer Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA)), by the vice-chairman of the China Council for Promotion of International Trade, Dong Songgen, and Hong Kong’s secretary for Justice, Wong Yan Lung.

According to Wong, the formal arrangement responds to the increasing demand for arbitration services triggered by the high volume of business activity between mainland and Hong Kong companies.

Mutual benefits: a two-way agreement
The key areas of the arrangement include strengthening information exchanges and collaborating in conferences on legal services. The agreement will also facilitate better training and cooperation between the legal departments of both jurisdictions. It also involves cooperation between relevant bodies like the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), China Council for Promotion of International Trade, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and the Hong Kong Mediation Council.

While the terms of the agreement are not exclusive to arbitral institutions in the region, key players in the legal industry seem to be paying closer attention to how the agreement will impact CIETAC and HKIAC. “Many of the arbitration matters heard at CIETAC today involve companies in Hong Kong, so this agreement is set to strengthen our collaboration with HKIAC,” said Yang Chunlei, deputy secretary-general of CIETAC.

According to Phillip Yang, immediate past chairman of HKIAC, the formal arrangements mean that there will be an even closer cooperation such as a higher frequency of jointly held seminars and courses educating businesses and lawyers about arbitration.  “In recent years there have been more senior CIETAC representatives coming down to Hong Kong to learn about common law. They are also involved in the dispute resolution LLM courses that I conduct,” said Yang.

Jun He’s arbitration partner Li Qing commented that the decision to formally exchange knowledge and skills is timely and indicates the increasing flexibility of both arbitral institutions to work towards providing quality services. To improve on the quality of arbitration is one of the main aims of CIETAC in this arrangement, said Tim Meng, managing partner at GoldenGate Law Firm. He highlights the benefits for the institutions individually.

“Hong Kong is the window to international arbitration for CIETAC: the increased collaboration with Hong Kong will help CIETAC take its service quality to an international level. CIETAC has a long-term goal in this: if they want businesses to choose them voluntarily then they will have to learn and adapt HKIAC’s efficient arbitration procedure,” said Meng. “On the other hand, HKIAC is benefiting in the number of China-related matters by promoting itself as a friendly alternative venue for arbitration to Chinese businesses.”

Tackling competition outside Greater China
As part of CEPA’s objectives, the agreement can also be seen as collaboration to create greater synergy within Greater China to tackle competition for arbitration in other regions. “Given the proximity, working together will help us create a stronger synergy so we can seize more market share and target foreign companies that are inclined to arbitrate in regions like Singapore and London,” said CIETAC’s Yang. The aim for CIETAC and HKIAC is to promote themselves as good alternatives to each other, rather than as aggressive competitors.

Closer collaboration will help both PRC and international companies in Hong Kong to better understand the process and be more comfortable with venue selection. “The agreement indirectly provides guidance for Hong Kong companies that may want to settle their disputes at CIETAC,” said Yang. With both regions working together, Hong Kong-based companies can feel more comfortable in taking their disputes to CIETAC and Chinese companies in Hong Kong can also be confident that they will be received impartially at HKIAC.

As a whole, companies will become more confident doing business in Greater China knowing that there is a competent arbitration process in both places that will support them when disputes arise. “The arrangement is excellent news for clients looking to resolve their disputes in this region, and represents a bonus for both Chinese and foreign parties who are doing business here,” said Justin D’Agostino, the Hong Kong-based partner at Herbert Smith who plays a key role in advising on the choice of arbitration venue.

“The arrangement also indirectly impacts arbitration lawyers who are based in Hong Kong and are wary about arbitrations at CIETAC. Given extra exposure and training, Hong Kong lawyers will grow to be more receptive to CIETAC arbitrations and more confident to fully represent clients on the mainland,” said HKIAC’s Yang. The same goes for PRC counsels; according to Meng, PRC advisors are now more inclined to recommend the HKIAC as an arbitration venue as oppose to other international institutions like SIAC. ALB