The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) is set to open an office in Shanghai, becoming the first non-Asian headquartered dispute resolution institution to establish an office in mainland China.

The new representative office will open in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone, after the ICC received a licence from the State Administration of Industry and Commence of the People’s Republic of China.

The office will be headed by Mingchao Fan, who is currently the deputy director of the Supreme People’s Court Judicial Research Insitute for One Belt One Road (OBOR). He has been appointed as regional director for North Asia by ICC.

Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Paris, ICC has member companies in more than 180 countries, and has been promoting trade and investment through three activities: rule setting, dispute resolution and policy advocacy. 

Earlier this year, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre opened a representative office in Shanghai.

The decision to establish an office in Shanghai follows two Supreme People's Court of China decisions published in 2014 to uphold arbitration agreements that subject relevant disputes to ICC Arbitration in Shanghai and Beijing, according to the ICC’s announcement.