Originially from Dispute Resolution in China

This Chapter is dedicated to domestic arbitration in China. To start with, it is necessary to delineate a few basic issues within the context of Chinese arbitration. The first issue is how to determine if arbitration is domestic or not; in other words, what are the major types of arbitrations under Chinese arbitration law. The next issue is, if Chinese arbitration law distinguishes domestic arbitration from other types of arbitrations, in what way are they treated differently and what implications do such distinctions have to Chinese arbitration in general.

This Chapter tries to deal with the above issues from a comparative perspective. It contains eight Parts including the Introduction (Part I) and Conclusion (Part VII). Part II provides some basic knowledge on Chinese arbitration law with particular focus on domestic arbitration. Part III deals with a fundamental issue of Chinese arbitration law, the dual-track system, which essentially means that domestic arbitration and foreign-related /foreign arbitration are distinguished and are treated differently in various aspects. As the distinctions between domestic and foreign-related /foreign arbitration are not sufficiently clearly elaborated in Chinese arbitration law, a thorough study of domestic arbitration from a comparative perspective is needed. Part IV deals with Chinese arbitration commissions and domestic arbitration. The issue of arbitration commissions is particularly important in China not only because ad hoc arbitration is banned in China, but also because of their historical role in implementing the dual-track system. Although these three Parts are not exclusively focused on domestic arbitration, they are indispensable for correctly understanding domestic arbitration.