Originally from Asian Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration

Conciliation is the process by which the participants – together with the assistance of a neutral person or persons – systematically isolate disputed issues in order to develop options, to consider alternatives, and to reach a consensual settlement that will accommodate their needs.1 Conciliation has a long history in China because it emphasizes the necessity of avoiding conflict, observing proper rules of behavior, and relying on the social group to resolve differences,2 which are in conformity with Confucian standards and values.3 In China,4 conciliation can be divided into five categories: administrative conciliation, people’s conciliation, conciliation conducted by permanent conciliation centres, conciliation conducted in the litigation process, and conciliation conducted in the arbitration process.5 Administrative conciliation is conducted by the administrative bodies within their authorities according to the law for the purpose of resolving disputes and usually conducted in accordance with particular administrative regulations. People’s conciliation is conducted by the people’s conciliation committees for conciliating civil disputes in accordance with laws, regulations, rules and policies; and in the absence of definite provisions in laws, regulations, rules and policies, the people’s conciliation committees shall conduct conciliation in accordance with the social morals.6 At present, conciliation plays an important role in resolving disputes arising from almost all areas of Chinese society.7 Generally, the later three categories of conciliation are often employed to deal with commercial disputes. For the purpose of this book, this Chapter does not discuss administrative conciliation and people’s conciliation.