Is arbitration before a foreign institution in China on the way?

Recently, a reply given by the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) in March 2013 came to light in a publicly available publication (Min Si Ta Zi [2013] No. 13). The reply expressly recognises the validity of an arbitration agreement providing for “a foreign arbitration institution conducting arbitration in China” for first time.

In the case, Anhui LD Packing Printing and BP Agnati SRL provided as follows in their arbitration agreement: “Any dispute shall be referred to the ICC International Court of Arbitration … jurisdiction [place of arbitration] shall be Shanghai, China”. That means the ICC International Court of Arbitration would hear a case in Shanghai.

Earlier appearance

In fact, an arbitration agreement with “foreign arbitration institution plus arbitration in China” made its first appearance much earlier than this. In 2004, in the arbitration agreement validity case between Züblin International GmbH and Wuxi Woke General Engineering Rubber, an arbitration clause specifying “Arbitration: ICC Rules, Shanghai shall apply” was involved.