Hong Kong takes steps to further its international reputation in arbitration

With its strong, mature legal system and fully independent judiciary, Hong Kong is well positioned to be an international arbitration centre. Arbitral awards made in Hong Kong are enforceable in more than 140 contracting jurisdictions to the New York Convention. With regard to mainland China, the Supreme People’s Court and the Department of Justice in 1999 signed the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards, which was modelled on the principles of the New York Convention. The arrangement has set out the conditions of mutual enforcement of arbitral awards, and has been effectively implemented by courts in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and mainland China. This has further strengthened the status of Hong Kong as a regional centre for international arbitration.

Hong Kong has a strong pool of multilingual professionals supporting the arbitration industry, including around 1,100 barristers, 6,700 local practising lawyers, 1,100 registered foreign lawyers and 29,000 accountants.

In 2011, the number of arbitration cases handled by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) was 275, of which 65% were international and 35% were domestic. Forty-one cases were fully administered by the HKIAC in accordance with its rules. The total amount in dispute for administered cases was approximately US$3.8 billion. Among these cases, 38% were maritime disputes, 29% were commercial, 15% were corporate disputes, 14% involved construction and 4% involved insurance.

Matt Hu is the head of North China investment promotion at InvestHK, a department of theHong Kong SAR government