Judicial review over arbitration in China: Assessing the extent of the latest Pro-Arbitration Move by the Supreme People's Court in the People's Republic of China

Abstract

In China, the final say over arbitral jurisdiction, such as ruling on the existence and validity of an arbitration agreement, belongs to the national court, which is deemed as one of the two limbs of supervisory powers of courts versus arbitration. However, the real exercise of judicial supervision depends on how the court treats arbitration, which largely influenced by the status quo of its judicial system. This article attempts to explore the answers to three key questions. First, whether there is any shortage in the legislative approach of judicial review over arbitration agreements under the current China Arbitration Law and its ancillary rules after comparison with international arbitration norms. Second, to what extent recently has the Supreme People’s Court (SPC) made efforts to live up to international standards for prevention of excessive judicial intervention in arbitral jurisdiction? Third, whether these regulatory remedies are sufficient, particularly whether enforcement difficulties still exist despite the rigorous SPC pro-arbitration move in the past decade.