The Supreme People's Court

Guidelines for the "One-Stop” Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (for Trial Implementation)

For the convenience of parties in utilizing the  "One-Stop" Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform established by the Supreme People’s Court to resolve international commercial disputes in a fair, efficient and convenient manner, these Guidelines are formulated in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Establishment of the International Commercial Court, and other relevant provisions of laws and judicial interpretations.

Article 1 The "One-Stop" Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (hereinafter referred to as the "One-Stop" platform) refers to the full-process online service platform established by the China International Commercial Court (hereinafter referred to as the “CICC”) of the Supreme People's Court of China on its official website (https://cicc.court.gov.cn), which connects with international commercial mediation institutions, international commercial arbitration institutions, and expert members of the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People's Court of China (hereinafter referred to as the expert members) within the "One-Stop" mechanism. It supports and facilitates parties in resolving international commercial disputes through diversified means such as neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration, or litigation by choice.

The "One-Stop" platform offers functions including "mediation services", "arbitration services", "litigation services" and "auxiliary services", generating, sending, receiving, storing and exchanging relevant materials according to the progression of the case process, and synchronizing the sending of relevant materials and node information to the involved parties, institutions on the platform, and expert members.

Article 2 Parties may, in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 1, 3 and 4 of Article 2 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Establishment of the International Commercial Court, apply for neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration, or initiate litigation through the "One-Stop" platform for international commercial disputes involving an amount exceeding RMB 300 million or other international commercial disputes with significant impact.

Article 3 If parties choose to resolve international commercial disputes through the "One-Stop" platform, they shall fill in necessary information such as their mobile phone numbers or email addresses as prompted by the platform and complete registration.

Article 4 Before submitting for mediation, arbitration or litigation, if parties apply for a neutral evaluation, they shall select the neutral evaluation function in the "auxiliary services" of the "One-Stop" platform, fill in the application form for neutral evaluation, specify the expert members they intend to select, and submit identification documents and related evidence.

The CICC shall, upon receiving the application for neutral evaluation from the parties and deeming the dispute in question falls within the scope of application of Article 2 of these Guidelines, solicit the respondent’s consent to conduct the neutral evaluation within three working days. If the respondent agrees, a written opinion agreeing to the neutral evaluation shall be submitted.

Article 5 The expert members, when selected as neutral evaluators, may organize evaluation meetings through the "One-Stop" platform to hear statements from the parties, ask questions about the evaluation, and issue neutral evaluation opinion based on the statements and relevant evidence. After analysis and evaluation of the validity of the evidence, fact finding, and legal application, the expert members shall issue their opinions on neutral evaluation. The period of neutral evaluation generally does not exceed twenty working days. If the parties unanimously agree to extend the neutral evaluation period, it may be appropriately extended.

The neutral evaluation shall be conducted confidentially, and the evaluator shall keep the information provided by the parties confidential. Without permission of one party, the information shall not disclosed to the other party. The neutral evaluation opinion does not have legal effect and cannot be used as evidence in subsequent proceedings.

Parties may reach a settlement based on the neutral evaluation opinion or apply for a mediation presided by the expert member who participated in the neutral evaluation. The expert members participating in the evaluation may mediate in accordance with these Guidelines, but shall not participate in any other procedures other than mediation.

The cost of neutral evaluation shall be determined through negotiation between the expert members and the parties.

Article 6 Parties applying for mediation may enter the People’s Court Mediation Platform through "Mediation Services" under the "One-Stop" platform and log in to request mediation by international commercial mediation institutions or expert members.

Mediation by international commercial mediation institutions shall be conducted in accordance with relevant laws, provisions and the mediation rules of such institutions.

Expert members shall conduct mediation in accordance with relevant laws and regulations, such as the Procedural Rules for the China International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court (for Trial Implementation), the Working Rules of the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People's Court (for Trial Implementation), the Online Mediation Rules of the People's Courts and these Guidelines.

Article 7 Parties applying for mediation shall submit the following materials:

(1) Mediation application specifying the names, addresses, telephone numbers, faxes, email addresses and other contact details of all parties, the facts of the dispute and mediation requests;

(2) Relevant evidence;

(3) Identification documents;

(4) If represented by an attorney or other representatives, a power of attorney and the representative's identification documents;

(5) Confirmation of Service Address and Service Method.

Article 8 After receiving the mediation application from the parties, if the CICC determines that the dispute in question falls within the scope of application of Article 2 of these Guidelines, it shall solicit respondent’s consent within three working days. If the respondent agrees, a written opinion agreeing to mediation shall be submitted.

Article 9 If parties do not apply for mediation, the CICC may inquire whether they accept mediation assigned before filing. If the parties express their willingness for mediation and consent to mediate pre-trial mediation in the Pretrial Diversification Procedure Consultation Form, the CICC shall coordinate and entrust mediation matters.

After accepting a case, if the parties are willing to mediate, the CICC shall entrust related organizations to organize the mediation.

Article 10 If the CICC assigns/entrusts an international commercial mediation institution to preside over the mediation, it shall, after the parties have selected, or the CICC has designated an international commercial mediation institution, transfer the Pretrial Diversification Procedure Consultation Form, Letter of Consultation for Assignment/Entrustment of Mediation, and relevant case materials to the respective institutions.

The international commercial mediation institution shall reply within three working days after receiving the Letter of Consultation for Assignment/Entrustment of Mediation.

If the international commercial mediation institution accepts the assignment/entrustment, the CICC shall issue an Letter of Assignment/Entrustment of Mediation within three working days and inform the parties through the "One-Stop" platform.

If the international commercial mediation institution fails to reply within the above-mentioned period, it shall be deemed to not have accepted the assignment/entrustment mediation.

Article 11 If the parties unanimously agree to have expert members conduct the mediation, the CICC shall organize the parties to jointly select one to three expert members from the list of expert members to serve as mediators within seven working days.

The CICC shall contact the selected expert members in a timely manner to arrange and promote relevant mediation work, and transfer the Pretrial Diversification Procedure Consultation Form, the Letter of Consultation for Assignment/Entrustment of Mediation and relevant case materials to the respective expert members.

The expert members shall reply within seven working days after receiving the Letter of Consultation for Assignment/Entrustment of Mediation.

If the expert members accept the selection, the CICC shall issue an Letter of Assignment/Entrustment of Mediation within three working days and inform the parties through the "One-Stop" platform.

If the expert members fail to reply within the above-mentioned period, it shall be deemed not to have accepted the assignment/entrustment of mediation.

Article 12 Before presiding over the mediation, the expert members shall sign a declaration ensuring independence and impartiality. If the expert members become aware of circumstances that may lead the parties to reasonably doubt about the independence and impartiality when presiding over the mediation, they shall promptly disclose them in writing to the CICC.

The CICC shall inform the parties through the "One-Stop" platform within three working days after receiving the disclosure materials from the expert members.

Article 13 If parties apply to change expert members on the grounds of reasonable doubts about their impartiality or independence, they shall submit a written request within three working days after becoming aware of the reasons for the change or receiving the disclosure materials from the expert members. Failure to apply for a change within the period shall be deemed as a waiver of the request.

The CICC shall review and decide whether to change the expert member within three working days after receiving the written application from the parties. The review process shall not halt the mediation proceedings.

Article 14 The period for the expert members to preside over mediation starts from the date of acceptance of the assignment/entrustment of mediation and generally does not exceed twenty working days. If the parties unanimously agree to extend the mediation period, it may be appropriately extended.

Article 15 Mediation shall be conducted confidentially. The mediation proceedings shall be recorded, and the parties and the expert members or the mediator of the international commercial mediation institution presiding over the mediation shall sign the records.

The mediation records and the facts recognized by the parties for reaching a mediation agreement shall not be used as grounds against the parties in arbitration or litigation proceedings, except as otherwise provided by law or agreed upon by the parties.

Article 16 If the parties reach a mediation agreement through mediation presided over by an international commercial mediation institution or expert members, they shall sign a written mediation agreement.

Upon requests by the parties, the CICC shall review the mediation agreement according to the law and issue a civil mediation document; if the parties request the CICC to issue a judgement, the CICC may issue a civil judgment document.

Article 17 In the mediation proceedings, the mediation shall be deemed to have failed under any of the following circumstances:

(1) A written request by any party to terminate the mediation proceedings;

(2) Failure of the parties to reach a mediation agreement within the agreed mediation period, except the parties unanimously agree to extend the mediation period;

(3) Termination by the international commercial mediation institution that it is inappropriate to continue mediation or termination for other reasons;

(4) Inability or unsuitability of the expert members to perform or continue to perform the mediation duties, and cannot be selected separately;

(5) Other circumstances.

If the assignment/entrustment of mediation fails, the international commercial mediation institution or the expert members shall submit the Mediation Form and the relevant case materials to the case to the CICC within three working days. After receiving the materials, the case shall be promptly filed. If the case has already been filed, CICC shall continue the proceedings and inform the parties of relevant information through the "One-Stop" platform.

Article 18 Parties voluntarily choose to mediate by an international commercial mediation institution, the charging method and charging standards of the institution shall apply.

Parties choose to mediate by the expert members, they may refer to the charging method and charging standards of the international commercial mediation institutions on the "One-Stop" platform.

Article 19 If the parties choose to apply for arbitration through the "One-Stop" platform, they may select an international commercial arbitration institution through the "Application for Arbitration" in "Arbitration Service" and submit relevant materials in accordance with the institution's requirements.

Article 20 If the parties apply for arbitration preservation, they may submit the following materials to the international commercial arbitration institutions, by selecting "Application for Arbitration Preservation" under "Arbitration Services" on the "One-Stop" platform:

(1) Application for arbitration preservation;

(2) Arbitration agreement;

(3) Identification documents;

(4) If represented by an attorney or other representatives, a power of attorney and the representative's identification documents;

(5) Relevant evidence;

(6) Documents related to providing security.

Article 21 The application for arbitration preservation shall specify the following:

(1) Basic information, service address, and contact information of the applicant and respondent;

(2) Requested matters and their basis in facts and reasons;

(3) The amount of property for preservation, evidence, or disputed subject matter;

(4) Specific information on the property for preservation, evidence, or concrete clues;

(5) Information on property offered as security for preservation or credit certificate, or reasons for not needing to provide security;

(6) Whether applications have been filed in other courts and the status of those applications;

(7) Other matters that need to be specified.

Article 22 After receiving the preservation application from the parties, the international commercial arbitration institutions shall, upon review and determination that the dispute in question falls within the scope of application of Article 2 of these Guidelines, issue a transfer letter to the CICC through the "One-Stop" platform.

Upon receiving the transfer letter and the application for arbitration preservation, if the CICC determines that the dispute in question falls within the scope of application of Article 2 of these Guidelines, it shall file the case and make a ruling within five days. If supplementary materials are required, a ruling shall be made within five days after the completion of supplement. If the parties need to be inquired with, a ruling shall be made within five days after the inquiry.

If the CICC decides to take preservation measures, it may be executed by the people's courts in the place where the respondent has its domicile, where the preserved property is located, or where the evidence is located.

After the CICC's ruling has been served to the parties, it shall inform the international commercial arbitration institutions through the "One-Stop" platform.

Article 23: If parties apply to the CICC for setting aside domestic arbitration awards made by international commercial arbitration institutions, or for recognition and enforcement of foreign awards, on an international commercial dispute specified in Article 2 of these Guidelines, they can submit the following materials through the "One-Stop" platform's "Litigation Service":

(1) An application specifying the party's basic information, requested matters, their basis in facts and reasons, as well as whether application has been made in other courts and the status of the application;

(2) Arbitration awards;

(3) Identification documents;

(4) If represented by an attorney or other representatives, a power of attorney and the representative's identification documents;

(5) Relevant evidence;

(6) Other materials required by the CICC.

Article 24 Upon receiving the materials for the application for setting aside a domestic arbitration award or recognition and enforcement of a foreign award, the CICC shall file the case if it determines that the dispute in question falls within the scope of application of Article 2 of these Guidelines.

After accepting the case, the CICC shall form a collegiate panel for adjudication and inquire the parties. Based on the needs of the case, the CICC may request explanations from the international commercial arbitration institutions or refer to arbitration records from relevant arbitration institutions.

The  CICC shall make a ruling within two months from the date of accepting the case, and inform the international commercial arbitration institutions through the "One-Stop" platform after the ruling document is served to the parties.

Article 25 PIarties filing lawsuit to the CICC may submit a statement of claim and relevant litigation materials through “Litigation Services” on the CICC’s  “One-Stop” platform, entering the "Supreme People’s Court Litigation Service Website".

Parties may also submit the statement of claim and related litigation materials via email, mail, in-person, or other methods permitted by the CICC.

For submissions by mail or in-person, parties shall provide paper documents and copies according to the number of opposing parties, along with a CD or other portable storage device.

Article 26 When filing a lawsuit to the CICC, parties shall submit the following materials:

(1) Statement of claim;

(2) Written agreement choosing the jurisdiction of the Supreme People's Court of China;

(3) Identification documents;

(4) If represented by an attorney or other representatives, a power of attorney and the representative's identification documents;

(5) Relevant evidence in support of the litigation claims;

(6) Confirmation of Service Address and Service Method;

(7) Pretrial Diversification Procedure Consultation Form.

Article 27 Upon receiving the materials from the parties, if the CICC determines that the case falls within the scope defined in Article 2 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Establishment of the International Commercial Court, it shall file the case online and send the parties Case Acceptance Notice and other litigation materials through the "One-Stop" platform.

Article 28 The CICC shall deal with cases in accordance with the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Establishment of the International Commercial Court, the Rules of Online Litigation of the People's Court, and relevant laws and judicial interpretations, as well as the Procedural Rules of the China International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court (for Trial Implementation).

Article 29 Parties shall pay the case acceptance fee and other litigation costs in accordance with The Provisions on Litigation Costs Payment.

The parties can pay the case acceptance fee and other litigation costs using payment codes at any branch of the agent banks as announced by the Supreme People's Court.

Article 30 The “One-Stop” platform shall strictly implement relevant legal provisions on privacy protection, explaining the situation of collecting, storing, and using parties’ information on the platform, as well as relevant measures to ensure the confidentiality of mediation and arbitration.

Article 31 The "One-Stop" platform shall provide clear platform instructions, work guides, and network environment requirements prominently, facilitating parties’ application for platform services.

The neutral evaluation mentioned in these Guidelines refers to a dispute submitted for mediation, arbitration, or litigation before which parties jointly choose expert members of a neutral third-party to provide professional opinions based on the case circumstances, allowing parties to obtain sufficient information to predict likely outcomes of the litigation and choose the most suitable dispute resolution methods, thereby guiding and promoting parties to preferentially choose mediation as the dispute resolution method.

The identification documents mentioned in these Guidelines refer to copies of the identity card that shall be submitted when parties are natural persons, (foreign natural persons shall submit copies of their passports; residents of Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions shall submit copies of their Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Region identity cards or residence permits, or Mainland Travel Permits for Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions Residents; Taiwan region residents shall submit copies of their Taiwan identity cards, Taiwan Residence Permits, or Mainland Travel Permits for Taiwan Residents).

When parties are legal persons or non-legal entity organizations, they shall submit copies of their registration certificates and identity card copies of their legal representatives or persons in charge. Foreign enterprises or organizations shall submit the subject qualification proof materials, such as identity documents of the representatives or persons in charge and business registration, which have been notarized by notary authorities in their countries, authenticated by the Chinese embassy or consulate in that country, or fulfilled the certification procedures stipulated in the relevant treaties concluded or jointly concluded between China and that country.

Article 32 These Guidelines shall come into effect on January 30, 2024.

The Supreme People's Court of China issued the Guidelines for the "One-Stop” Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (for Trial Implementation)

On December 29, 2023, the Supreme People's Court of China (the SPC) issued the Guidelines for the "One-Stop” Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (for Trial Implementation) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines), which will be effective since January 30, 2024. The Guidelines is part of the measures taken by the SPC to implement the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's important speech on strengthening the construction of foreign-related legal systems, and to coordinate the advancement of domestic and foreign-related rule of law. It is part of the efforts to support the eight major steps of high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (the BRI). In this sense, it has great significance in optimizing the diversified international commercial dispute resolution mechanism that organically connects litigation, mediation, and arbitration, giving full play to the "one-stop” diversified international commercial dispute resolution platform (hereinafter referred to as the "one-stop" platform), and creating an optimal solution for international commercial disputes. The drafting background, innovative highlights, and main contents of the Guidelines are now introduced as follows:

I. Drafting Background of the Guidelines

Since 2018, the SPC has effectively implemented the major arrangements of the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council on the Opinion on the Establishment of “Belt & Road” International Commercial Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and Institutions, and established a "one-stop" diversified international commercial dispute resolution mechanism (hereinafter referred to as the "one-stop" mechanism) that organically connects litigation, mediation, and arbitration. The SPC has successively included some institutions into the “one-stop” mechanism in two batches. These institutions include ten arbitral institutions, namely China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (Shanghai International Arbitration Center, SHIAC), Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), Beijing Arbitration Commission/Beijing International Arbitration Center (BAC/BIAC), China Maritime Arbitration Commission (CMAC), Guangzhou Arbitration Commission (GZAC, Guangzhou Court of International Arbitration), Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC), Xiamen Arbitration Commission (XMAC), Hainan International Arbitration Court (HIAC, Hainan Arbitration Commission) and Hong Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC), together with two mediation institutions, namely China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Mediation Center (CCPIT Mediation Center) and Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center (SCMC). In order to better leverage the "one-stop" platform's functions of dispute resolution, assessment guidance, procedural connection, and auxiliary guarantees, the SPC formulated the Guidelines to resolve the difficulties and obstacles in the construction of the diversified international commercial dispute resolution mechanism. The Guidelines provides a smooth system, efficient connection mechanism, and standardized process design to achieve iterative upgrading of the "one-stop" information platform.

II. Innovative Highlights of the Guidelines

The Guidelines focuses on the goals set by the "one-stop" mechanism and the actual needs discovered in the survey, gives full play to the achievements of the smart court construction, and marks innovative highlights in four aspects:

First, collaboration across multiple divisions enables full-cycle online dispute resolution services. With approaches like single sign-on and unified identity authentication, the "one-stop" platform connects the Litigation Service Website of the SPC, the People's Courts Online Preservation System, the People's Courts Mediation Platform, relevant arbitral institutions systems, and relevant mediation institution systems. According to the Guidelines, the parties concerned can apply online for neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration, arbitration preservation, litigation and other matters. The notification of the process and results of relevant work and procedure, and the service of the people's courts, arbitral institutions and mediation institutions can all be completed online in a closed loop. Besides, it can generate, send, receive, store, and exchange relevant materials according to the progress of the case, and simultaneously send relevant materials and time nodes information to the parties concerned, institutions, and expert members of the International Commercial Expert Committee of the SPC (hereinafter referred to as the expert members), providing a fair, efficient, convenient, and fast diversified dispute resolution service.

Second, an intensive and efficient system gathers the diverse efforts of multiple places and institutions to resolve disputes. The "one-stop" platform effectively ensures the connection between China International Commercial Court (the CICC) of the SPC and 10 arbitral institutions and 2 international commercial mediation institutions, allowing neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration, litigation and other dispute resolution services to be carried out via the platform. For international commercial disputes that comply with the provisions of the Guidelines, the parties concerned can access different dispute resolution channels with one click via the "one-stop" platform. They can choose to file a lawsuit with the CICC, or choose ADR methods such as neutral evaluation, mediation or arbitration. By concentrating various dispute resolution service resources, the "one-stop" platform not only improves the efficiency of dispute resolution, but also reduces the time and economic costs of dispute resolution.

Third, the innovative mechanism clarifies relevant procedures regarding neutral evaluation. The neutral evaluation system is an innovative measure to strengthen the governance of sources of litigation and improve the resolution of disputes at source. However, in the past judicial practice, only the Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on People's Courts Further Deepening the Reform of Diversified Dispute Resolution Mechanism and Implementation Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Deepening the Building of the One-stop Diversified Dispute Resolution Mechanism of the people's courts to Promote the Resolution of Conflicts and Disputes at Their Source provide some guiding principles but lack specific guidance at the operational level. The Guidelines provides clear guidance for the first time, that is, if the parties choose neutral evaluation before applying for mediation, arbitration or litigation, firstly, they should select the neutral evaluation function in the "supporting service" column of the "one-stop" platform and fill in the application form for neutral evaluation which states the expert members tending to select, and submit identity documents and relevant evidence materials. After receiving the application for neutral evaluation from the parties concerned, the CICC shall seek consent from the respondent. Secondly, after the expert member is selected as a neutral evaluator, they can organize an evaluation meeting to hear the statement of parties concerned, ask the parties concerned questions on issues related to the evaluation, and make decisions on the validity of the evidence, finding of facts, and legal application based on the statements of the parties concerned and the relevant evidence provided by the parties, and issue neutral evaluation opinions. Finally, it stipulates that the parties concerned can conciliate on their own, based on the neutral evaluation opinions, or they can apply for expert members to participate in the evaluation to preside over mediation. The system is to make full use of the functions and expertise of expert members, allow the parties concerned to obtain sufficient information to predict possible litigation results, make the parties concerned to prioritize mediation, and provide an institutional path to help the parties concerned clarify the nature of disputes, promote conciliation, and save costs.

Fourth, the Guidelines can provide strong support to and drive the healthy development of arbitration. The SPC has always been fully supporting and promoting the healthy and orderly development of the arbitration industry, and has promulgated the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues concerning Trying Cases of Arbitration-Related Judicial Review, the Regulations on Report of Arbitration Judicial Review Case for Review and the Notice of the Supreme People’s Court on the Centralized Handling of Relevant Issues in Arbitration Judicial Review Cases to unify the standards of judgment and protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties concerned in accordance with the law. For international commercial disputes that comply with the Guidelines, the parties concerned can apply for arbitration to international commercial arbitral institutions via the "one-stop" platform, and can apply to the CICC for arbitration preservation, the revocation of mainland arbitral awards, or recognition and enforcement of overseas arbitral awards via the "one-stop" platform. In addition, based on the provisions of relevant laws and judicial interpretations, the Guidelines also clarifies that after the CICC makes a ruling on the arbitration judicial review case and serves it to the parties concerned, the ruling will be sent to the arbitral institutions via the platform. The above measures strongly support the parties concerned to choose arbitration, improve the communication mechanism between arbitration and judicial system, and reflect the people's courts firm judicial stance in supporting and ensuring the healthy development of the arbitration industry.

III. Main contents of the Guidelines

The Guidelines is constituted by six parts with a total of 32 articles, clarifying how to serve platform institutions and parties via the "one-stop" platform, how can the parties concerned apply for neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration, and litigation via the platform, and specific workflow connecting the mechanisms above.

The section of general provisions (Article 1 to 3) clarifies the purposes and functions of the “one-stop” platform and the scope of application of the Guidelines. Meanwhile, the platform functions after the upgrading of the CICC website are introduced.

The section of neutral evaluation procedures (Article 4 to 5) stipulates the steps for the parties concerned to apply for neutral evaluation, as well as the procedures for expert members to conduct neutral evaluations, the use of neutral evaluation results and the burden of costs, aiming to give full play to the functions of expert members, promote conciliation between the parties concerned and save costs.

The section of mediation procedures (Article 6 to 18) stipulates the rules regarding the application for mediation and the court’s appointment/authorization of mediation, stating details about the relevant procedures. Specific provisions are made on the conditions of application for mediation by expert members, the submission and circulation of materials, the selection, information disclosure, replacement of mediators, and the mediation period. Arrangements have been made for situations where mediation is successful or fails and for follow-up procedures.

The section of arbitral procedures (Articles 19 to 24) provides clear instructions on the application for arbitration by the parties concerned at the "one-stop" international commercial arbitral institutions, the docking and handling of arbitration preservation, and the workflow of arbitration judicial review cases.

The section of litigation procedures (Articles 25 to 29) stipulates how the parties concerned can apply for litigation procedures and submit litigation materials, and the application of relevant rules via the "one-stop" platform.

The section of supplementary provisions (Articles 30 to 32) states the privacy protection policy of the "one-stop" platform, interpretations of relevant terms in these guidelines, and the time of enforcement.

Head of the Fourth Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court of China Answering Reporters' Questions on the Guidelines for the "One-Stop” Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (for Trial Implementation)

On December 29, 2023, the Supreme People's Court of China issued the Guidelines for the "One-Stop” Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (for Trial Implementation) (hereinafter referred to as the Guidelines). The Guidelines provides specific operational instructions for optimizing the diversified international commercial dispute resolution mechanism which organically connects litigation, mediation, and arbitration, to better bring into play the function of the "one-stop” diversified international commercial dispute resolution platform (hereinafter referred to as the "one-stop" platform), and to resolve the blockages and difficulties in the construction of the mechanism. The Guidelines will come into effect on January 30, 2024, and the "one-stop" platform will be upgraded simultaneously. The head of the Fourth Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court of China answered reporters' requests on issues related to the issuance of the Guidelines.

Q: What does the "one-stop” platform established by China International Commercial Court (the CICC) refer to? What features does the platform have?

A: The “one-stop” platform refers to the full-process online service platform established on the CICC official website (http://cicc.court.gov.cn), and connects the international commercial mediation institutions, international commercial arbitral institutions and expert members of the International Commercial Experts Committee of the Supreme People's Court of China under "one-stop" diversified international commercial dispute resolution mechanism, aiming to support and facilitate parties concerned to efficiently choose diversified methods such as neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration or litigation to resolve international commercial disputes.

The platform has set up columns such as "Mediation Service", "Arbitration Service", "Litigation Service" and "Supporting Service" to generate, send, receive, store and exchange relevant materials according to the progress of each case, and simultaneously send relevant materials and time information to relevant parties, platform institutions and expert members. The "one-stop" platform has the following four major functions: The first is guidance of dispute resolution. It provides guidelines of different methods such as mediation, arbitration and litigation to the parties concerned, which is helpful to choose the appropriate dispute resolution approach. The second is the evaluation and guidance. Based on the types and features of different international commercial disputes, a neutral evaluation mechanism is established to guide parties concerned to choose appropriate procedures to resolve disputes. The third is the connection function, which provides supporting operation norms for the conversion of litigation, arbitration and mediation, which is conducive to the dispute resolution. The fourth is the supporting function, which provides assistance in neutral evaluation, arbitration preservation, etc., to facilitate the parties concerned in obtaining relevant legal services.

Q: What is the scope of application of the "one-stop” platform?

A: The "one-stop” platform is an information-based platform. The parties concerned can apply for neutral evaluation, mediation, arbitration, arbitration preservation, revocation of domestic arbitral awards, recognition and enforcement of overseas arbitral awards, and litigation to the CICC, etc. It should be noted that in accordance with Article 2, Paragraph 1 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Establishment of the International Commercial Court, litigation in which the parties concerned have agreed to choose the jurisdiction of an international commercial court is limited to international commercial cases of first instance with a subject matter of RMB 300 million or more. In addition, according to Article 11 of the Judicial Interpretations and Articles 34 and 35 of the Procedural Rules of the China International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court (for Trial Implementation), disputes for which the "one-stop" mechanism is selected for neutral evaluation, mediation or arbitration shall be international commercial disputes with a subject matter of more than RMB 300 million or with other significant impact.

Q: How do parties concerned apply for arbitration preservation on the "one-stop” platform?

A: According to Articles 20, 21 and 22 of the Guidelines, the parties concerned apply for arbitration preservation can submit an application, an arbitration agreement, identity documents, a letter of authorization, relevant evidence materials and relevant documents providing guarantee, etc., to an international commercial arbitral institution on the "one-stop" platform. The application for arbitration preservation shall specify the following matters: 1. Basic information, service address, and contact information of the applicant and the respondent; 2. The requested matters and the facts and reasons on which they are based; 3. The amount of property for preservation, evidence, or disputed subject matter; 4. Clear information about the property for preservation, evidence, or specific clues; 5. Information or credit proof for providing guarantees for preservation, or reasons why no guarantees are needed; 6. Other issues such as whether an application has been made in other courts , etc.

To submit the above materials, the parties concerned can select "Application for preservation" in the "Arbitration Service" column on the "one-stop" platform and submit relevant application materials to the international commercial arbitral institution. After receiving the application materials submitted by the parties concerned, the international commercial arbitral institution shall review and determine whether the dispute involved belongs to the scope of Article 2 of the Guidelines; if it does, then the international commercial arbitral institution shall issue a letter of transmittal to the CICC on the "one-stop" platform. If the international commercial arbitral institution fails to issue a letter of transmittal, the CICC will not accept the case. Upon receiving the letter of transmittal and the application for arbitration preservation, if the CICC determines that the dispute involved falls within the scope of application of Article 2 of the Guidelines, it shall file the case and make a ruling within five days. If the parties concerned need to supplement materials, a ruling shall be made within five days after the completion of supplement. If the parties concerned need to be inquired with, a ruling shall be made within five days after the inquiry. If the CICC decides to take preservation measures, it may be implemented by the people's courts at the place where the respondent is domiciled, where the property to be preserved is located, or where the evidence is located. After the CICC's ruling is served to the parties concerned, it shall notify the international commercial arbitral institution via the "one-stop" platform.

Q: Regarding the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre under the "one-stop" mechanism, when the parties apply for arbitration preservation, recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, how do they comply with the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Arrangement of the Supreme People's Court of China Concerning the Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and supplementary arrangements?

A: According to Article 14 of the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Regarding the Establishment of the International Commercial Court (hereinafter referred to as the Provisions), if the parties concerned agree to choose an international commercial arbitral institution under the "one-stop" mechanism for arbitration, they may apply for a preservation to the CICC. This provision is an innovative initiative to implement the central government’s deployment on the construction of the Belt and Road international commercial dispute resolution mechanism and the establishment of a "one-stop” diversified international commercial dispute resolution mechanism that organically connects litigation, arbitration and mediation. According to Article 3 of the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (hereinafter referred to as the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance): "Before the arbitral award is made, a party to arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong SAR may, by reference to the provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, the Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China and relevant judicial interpretations, make an application for interim measure to the Intermediate People's Court of the place of residence of the party against whom the application is made (“respondent”) or the place where the property or evidence is situated." For international commercial disputes with a subject matter of more than RMB 300 million or other significant impact, where the parties concerned agree to choose an arbitral institution under the "one-stop" mechanism for arbitration, they may choose to apply for arbitration preservation to the CICC in accordance with the Provisions, or they may choose to apply for preservation to the intermediate people's courts with jurisdiction in accordance with the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance.

It should be noted that in accordance with relevant provisions, the people's courts only have the jurisdiction to approve and enforce arbitral awards in Hong Kong SAR, Macao SAR and Taiwan, but not the jurisdiction to revoke arbitral awards. Therefore, for arbitral awards by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre under the "one-stop" mechanism, the CICC shall, based on the applications for approval and enforcement of arbitral awards submitted by the parties concerned, make corresponding rulings after reviewing them in accordance with the Arrangements of the Supreme People's Court on the Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and reviewing the supplementary arrangements. For arbitration preservation cases involving the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the CICC shall make corresponding rulings after reviewing the cases in accordance with the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance.

Q: What measures will be taken by the Supreme People's Court's "one-stop” diversified international commercial dispute resolution platform to safeguard the confidentiality principle of commercial arbitration and commercial mediation?

A: First, the "one-stop" platform strictly implements relevant legal provisions on privacy protection and adopts strict confidentiality measures for the collection, storage, and use of relevant information about the parties concerned. Second, the arbitration or mediation services requested by the parties concerned that need to be provided by arbitral institutions or mediation institutions shall be handled by the relevant institutions using their own systems and their original service methods. Third, relevant arbitration services and mediation services that need to be provided by arbitral institutions or mediation institutions across to other systems, are in accordance with the principle of minimum necessity for services based on specific service scenarios , and the necessary information needed to be provided is consistent with the information in original related services. Fourth, the relevant information in the "one-stop" platform is independently categorized and separated from each other according to the relevant arbitral and mediation institutions involved, with limitation to access the information. Fifth, the mediation hosted by the mediation institutions and expert members will not be conducted in public. Mediation shall result in a record and shall be signed by the parties concerned and the expert members presiding over the mediation or signed by the mediators of the commercial mediation institutions. The mediation records and the facts recognized by the parties concerned as the compromise for the purpose of reaching a mediation agreement shall not be used as a basis against the parties concerned in arbitration or litigation proceedings, unless otherwise provided by law or agreed by the parties concerned.

Related links: 最高人民法院发布《“一站式”国际商事纠纷多元化解决平台工作指引（试行）》

*The original text is Chinese and has been translated into English for reference only. If there is any inconsistency or ambiguity between the Chinese version and the English version, the Chinese version shall prevail.