On 7th August 2019, Mr. Li Chenggang, Assistant Minister of Commerce of China, led the Chinese delegation to the signing ceremony for the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements resulting from Mediation ("Singapore Mediation Convention") and signed the Convention on behalf of China. Mr. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, and Mr. Stephen Mathias, Assistant Secretary-General for Legal Affairs of the United Nations, attended the signing ceremony and made a speech. Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, sent a video to express his congratulations. Delegations from 67 countries and regions attended the signing ceremony; 46 countries and regions, including China, United States of America, Korea, India, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Iran, Malaysia, Israel, etc., signed the Convention.

Mr. Lee Hsien Loong stated in his speech that the Singapore Mediation Convention further perfected the mediation mechanism for resolving international commercial disputes. Numerous countries signed the Convention, manifesting the consensus in the international community on the significance of multilateralism. Mr. António Guterres said in the video that the Singapore Mediation Convention fortified the international rules in respect of commercial dispute resolution, highlighting the value of multilateralism. Mr. Stephen Mathias expressed that the Singapore Mediation Convention is a support of multilateralism, and that the successful holding of the signing ceremony represented the victory of multilateralism. The Convention would promote the mediation mechanism, facilitate the dispute settlement   and maintain good relations among commercial parties, and hence bolster the development of international trade.

The Singapore Mediation Convention, drafted by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) through 4 years' study and approved by the United Nations General Assembly meeting in December 2018, aims to solve problems in relation to the cross-border enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from international commercial mediation. In the resolution regarding the adoption of the Convention, the United Nations stated that mediation has a unique value in the friendly settlement of international commercial disputes, and that the Convention would complement the existing international legal framework of mediation; these are conducive to developing harmonious economic relations in the international community.

The Convention has attracted tremendous attention and received positive appraisal from China's various businesses and also from the arbitration, mediation and legal professions. Many Chinese institutions also participated in the activities related to the signing ceremony, including China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, China International Economy and Trade Arbitration Commission, Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center, Hong Kong Mediation Centre, Institute of International Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and various law firms.

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中国签署《联合国关于调解所产生的国际和解协议公约》

*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.