• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.31-50
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• 2020

The leading foreign arbitration agencies have established a representative office in China since 2015 to improve their arbitration agencies' problem being neglected by foreign parties. The Chinese government has enacted a system in which mediation services can be provided in China. The Chinese government seems to expect that if foreign arbitration agencies enter China and compete with Chinese arbitration agencies, Chinese arbitration agencies will also have an opportunity to develop through competition. In addition, it seems to reflect the expectation of Chinese parties that rather than using a foreign arbitration agency under foreign countries as the arbitration site to settle disputes, it would be more advantageous to arbitrate in China as the arbitration site with a foreign arbitration agency. The Chinese government has adopted a strategy to gradually open China's commercial arbitration service market to foreign arbitration agencies. Regarding the scope of arbitration services, China opened an arbitration service market limited to non-profit activities and foreign arbitration agencies in 2015 and then opened it to commercial activities in 2019. Also, the provision of arbitration services by foreign arbitration agencies is limited to foreign-invested companies registered in the Shanghai Pilot Trade Zone and parties in China, which are the counterparties of disputes between them. It will take a little more time to see how much the Chinese government will expand the number of parties that can use foreign arbitration agencies in the future.