Arbitration

Arbitration is the dispute resolution mechanism most cross-border commercial contracts now provide for, and the framework that the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China have committed to via the New York Convention 1958. Done well, arbitration is private, technically sophisticated, internationally portable and faster than court litigation. Done badly — or against an opponent better-prepared than you are — it is the opposite.

At Duan & Duan UK LLP we advise companies and individuals across the full arbitration lifecycle, from the moment an arbitration clause is being drafted into a commercial agreement, through to the moment a successful award is being enforced against assets in the United Kingdom or in another jurisdiction. Our practice has a particular focus on the UK–Greater China corridor, where the bilingual and bicultural element is often what determines whether a strategy works or fails.

Arbitration Clauses & Pre-Dispute Advisory

Most arbitration outcomes are determined years before the dispute arises, by the precise wording of the arbitration clause in the underlying contract. An ill-drafted clause — unclear on the seat, the institution, the language, the number and method of appointment of arbitrators, or the scope of disputes covered — can be exploited by a counterparty to delay proceedings, force the parties into a forum that does not suit them, or in the worst cases render the clause unworkable.

We advise on the drafting of arbitration clauses in commercial agreements involving Chinese counterparties — supply contracts, distribution and agency agreements, joint venture agreements, M&A documents, finance agreements, technology licences, and consultancy and service contracts. We can also review existing clauses, identify weaknesses, and recommend amendments at contract renewal or amendment stages.

The factors we work through with clients at this stage include the choice of arbitral institution (CIETAC, SHIAC, SHAC, BAC, HKIAC, SIAC, LCIA, ICC, or ad hoc); the choice of seat (which determines the procedural law of the arbitration and the supervising courts); the choice of governing law; the language of the proceedings; the appointment mechanism; carve-outs and tiered dispute-resolution provisions; and the interface between arbitration and any related court litigation, regulatory proceedings, or insolvency.

Counsel in Commercial Arbitration

When a dispute arises, we act as counsel for parties in commercial arbitration proceedings — both in mainland Chinese institutional arbitration (where bilingual capability is material) and in English-language proceedings before HKIAC, SIAC, LCIA, ICC and other major institutions. We also handle ad hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules and similar frameworks.

Our work as counsel covers the full procedural cycle: pleadings, document production, witness and expert evidence, oral hearings, post-hearing submissions, and any subsequent steps on the award. We coordinate with the Duan & Duan international network of more than forty offices when the arbitration involves elements located in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore, or elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region. Where specialist arbitral advocacy from external chambers is appropriate, we instruct external counsel and lead the case management.

For commercial arbitrations involving Chinese parties, our internal capability in Mandarin and Cantonese — across partners and bilingual associates — means that document review, party-to-party correspondence, and direct client conversations can all be conducted in the relevant language without an interpreter intermediary. That capability is, in practice, material.

Enforcement of Arbitral Awards

Winning an award and being paid are two different exercises. Our enforcement practice runs the formal enforcement application alongside the freezing-order and asset-tracing toolkit that English law provides to award creditors.

The substantive framework for enforcing a foreign arbitral award in the United Kingdom is set out in the New York Convention 1958 and implemented domestically by sections 100 to 104 of the Arbitration Act 1996. Awards from the principal mainland Chinese institutions — CIETAC, SHIAC, SHAC, BAC, CMAC — fall within that framework and are routinely enforced. The same machinery applies in reverse to the enforcement of an English-seated award in mainland China, with the PRC's reservations and the practical procedural differences taken into account.

A separate piece of work, often run in parallel, is the freezing-order and asset-tracing exercise that secures the value of the award before the formal enforcement proceedings conclude. For award creditors, this is where the difference between a judgment-on-paper and a recovery-in-fact is determined.

Challenges to Arbitral Awards

For award debtors — and occasionally for award creditors faced with an opposing challenge — we advise on and run challenges to awards under the Arbitration Act 1996. The principal routes available in the English system are challenges to the tribunal's substantive jurisdiction (section 67), challenges on the basis of serious irregularity (section 68), and appeals on a point of English law (section 69). Each has its own threshold, time limit and tactical considerations. We are realistic with clients about which is winnable on the facts, and which is not; the route that looks promising on first reading is often the one that ends up being least productive when interrogated against the authorities.

UK–Greater China Cross-Border Arbitration

The work we are best known for, and which most distinguishes the firm from other London commercial arbitration practices, sits in the UK–Greater China corridor. We act for Chinese state-owned and private enterprises, Hong Kong holding structures, Singapore-headquartered groups with mainland operations, and UK companies and individuals with Chinese counterparties.

Recurring themes in this work include the choice between a mainland Chinese seat and a Hong Kong, Singapore or English-seated arbitration; the practical management of evidence located in the PRC under Chinese data-protection and personal-information rules; the interaction between arbitration proceedings and parallel court proceedings; and the cultural and linguistic dimensions of the dispute that can affect what the tribunal sees and how the dispute is understood. Our partners' practice — and the firm's parent-network footprint across mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and the broader region — is built for this kind of matter.

If you are considering, drafting, or in the middle of an arbitration with a UK–Greater China element, please feel free to contact us for a confidential initial conversation. The earlier in the lifecycle of the matter we are involved, the more options remain open.

Latest commentary

• Enforcing a mainland Chinese arbitral award in the United Kingdom: a practitioner's note — A practitioner's note on the New York Convention 1958 framework as applied to awards from CIETAC, SHIAC, SHAC, BAC, CMAC and other mainland institutions, the closed list of grounds on which enforcement may be resisted, and the practical issues clients underestimate.