Procedural Perils: China's Supreme People's Court on the Enforcement of Awards in International Arbitration

Abstract

Commentators have often remarked on the PRC’s bad reputation for enforcing awards, including favoritism to domestic parties and arbitral institutions. The Chinese Supreme People’s Court often rejects foreign awards enforced under the New York Convention for procedural violations, while it typically rejects domestically issued, foreign-related awards on challenges to the arbitral tribunal’s jurisdiction. This latter result is unsurprising; tribunal jurisdiction and the timing of challenges to it present some of the thorniest issues in PRC arbitration law. The prevalence of procedural pitfalls for New York Convention award holders is more unexpected. One possible reason for this difference may be that holders of awards rendered abroad lack the opportunity to present evidence they complied with New York Convention rules.

Keywords: New York Conventional, International Arbitration, PRC

JEL Classification: K33