Internationally renowned experts join SCIA

The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) appointed two foreign experts as members to its third council during a ceremony at the SCIA Tower in Qinahai on Friday.

The new SCIA council members are Robert Azevêdo, the former director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and Sir William Blair, a former high court judge in England and Wales in the U.K.

Council members of the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) take a group photo at the SCIA Tower in Qianhai on Friday afternoon. Zhang Yu

This signifies that nine out of SCIA’s 15 council members come from eight overseas legal jurisdictions. The addition of world-class experts also reflects that China’s high-level opening up, centered on institutional openness, is increasingly recognized by global intellectuals, which will inject more vitality into stabilizing the international economic and trade order and promoting the revitalization of the multilateral trading system.

Azevêdo served as the WTO director-general from 2013 to 2020. The Brazilian is renowned for his advocacy of economic globalization and unwavering support for the multilateral trading system.

“What made [SCIA] most attractive was the push to be truly international. I come from a professional background where I’m able to understand and cooperate with different agencies in the world,” Azevêdo said in an interview Friday.

Azevêdo believes that there is an urgent need for effective, fast, fair, and multicultural dispute resolution mechanisms to cope with international disputes.

As a leading international expert in commercial and financial law and dispute resolution, Blair has dedicated himself to advancing the fair and effective resolution of international commercial disputes.

“I think the SCIA has a number of important advantages. First of all, it’s based here in Shenzhen, which is a very important financial, business, and IT center. It is also a well-developed arbitration center,” said Blair. “[The SCIA] has its own structure and has an independent council, for example.”

Elsie Leung Oi-sie, Hong Kong’s former secretary for justice and a council member of SCIA, said that the inclusion of the two new members will help SCIA enhance its international stature and further underscore its commitment to international arbitration independence.

Established in 1983, SCIA is the first arbitration institution in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to its official website. In 2012, SCIA acted as a pioneer in establishing a statutory body governance mechanism and a corporate governance structure with an international council serving as the decision-making body.

According to SCIA, the total amount of money involved in disputes in arbitration cases accepted by SCIA increased from 3.9 billion yuan (US$541 million) in 2012 to 127.2 billion yuan in 2022, ranking first in Asia and among the top three in the world for the first time.

In 2023, the total amount of money involved in disputes in arbitration cases accepted by SCIA reached a new high of 138.3 billion yuan. Its arbitration and mediation services have been extended to 140 countries and regions worldwide.