On June, 6^th, 2008 an academic seminar was held in the celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the New York Convention, jointly held by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and Renmin University of China. Madame Wang Hongsong, BAC Secretary-General, attended the conference and delivered a theme speech on “Celebrating the New York Convention: Contribution on Creating an Open System for Arbitration Development.” (Please refer to Focuses for details)

　　The International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) held its annual conference in Dublin, on June 8^th-10^th. Besides the great celebration of the 50^th anniversary of the New York Convention, quite a few current issues such as the increase in the arbitration of investment disputes and the amendment of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) arbitration rules were also discussed. Secretaries Wang Xilian and Fang Jian were present as representatives of the BAC.(Please refer to Communication and Cooperation for details)

　　On June 13 2008, members of 14 sub-research project teams, including the Commercial Arbitration Sub-Research Project Team co-established by CIETAC and the BAC, attended the seminar on the research project of “Establishing and Perfecting Mechanisms of Various Dispute Resolution” held by the Judicial Revolution Office of the Supreme Court of the People’s Republic of China. Zhang Genda, the Vice Director and project manager of the Office, led the seminar and gave an introduction of the first-stage achievements. During the second stage, the Sub-Research Project Team will put forward a draft of suggestions based on the first-stage research reports, which shall be completed by the end of July. The final target of the project is to pose policy suggestions, and to further advanced revisions on dispute resolution related legislation.
Members of each team have communicated with one another regarding the development of their projects, as well as their experiences in the seminar. Jiang Lili of the BAC, representative from the Commercial Arbitration Sub-Research Project Team, gave an introduction to the research report, and posed suggestions on the link-up and cooperation between relevant mechanisms of dispute resolution such as commercial arbitration and mediation, administration for industry and commerce, etc..

　　On June 18^th, the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office held a national conference on Taiwan-related arbitration in Hefei. Ye Kedong, deputy director of the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office attended the conference and delivered a speech. The conference summarized the achievements in Taiwan-related arbitration in the past 10 years; participants from different regions of the country shared their experience on this issue and put forward ideas and suggestions for further strengthening Taiwan-related arbitration work. Madame Wang Hongsong also introduced the BAC’s experience in employing arbitrators from Taiwan. In addition to participants from the State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the Supreme Court of PRC, more than 100 people attended from the 37 pilot areas in the mainland where professional arbitrators from Taiwan are employed..

　　 On June 19^th, BAC arbitrators met with Chen Jinchuan (President of the Intellectual Property Chamber of Supreme Court) and Pei Liang (Secretary General of the Franchising Industry Association) for expert advice on franchise cases.

　　 On June 23^rd, several BAC staff members completed a comprehensive Microsoft Office training course with help from the YBM Training Center. Twenty-nine BAC employees have consecutively passed training exams on four programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, enhancing their ability in application of computer office software. Eventually, each employee will receive the Specialist certification awarded by MOS.

　　On June 26^th, 2008, Mr. Andrew Aglionby and Ms. Catherine Mun from the law offices of Baker & McKenzie delivered a wonderful speech on construction and engineering-related arbitration in Hong Kong. The speech was attended by nearly 100 people, including several BAC arbitrators, lawyers and other legal personnel. Participants at the BAC were joined by participants from the Zibo Arbitration Commission and the China Arbitration Association in Taiwan, who took part via live internet video. (Please see details on our website)

　　On June 27^th, 2008, a seminar on alternative dispute resolution methods was held in Beijing. The seminar was held jointly by the United Kingdom Trade and Investment Department, the China-Britain Business Council, CCPIT and CIETAC. In the seminar, representatives from the Chinese arbitration commissions, mediation institutes and law offices compared and contrasted between the arbitration and mediation systems in both countries from many perspectives, including the legal system, arbitration rules, mediation rules and case analysis. The BAC representatives played an active role in the discussion with the speech-makers.

　　On June 2nd, 2008, the Dispute Resolution Library (DRL) of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) debuted on the internet. The DRL provides over 1000 kinds of legal documents and publications on international dispute resolution, including annuals of ICC arbitration, publishing a number of authoritative documents and practical information on arbitration law and dispute resolution services. The whole database of special publications can be searched by users through full text or key words from any computer with an internet connection. Please visit the website to try it out for free: www.iccdrl.com (Information source: ICC Website)

　　The IBA and UNCITRAL have published a report on the operational situation of the New York Convention, which concluded that more cooperation amongst signatories is necessary to realize the full effects of the Convention (Source: Global Arbitration Review www.globalarbitrationreview.com)

(Kong Yuan)