BIZCHINA / Company laws

Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China

Updated: 2006-04-17 10:13

Chapter III Arbitration Agreement

Article 16
An arbitration agreement shall include the arbitration clauses provided in the contract and any other written form of agreement concluded before or after the disputes providing for submission to arbitration.
The following contents shall be included in an arbitration agreement:
1. the expression of the parties' wish to submit to arbitration;
2. the matters to be arbitrated; and
3. the Arbitration Commission selected by the parties.

Article 17
An arbitration agreement shall be invalid under any of the following circumstances:
1. matters agreed upon for arbitration are beyond the scope of arbitration prescribed by law;
2. an arbitration agreement concluded by persons without or with limited capacity for civil acts; and
3. one party forces the other party to sign an arbitration agreement by means of duress.

Article 18
If the arbitration matters or the arbitration commission are not agreed upon by the parties in the arbitration agreement, or, if the relevant provisions are not clear, the parties may supplement the agreement. If the parties fail to agree upon the supplementary agreement, the arbitration agreement shall be invalid.

Article 19
An arbitration agreement shall exist independently. Any changes to, rescission, termination or invalidity of the contract shall not affect the validity of the arbitration agreement. An arbitration tribunal has the right to rule on the validity of a contract.

Article 20
If the parties object to the validity of the arbitration agreement, they may apply to the arbitration commission for a decision or to a people's court for a ruling. If one of the parties submits to the arbitration commission for a decision, but the other party applies to a people's court for a ruling, the people's court shall give the ruling.
If the parties contest the validity of the arbitration agreement, the objection shall be made before the start of the first hearing of the arbitration tribunal.


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