Intl mediation platform turns one, shows results

The International Organization for Mediation, the world's first intergovernmental legal organization dedicated to resolving international disputes through mediation, marked its first anniversary on Tuesday, with its signatories increasing from 33 to 48 and its contracting states rising from eight to 18.

Headquartered in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, IOMed has received more than a dozen inquiries and handled multiple cases since its launch on Oct 20, 2025. In early May, it successfully resolved a maritime dispute involving parties from China and Singapore.

Speaking at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said IOMed had successfully mediated international commercial disputes, earning high recognition from the parties involved.

She said the organization aims to provide a new platform for resolving disputes through peaceful and amicable means, representing an important international public good in the field of the rule of law.

China looks forward to more countries joining the organization and making full use of the platform to contribute to the peaceful settlement of international disputes, as well as world peace and development, Mao added.

Growing global interest in IOMed is generating more potential cases, said Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah, the organization's secretary-general, at an anniversary celebration held at its headquarters in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, on Tuesday evening.

Cheng said two mediation cases were underway, one at the Wan Chai headquarters and the other online. The case handled at the headquarters had been successfully concluded earlier on Tuesday.

The mediation, completed within a single day, enabled the disputing parties to reach a settlement agreement over an infrastructure construction project in Malaysia. It demonstrated IOMed's "institutional value in facilitating mediation and settlement, even where the parties had no existing mediation agreement", Cheng said.

Also addressing the event, Hong Kong SAR Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said IOMed was a vital platform for promoting global peace and prosperity.

"Hong Kong, after all, is the world's only Chinese-English, bilingual common law jurisdiction. And our status as an international legal and dispute resolution services center is internationally recognized," Lee said.

He added that the Hong Kong SAR government would continue to support IOMed in line with the national 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) and Hong Kong's first five-year plan.

Lee welcomed IOMed's involvement in resolving disputes in emerging industries and said the SAR government was considering establishing a special panel of mediators for commodity trading. He also expressed hope for cooperation with IOMed to create more opportunities for young people.

Cui Jianchun, commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong SAR, said China, as a founding and host country, would continue to fully support IOMed's development. He added that the commitment reflected China's belief in the peaceful settlement of disputes and its initiatives on global governance.

"Looking ahead, we look forward to IOMed further fulfilling its mandate, offering flexible and equitable solutions for both interstate and cross-border commercial disputes, and advancing the practice of diversified dispute resolution," Cui said.