Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China (2025 Revision)

Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China (2025 Revision)

Order of the President of the People's Republic of China
(No. 54)

The Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China, revised and adopted at the 17th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China on September 12, 2025, is hereby issued with effect from March 1, 2026.

Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China
September 12, 2025

Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China
(Adopted at the 9th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eighth National People's Congress on August 31, 1994; amended for the first time according to the Decision on Amending Certain Laws adopted at the 10th Session of the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress on August 27, 2009; amended for the second time in accordance with the Decision on Amending Eight Laws Including the Judges Law of the People's Republic of China at the 29th Session of the Twelfth National People's Congress on September 1, 2017; revised at the 17th Session of the Standing Committee of the Fourteenth National People's Congress on September 12, 2025)

Contents
Chapter I General Provisions
Chapter II Arbitration Institutions, Arbitrators and Arbitration Associations
Chapter III Arbitration Agreement
Chapter IV Arbitration Proceedings
Section 1 Application and Acceptance
Section 2 Formation of Arbitration Tribunal
Section 3 Hearing and Award
Chapter V Application for Setting Aside Arbitration Award
Chapter VI Enforcement
Chapter VII Special Provisions for Arbitration Involving Foreign Elements
Chapter VIII Supplementary Provisions
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 This Law is formulated in order to ensure the impartial and prompt arbitration of economic disputes, to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the parties and to safeguard the sound development of the socialist market economy.
Article 2 The development of arbitration shall implement the guidelines, principles, policies, decisions, and deployments of the Communist Party of China and the state, serve the country's high-quality development and high-level opening-up, create a market-oriented and international business environment under the rule of law, and play a role in resolving economic disputes.
Article 3 Contractual disputes and other disputes over rights and interests in property between natural persons, legal persons, and unincorporated organizations that are equal subjects may be arbitrated.
The following disputes may not be arbitrated:
(1) marital, adoption, guardianship, support and succession disputes;
(2) administrative disputes that shall be handled by administrative organs as prescribed by law.
Article 4 The parties' choice of arbitration to resolve their dispute shall be on the basis of free will and an arbitration agreement reached between them. If a party applies for arbitration in the absence of an arbitration agreement, the arbitration institution shall not accept the case.
Article 5 If the parties have concluded an arbitration agreement and one party institutes an action in a people's court, the people's court shall not accept the case, unless the arbitration agreement is null and void or otherwise provided by laws and regulations.
Article 6 The arbitration institution shall be selected by the parties through agreement.
In arbitration, there shall be no jurisdiction by level and no territorial jurisdiction.
Article 7 In arbitration, disputes shall be resolved on the basis of facts, in compliance with the law and in an equitable and reasonable manner.
Article 8 Arbitration shall follow the principle of good faith.
Article 9 Arbitration shall be carried out independently according to law and shall be free from interference of administrative organs, social organizations or individuals.
Article 10 A system of a single and final award shall be practiced for arbitration. If a party applies for arbitration to an arbitration institution or institutes an action in a people's court regarding the same dispute after an arbitration award has been made, the arbitration institution or the people's court shall not accept the case.
If an arbitration award is set aside or its enforcement is disallowed by the people's court in accordance with the law, a party may apply for arbitration on the basis of a new arbitration agreement reached between the parties, or institute an action in the people's court, regarding the same dispute.
Article 11 Arbitration activities may be conducted online on an information network, except where the parties expressly disagree.
Arbitration activities conducted online on an information network have the same legal effect as offline arbitration activities.
Article 12 The state supports arbitration institutions in strengthening exchanges and cooperation with overseas arbitration institutions and relevant international organizations and actively participating in the formulation of international arbitration rules.
Chapter II Arbitration Institutions, Arbitrators and Arbitration Associations
Article 13 Arbitration institutions may be established in municipalities directly under the Central Government and in cities that are the seats of the people's governments of provinces or autonomous regions. They may also be established in other cities divided into districts, according to need. Arbitration institutions shall not be established at each level of the administrative divisions.
People's governments of the cities referred to in the preceding paragraph shall arrange for the relevant departments and chambers of commerce to organize arbitration institutions in a unified manner, which are public welfare, non-profit legal persons.
Article 14 An arbitration institution established in accordance with Article 13 of this Law shall be registered with the administrative department of justice of the relevant province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government.
The arbitration institution organized and established by the China Chamber of International Commerce with the approval of the State Council shall be reported for recordation to the administrative department of justice of the State Council.
The specific measures for the registration and administration of arbitration institutions shall be formulated by the State Council.
Article 15 An arbitration institution shall meet the conditions set forth below:
(1) To have its own name, domicile and charter;
(2) To have the necessary property;
(3) To have members as required by this Law.
(4) To have appointed arbitrators.
The charter of an arbitration institution shall be formulated in accordance with this Law.
Article 16 If an arbitration institution changes its name, address, charter, legal representative, or members, it shall submit an application for a change in accordance with the law.
Article 17 Where an arbitration institution terminates, its registration shall be canceled in accordance with the law.
Article 18 An arbitration institution shall be composed of one chairman, two to four vice chairmen and seven to eleven members.
The members of an arbitration institution shall be experts in the field of law, economy and trade, and science and technology and persons with practical working experience. Experts in the field of law, economy and trade, and science and technology shall account for at least two thirds of the people forming an arbitration institution.
The term of office of each member of the arbitration institution is five years. When the term of office expires, a new term shall be held in accordance with the law, and no less than one-third of the members shall be replaced.
Article 19 An arbitration institution shall establish and improve its internal governance structure in accordance with laws, regulations and its charter, and specify its responsibilities, powers and procedures in terms of decision-making, execution and supervision.
The arbitration institution shall establish and improve systems for democratic deliberation, personnel management, fee and financial management, document management, and complaint handling.
The arbitration institution shall strengthen supervision over its members, staff and arbitrators, and promptly investigate and deal with their illegal actions and disciplinary violations in arbitration activities in accordance with the law; if it is necessary to pursue legal liability, the illegal actions and disciplinary violations shall be promptly transferred to the relevant authorities for handling.
Article 20 An arbitration institution shall establish a system for open access to information, so as to promptly make such information as its charter, registration, recordation, rules of arbitration, register of arbitrators, service procedures, fee rates, annual business reports and budget and financial reports available to the public and voluntarily accept public supervision.
Article 21 An arbitrators appointed by an arbitration institution shall be fair and upright, possess good professional qualities, be diligent and responsible, be honest and clean, and abide by professional ethics.
Article 22 An arbitrator shall meet one of the conditions set forth below:
(1) He or she has passed the national uniform legal profession qualification examination and obtained the legal profession qualification, and conducted the arbitration work for eight years or more;
(2) To have practiced as a lawyer for not less than eight years;
(3) He or she has served as a judge or public procurator for eight years or more;
(4) To have been engaged in legal research or legal education, possessing a senior professional title; or
(5) To have acquired the knowledge of law, to have engaged in the professional work in the field of law, economy and trade, maritime affairs, science and technology, etc., and to possess a senior professional title or having an equivalent professional level.
If the Oversight Officials Law of the People's Republic of China, the Judges Law of the People's Republic of China, the Public Procurators Law of the People's Republic of China, or any other law provides that a relevant public official may not concurrently serve as an arbitrator, such law shall apply; if any other public official concurrently serves as an arbitrator, he or she shall comply with the relevant provisions.
An arbitration institution may appoint arbitrators from among overseas personnel with special knowledge in the fields of law, economy and trade, maritime affairs, science and technology, etc.
Article 23 An arbitration institution shall have a register of arbitrators in different specializations.
If an arbitrator is expelled from public service, has his or her lawyer's practicing license or senior professional title revoked, or otherwise no longer meets the conditions for serving as an arbitrator, the arbitration institution shall expel him or her.
Article 24 Arbitration institutions shall be independent from administrative organs and there shall be no subordinate relationships between arbitration institutions and administrative organs.
There shall also be no subordinate relationships between arbitration institutions.
Article 25 China Arbitration Association is a social organization with the status of a legal person. Arbitration institutions are members of China Arbitration Association. The charter of China Arbitration Association shall be formulated by its national congress of members.
China Arbitration Association is a self-regulatory organization of arbitration institutions and, in accordance with its charter, supervises arbitration institutions and their members, staff and arbitrators in arbitration activities.
China Arbitration Association shall formulate model rules of arbitration in accordance with this Law and the relevant provisions of the Civil Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China.
Article 26 The administrative department of justice of the State Council shall guide and supervise nationwide arbitration in accordance with the law, improve relevant work systems, and coordinate the planning of the development of arbitration.
The justice departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government shall guide and supervise arbitration within their administrative areas in accordance with the law.
Chapter III Arbitration Agreement
Article 27 An arbitration agreement shall include arbitration clauses stipulated in the contract and agreements of submission to arbitration that are concluded in other written forms before or after disputes arise.
An arbitration agreement shall contain the following particulars:
(1) an expression of intention to apply for arbitration;
(2) matters for arbitration; and
(3) a designated arbitration institution.
If a party claims that an arbitration agreement exists when applying for arbitration, and the other party does not deny the claim before the first hearing, the arbitration tribunal shall offer hints, keep records, and deem that an arbitration agreement exits between the parties.
Article 28 An arbitration agreement shall be null and void under one of the following circumstances:
(1) The agreed matters for arbitration exceed the range of arbitrable matters as specified by law;
(2) One party that concluded the arbitration agreement has no capacity for civil conducts or has limited capacity for civil conducts; or
(3) One party coerced the other party into concluding the arbitration agreement.
Article 29 If an arbitration agreement contains no or unclear provisions concerning the matters for arbitration or the arbitration institution, the parties may reach a supplementary agreement. If no such supplementary agreement can be reached, the arbitration agree......