Guangzhou pioneers remote court hearing for intl commercial arbitration

China Nansha International Arbitration Center (NSIAC), a branch of Guangzhou Arbitration Commission (GZAC), handled a sales contract dispute on international goods Nov 20 online, making it the first case of its kind in the world to use the internet in commercial arbitration

Thanks to the remote audio and video session system, the case, involving two parties from China and Cambodia, finished its court hearing while the Cambodian party was still in Phnom Penh.

Cambodia and China have seen closer economic and trade ties recently, and bilateral trade volume in 2018 reached $7.39 billion, up 27.6 percent year-on-year. China invested $3.6 billion in Cambodia in 2018, accounting for 53 percent of Cambodia's total foreign investment that year.

Lu Hefeng, who is in charge of Cambodia's commercial center in Guangzhou, said the reason that they chose GZAC was that they are confident about Guangzhou's business environment and have trust in GZAC.

Heng Poeu, consul general of Cambodia in Guangzhou, praised the trial hearing as worth learning from.

GZAC had dealt with 216 foreign-related cases by Nov 15, a year-on-year growth of 44 percent, ranking among the top three in China for consecutive years.

In September 2018, arbitration centers from 11 cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area signed in Nansha an agreement to set up an arbitration association in the Greater Bay Area with its secretariat located in Nansha.

GZAC has signed a cooperation contract with Guangdong Chamber of Commerce in Cyprus to set up an arbitration and mediation center involving European countries as well as the Middle East.