Recognition of foreign arbitral award may be a first

Acourt in Ningbo, Zhejiang province, has granted enforcement of an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration award that was made in China. The decision, made in April by the Ningbo Intermediate Court, appears to be the first reported instance of the enforcement in China of an award made by a foreign arbitral institution conducting an arbitration in China.

According to www.legaldaily.com.cn, the case concerned ICC award 14006/MS/JB/JEM. The claimant commenced ICC arbitration against a Chinese company for the breach of a sale and purchase contract. The contract provided that disputes would be submitted to the arbitration commission of the ICC in Beijing; the ICC duly appointed an arbitrator from Singapore to hear the case. The respondent objected to this appointment on the grounds that the contract provided for arbitration by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) instead of the ICC. The objection was unsuccessful, and in Beijing on 21 September 2007 the arbitrator granted an award of US$234,568.23 in favour of the claimant.

The claimant then applied to the Ningbo Intermediate Court for recognition and enforcement of the award. One of the objections raised by the respondent was that the conduct of an ICC arbitration in China violates PRC law.