Standing Committee of the National People's Congress

Rule Changes

Adopted the revised arbitration law after three rounds of review

China's arbitration law has operated essentially unchanged since 1995, when the country's commercial arbitration system was still shaking off its origins as a government-controlled process. On March 1, 2026, a substantially revised version took effect, introducing concepts that most major arbitration jurisdictions adopted decades ago: a codified 'seat of arbitration' for foreign-related cases, permission for foreign arbitration bodies like the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) to operate in designated free trade zones, and legal recognition of online proceedings.

Updated Mar 1