Newmans Row

International Arbitrator and Mediator

Chinese arbitrator and professor, member of the international commercial expert committee of the Chinese Supreme People's Court and chair of international arbitration and Chinese law at Durham University

Professor Chen is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (FHKIArb) and frequently provides expert opinions to arbitration institutions and courts, including Hong Kong, the PCA (The Hague), Washington D.C., Geneva, Singapore, and England.

In addition to his academic endeavours, he has sat as an arbitrator in over 230 arbitrations in Chinese and English languages. Professor Chen is a panel arbitrator and mediator with leading institutions such as HKIAC; AIAC; KCAB; TIAC; CAA; DIAC; ICC UK; LCIA; BIAC; CIETAC; SCIA; SHIAC; Guangzhou Arbitration Commission (GAC); Shanghai Arbitration Commission; Tianjin Arbitration Commission; Nanjing Arbitration Commission; Xi’an Arbitration Commission, Ningbo Arbitration Commission; Hainan Arbitration Commission; Qingdao Arbitration Commission; Zhuhai Arbitration Commission.

Professor Lei Chen (PhD) is the Chair of International Arbitration and Chinese Law and the Deputy Dean for Strategic Development and Internationalisation at Durham Law School, Durham University. He is a titular member of the International Academy of Comparative Law and an ordinary member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Prof Chen has also been a Fellow of the European Law Institute. In 2022, he founded the Durham International Dispute Resolution Institute (DIDRI), where he currently serves as Director.

Beyond his role at Durham, Professor Chen is an Adjunct Professor at the City University of Hong Kong, where he teaches EMBA and MPA courses in partnership with Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Management. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of Galway, Ireland, and a visiting professor at Shandong University and Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Professor Chen was appointed to the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China in September 2024. He serves as a member of the Social and Behavioural Sciences sub-panel for the University Grants Committee (UGC) in Hong Kong, where he assesses research proposals and selects external peer reviewers. Professor Chen’s research focuses on comparative private law and international arbitration. Currently, he leads a multi-volume project on article-by-article English commentary of the Chinese Civil Code.

English, Chinese

Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC), Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB), Thai International Arbitration Centre (TIAC), Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC), CAA (Taipei), Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), Chinese local arbitration commissions at Tianjin; Nanjing; Xi’an; Ningbo; Dalian; Zhengzhou; Yangzhou; Hainan; Qingdao; Zhuhai; Langfang; Guiyang; Yantai; Weihai; Foshan; Shantou