Overview: Recognizing And Enforcing Foreign Arbitral Awards In China

I. Introduction

With international trade flows boosting, international commercial arbitration is becoming increasingly accepted among parties as an efficient means of resolving international economic and trade disputes, due to its confidentiality, flexibility, speed and enforceability. In the event of non-compliance with an arbitral award by the losing party, it is critical for the winning party to be able to enforce the award against the losing party in accordance with relevant governing law.

There are widespread concerns among the disputed parties on whether the arbitral awards issued outside China can be effectively enforced through Chinese courts. The concerns are mostly due to the lack of knowledge of the Chinese legal system and its practice. This article will provide an overview of the procedure for enforcing foreign arbitral awards under the Chinese legal scheme. It will also briefly touch on the potential grounds for Chinese courts declining to enforce