On September 19, 2018, the Fourth Social Sciences Roundtable was held at CASS Institute of International Law. The roundtable took “UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the Development of Arbitration Law in China” as its theme and was attended by experts and scholars from United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, CASS, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, China Maritime Arbitration Commission, Beijing International Arbitration Center, Shenzhen International Arbitration Court, China Arbitration Law Society, China University of Political Science and Law, University of International Business and Economics. It was the first academic seminar on this subject since the revision of the Arbitration Law was listed as category 2 legislative project.

At the opening ceremonyof the roundtable,Professor Liu Jingdong, Head of the International Economic Law Department of CASS Institute of International Law, gave the participants an introduction to the background and purpose of the roundtable.

Professor Mo Jihong, Deputy Director of CASS Law Institute, gave a speech at the ceremony,in which he pointed out that the purpose of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration is to eliminate the huge differences in arbitration legislation between different countries and realize the coordination and uniformity of domestic legislation on and practice of international commercial arbitration throughout the world.He hoped that CASS Institute of International Law and CASS Institute of Law would be able to contribute to the realization of this objective and to the revision of the Chinese Arbitration Law.

In her speech, Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, pointed out that her organization always supports its member states in the adoption and revision of their domestic arbitration law. It attaches great importance to the revision of the Arbitration Law in China and will to provide advisory opinions and other forms of support to China in this process.

The roundtable was divided into four parts, in which participants gave speeches and carried out discussions on various issues around the following two topics: the demonstrative significance of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the direction of development of Chinese Arbitration Law.