The Maritime Silk Road Central Legal District FTZ Pilot Zone. [Photo by Lin Yuyang for ftz.xm.gov.cn]
The Xiamen Maritime Court recently concluded and adjudicated three cases concerning the validity of "special arbitration clauses" in foreign-related crew employment contracts, ruling by law that the clauses were valid.
At the critical juncture when the newly revised Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China had been passed but had not yet taken effect, these cases marked the first time judicial review and confirmation were conducted nationwide on the validity of special arbitration clauses, as well as the first batch of special arbitration cases with Xiamen designated as the arbitration seat.
In all three cases, the parties involved signed the crew employment agreement within the Xiamen Free Trade Zone. The arbitration clauses in question explicitly designated Xiamen as the arbitration seat and adopted the Xiamen Maritime Silk Road International Arbitration Promotion Center's Special Arbitration Rules for the Maritime Silk Road as their procedural guidelines.
These rules and agreements provide clear and predictable standards for key stages of the arbitration process, ensuring the practicability of the procedure.
This development reflects continuous efforts to advance the special arbitration mechanism within the Xiamen FTZ since the release of China's first systematic special arbitration guide, the Special Arbitration Guide for the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone.