Laws of the People's Republic of China

   Article 1 These Rules of Arbitration are hereby formulated in line with stipulations in the Arbitration Law of the People's Republic of China and other relevant laws and regulations as well as the Decision, Notice and Written Reply of the State Council.

   Article 2 The China Maritime Arbitration Commission (originally the Maritime Arbitration Commission of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and hereinafter referred to as the Arbitration Commission) shall settle, through arbitration and in an independent and impartial way, all contractual and non-contractual maritime disputes that may arise from transportation, production and navigation in offshore and coastal waters as well as waters connected with seas so as to protect the legitimate rights and interests of parties concerned and promote the development of overseas and domestic shipping industries, economic construction, and trade.

The Arbitration Commission shall assume jurisdiction over the following cases of maritime disputes:

(1) Disputes over the rescue of ships and common sea losses.

(2) Disputes over collision of ships and damages caused by ships to structures or facilities on the sea, on waters joining rivers and seas, in ports, under sea, or under water.

(3) Disputes over the management, operation, leasing, mortgaging, commissioning, towing, salvaging, trading, repairing, building, dissembling of ships on the sea or river or over sea or river transportation businesses carried out according to transportation contracts, billing of lading or other documents, or sea or river insurance.

(4) Disputes over the development or utilization of sea resources or pollution of sea environment.

(5) Disputes over contracts on agency shipping, contracts on material supply to ships, contracts on labour services of foreign-related sailors, or contracts on fishery or fishing.

(6) Other maritime disputes to be arbitrated according to agreements reached between the parties.

   Article 3 The Arbitration Commission shall accept cases according to the agreements of arbitration reached between the parties before or after the rise of disputes to handle their disputes to the Arbitration Commission for arbitration and the written application submitted by the one of the parties.

The agreement of arbitration refers to the clauses of arbitration included by the parties into their contract, or other written agreements on arbitration reached in other forms.

   Article 4 The Arbitration Commission has the right to make decisions on the existence and, effect of any agreements of arbitration and the jurisdiction of cases of arbitration. If the parties have any doubts about the effect of an agreement of arbitration and one of them requests the Arbitration Commission to make a decision while the other party asks the people's court to make a ruling, the people's court shall rule.

   Article 5 The clauses of arbitration in a contract shall be taken as separate and independent from other clauses of this contract, and the agreement of arbitration attached to a contract shall be regarded as a part separate and independent from other clauses of this contract. The alteration, termination, expiration, and nullity and the existence or non-existence of this contract shall not affect the effect of the clauses of arbitration or the agreement of arbitration.

   Article 6 Counterpleas against an agreement of arbitration or the power of jurisdiction over cases of arbitration shall be raised before the first sitting of an arbitration tribunal, and counterpleas against the power of jurisdiction over cases to be heard in written form shall be raised before the first substantive defence.

   Article 7 Parties that agree to handle their disputes over to the Arbitration Commission for arbitration shall be regarded as having agreed to arbitration in accordance with these Rules of Arbitration.

   Article 8 The Arbitration Commission shall have one honorary president and several advisors.

   Article 9 The Arbitration Commission shall be composed of one president, several vice-presidents, and commission members. The president shall perform duties as assigned in these Rules, while any of the vice- presidents can perform the duties of the president, if entrusted to.

The Arbitration Commission shall have a secretariat to take charge of the daily routines of the Arbitration Commission under the leadership of the secretary general of the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 10 The Arbitration Commission shall set up a panel of arbitrators. The arbitrators shall be engaged by the Arbitration Commission from among Chinese and foreigners with specialized knowledge about and practical experiences in navigation, sea transportation, foreign trade, insurance, and law.

   Article 11 The Arbitration Commission shall be headquartered in Beijing. To meet the need of the development of arbitration businesses, the Arbitration Commission can set up branches in other parts of China.

CHAPTER II PROCEDURES OF ARBITRATION

SECTION I APPLICATION FOR, DEFENCE OF AND COUNTERPLEA AGAINST ARBITRATION

   Article 12 The procedures of arbitration shall begin on the day when the Arbitration Commission sends out its notice of arbitration.

   Article 13 When filing an application for arbitration, the applicant shall

(1) Submit an application of arbitration which shall contain:

1) The names and addresses of the applicant and the respondent (and their post codes, telephone numbers, telex numbers, facsimile numbers, and cables if there are any).

2) Agreement of arbitration the applicant uses as a support.

3) Description of the case and key issues under dispute.

4) The request of the applicant and the facts and evidences supporting this request.

Applications of arbitration shall be signed by and/or affixed with the seals of the applicants and/or their authorized representatives.

(2) Attach documents certifing the facts supporting the requests of the applicant to the application of arbitration filed.

(3) Pay arbitration expenses in advance according to the tables of arbitration expenses worked out by the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 14 After receiving and examining the application of arbitration and the documents attached to it submitted by the applicant, the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission shall ask the applicant to complete procedures of application for arbitration if it regards these procedures as incomplete. If it concludes that the procedures are complete, the secretariat shall immediately send out to the respondent a notice of arbitration together with a copy of the application of arbitration submitted by the applicant and its appendixes and the Rules of Arbitration, panel of arbitrators, and table of arbitration expenses of the Arbitration Commission. A copy of the notice of arbitration, Rules of Arbitration, panel of arbitrators, and table of arbitration expenses shall also be sent to the applicant.

After sending out notices of arbitration to the applicant and the respondent, the Arbitration Commission shall appoint a member of the secretariat to take charge of the procedural management of the case of arbitration.

   Article 15 Both the applicant and the respondent shall choose on their own accord an arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators of the Arbitration Commission within 20 days after receiving the notice of arbitration, or ask the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint one for them.

   Article 16 The respondent shall submit to the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission answering statements and relevant documents of certification within 45 days after receiving the notice of arbitration.

   Article 17 If the respondent has a counterplea to make, it shall submit it to the Arbitration Commission in written form within 60 days after receiving the notice of arbitration at the latest. This limit of time can be extended if the arbitration tribunal deems it justified.

If the respondent makes a counterplea, it shall list in its counterplea in detail its counterpleas, its justification of these counterpleas, the supporting facts and evidences, and attach other documents of certification.

If the respondent makes a counterplea, it shall pay arbitration expenses in advance according to the table of arbitration expenses worked out by the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 18 The applicant can apply for revision of its application of arbitration, and the respondent can apply for revision of its counterplea. If the arbitration tribunal rules that such applications are filed too late that they hinder the normal implementation of arbitration procedures, however, it can turn them down.

   Article 19 Applications of arbitration, answering statements, counterpleas, relevant evidences, and other documents submitted by the parties shall appear in five copies. If there are more than two parties involved, the number of copies shall be increased accordingly. If the arbitration tribunal is composed of only one person, however, the number of copies can be reduced by two.

   Article 20 Failure on the part of the respondent to submit written answering statements and/or failure on the part of the applicant to submit written statements answering the counterpleas of the respondent shall not affect the proceeding of arbitration procedures.

   Article 21 The parties can entrust arbitration agents to go through relevant procedures of arbitration. The entrusted arbitration agents shall submit letters of authorization to the Arbitration Commission. Both Chinese and foreign citizens can accept trusts to become arbitration agents.

   Article 22 If a party applies for the taking of measures to protect its properties, the Arbitration Commission shall relay the application for ruling by the maritime court in the place where the respondent resides or where the properties stand.

If a party applies for the taking of measures to protect evidences, the Arbitration Commission shall rely the application for ruling by the maritime court in the place where these evidences stay.

SECTION II COMPOSITION OF THE ARBITRATION TRIBUNAL

   Article 23 Each of the parties shall choose on their own accord one arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators of the Arbitration Commission or entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint one. The third arbitrator shall be chosen jointly by the parties or appointed by the president of the Arbitration Committee in the joint trust of the parties.

If the parties fail to jointly choose or jointly entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint the third arbitrator within 20 days after the respondent receives the notice of arbitration, this arbitrator shall be appointed by the president of the Arbitration Commission. The third arbitrator shall serve as the chief arbitrator.

The chief arbitrator and the other two arbitrators chosen or appointed shall form an arbitration tribunal to jointly hear cases.

   Article 24 The parties can jointly choose or jointly entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint one arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators of the Arbitration Commission to take up the post of arbitrator alone and form an arbitration tribunal to hear cases.

If the parties reach agreement on having one arbitrator to hear their case but fail to agree on the choice of the arbitrator within 20 days after the respondent receives the notice of arbitration, the arbitrator shall be appointed by the president of the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 25 If the applicant or the respondent fails to choose or entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint its arbitrator as prescribed in Article 15 of these Rules of Arbitration, the president of the Arbitration Commission shall appoint one for the respondent.

   Article 26 If a case of arbitration involves two or more than two applicants and/or respondents, the applicants and/or the respondents shall jointly choose, through consultation, their arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators of the Arbitration Commission or jointly entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint one for them.

If the applicants and/or the respondents fail to jointly choose their arbitrator or jointly entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint one for them within 20 days after receiving the notice of arbitration, the president of the Arbitration Commission shall make the appointment.

   Article 27 If the chosen or appointed arbitrator has any personal interests involved in the case, he or she shall tell the Arbitration Commission of such involvement and ask for withdrawal.

   Article 28 If the parties have good reasons to doubt the impartiality and independence of the chosen or appointed arbitrator, they can file a written application to the Arbitration Commission for the withdrawal of this arbitrator. They shall produce, however, specific facts and reasons supporting their request for such a withdrawal and give evidences.

The request for the withdrawal of an arbitrator shall be raised in written form before the first hearing. If the reasons for requesting such withdrawal have taken place or become known only after the first hearing, the request can be made before the conclusion of the last hearing.

   Article 29 The president of the Arbitration Commission shall decide whether an arbitrator shall be withdrawn or not.

   Article 30 If an arbitrator can not perform his or her duties due to withdrawal, death, dismissal or any other reasons, a replacement shall be made according to the original procedures followed in the choosing or appointment of this arbitrator.

After the replacement is chosen or appointed, the arbitration tribunal shall decide whether to repeat all or part of the procedures that have already been gone through.

   Article 31 The arbitration tribunal shall open court in its hearing of cases. If applied for agreed upon by the parties and the arbitration tribunal deems it unnecessary, however, the arbitration tribunal can hear a case and make a ruling simply with reference to written documents.

   Article 32 The secretariat shall notify the parties of the date of the first hearing of a case of arbitration 30 days before the sitting of the arbitration tribunal after the date has been fixed by the arbitration tribunal and the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission through consultation. If justified, the parties can ask for postponement. The requestment shall be made, however, in written form to the secretariat two days before the sitting of the arbitration tribunal. Whether or not the date shall be postponed shall be decided by the arbitration tribunal.

   Article 33 The notice of the date of following sittings after the first open hearing shall not be subject to the time limit set in the preceding article.

   Article 34 Cases accepted by the Arbitration Commission shall be heard in Beijing. With agreement from the secretary general of the Arbitration Commission, however, they can also be heard in other places.

   Article 35 The arbitration tribunal shall not open its hearing of cases to the public. If both of the parties ask for opening hearings to the public, the decision shall be made by the arbitration tribunal.

   Article 36 If the hearing of a case is not opened to the public, neither the parties nor their arbitration agents, witnesses, arbitrators, the consulting experts of the arbitration tribunal, the appointed appraiser, and the relevant staffs of the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission shall disclose the substance or the progress of the case to outsiders.

   Article 37 The parties shall produce evidences for the facts supporting their applications, answering statements, and counterpleas. If deeming it necessary, the arbitration tribunal can conduct investigations of these facts and collect evidences on its own accord.

If the arbitration tribunal deems it necessary to ask for the presence of the parties during its investigation of facts or collection of evidences, it shall timely inform the parties so that they will be present. If one or both of the parties fail to be present after they have been notified, the fact-finding and evidence-collecting acts of the arbitration tribunal shall not be affected.

   Article 38 The arbitration tribunal can seek consulting from experts on specific issues of a case or appoint appraisers to make appraisal. The experts and appraisers can be Chinese or foreign organizations or citizens.

The arbitration tribunal has the right to ask the parties and the parties are obliged to provide or produce datas, documents, properties, or goods to the experts/appraisers for them to examine, inspect and/or appraise.

   Article 39 Copies of the reports by the experts and the appraisers shall be sent to the parties so that they shall have an opportunity to air their opinions on these reports. Should any of the parties requests the participation of experts/appraisers in court hearings, the experts/appraisers can, after agreement from the arbitration tribunal, participate and make explanations on their reports if deemed as necessary and appropriate by the arbitration tribunal.

   Article 40 The evidences produced by the parties shall be examined by the arbitration tribunal, and the arbitration tribunal shall decide whether to accept the reports by the experts and the appraisers.

   Article 41 If one party fails to be present when the arbitration tribunal sits, the arbitration tribunal can hear the case and make a ruling by default.

   Article 42 When sitting to hear a case, the arbitration tribunal can take notes and/or make recordings of the hearings. If deeming it necessary, the arbitration tribunal can produce a synopsis of the hearings and ask the parties and/or their representatives, witnesses and/or other persons concerned to sign or affix their seals on the synopsis.

Court notes and recordings shall be used for consulting by the arbitration tribunal only.

   Article 43 If the parties reach on their own accord agreement of conciliation over a case of arbitration outside the arbitration tribunal, they can ask the arbitration tribunal to conclude the case by making a ruling in line with the contents of their agreement of conciliation, or apply for the withdrawal of their case. If application for the withdrawal of a case is filed before the formation of the arbitration tribunal, the secretary general shall made the decision; if the application is filed after the formation of the arbitration tribunal, the arbitration tribunal shall made the decision.

If the parties apply once again for arbitration of a case that has been withdrawn, the president of the Arbitration Commission shall decide whether to accept the case or not.

   Article 44 If one party knows or should know that any of the clauses or items of these Rules of Arbitration or an agreement of arbitration are not observed and continues to participate in or carry on the procedures of arbitration without timely and clearly raising written objections against such disobedience, it shall be taken as having given up the right to raise objections.

   Article 45 If both the parties have the wish for mediation, or one of them has the wish for mediation and agreement is won by the arbitration tribunal from the other, the arbitration tribunal can mediate in the case under hearing during the progress of the procedures of arbitration.

   Article 46 The arbitration tribunal can mediate in any form it deems appropriate.

   Article 47 Should any of the parties ask for stop of mediation during the process of mediation by the arbitration tribunal or the arbitration tribunal deems it impossible to achieve success in mediation, the mediation shall be stopped.

   Article 48 If the parties reach agreement of conciliation outside the arbitration tribunal during the process of mediation by the arbitration tribunal, the conciliation shall be regarded as having been achieved through mediation by the arbitration tribunal.

   Article 49 If conciliation is achieved through mediation by the arbitration tribunal, the parties shall sign a written agreement of conciliation. Unless otherwise agreed upon between the parties, the arbitration tribunal shall conclude the case with a ruling in line with the contents of the written agreement of conciliation reached between the parties.

   Article 50 If mediation fails, neither of the parties shall use any of the statements, opinions, views or suggestions made, put forward, acknowledged, or agreed to accept by the other party during the process of mediation by the arbitration tribunal as supports for its requests, answering statements and/or counterpleas during future arbitral, judicial or other proceedings.

   Article 51 An arbitrational tribunal shall make a ruling within nine months of its formation. If requested by the arbitration tribunal and deemed as necessary and well justified by the secretary general, this period of time can be extended.

   Article 52 An arbitrational tribunal shall make rulings independently and impartially on the basis of facts, in accordance with laws and contractual terms, with reference to common international practices, and in line with the principle of impartiality and rationalness.

   Article 53 On cases handled by an arbitration tribunal composed of three arbitrators, the rulings shall be made according to the opinion of the majority of the arbitrators. The opinions of the minority arbitrator can be recorded as attachments to these rulings.

If an arbitration tribunal can not reach majority agreement, the ruling shall be made according to the opinion of the chief arbitrator.

   Article 54 The rulings made by an arbitrational tribunal shall list the arbitration request, facts under dispute, reasons for ruling, results of ruling, sharing of arbitration expenses, and the date and venue of arbitration. If the parties agree not to list the facts under dispute and the reasons for arbitration, or if a ruling is made according to the contents of the agreement of conciliation reached between the parties, the facts under dispute and the reasons for arbitration can be left out from a ruling.

   Article 55 Unless it is made according to the opinion of the chief arbitrator or that of an exclusive arbitrator, an arbitration ruling shall be signed by the majority of arbitrators. Arbitrators with different opinions may and may not sign the ruling.

Arbitrators shall submit draft rulings to the Arbitration Commission before signing them. Under the precondition of not affecting the independent ruling by arbitrators, the Arbitration Commission can call arbitrators' attention to the form of ruling.

Rulings shall be affixed with the seal of the Arbitration Commission.

The date of the making of a ruling shall be the date of the effectuation of this ruling.

   Article 56 If deemed as necessary or requested by the parties and agreed by the arbitration tribunal, intermediate or partial rulings can be made on any of the issues of a case at any time during the progress of arbitration and before the making of the final ruling. The refusal by any of the parties to implement these intermediate rulings shall not affect the progress of arbitration procedures or affect the making of the final ruling by the arbitration tribunal.

   Article 57 The arbitration tribunal is empowered to decide in its ruling upon the amount of arbitration expenses and other costs to be finally paid by the parties to the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 58 The arbitration tribunal is empowered to decide upon the compensation by the losing party of the rational amount of expenses spent by the winning party for the handling of a case. The amount of compensation shall not exceed, however, 10 per cent at the maximum, of the winning sum of the winning party.

   Article 59 Arbitration rulings are final and are binding to both parties. Neither of the parties shall raise a lawsuit to a court, or ask any other organizations to revise arbitration rulings.

   Article 60 Any of the parties can, within 30 days after receiving an arbitration ruling, point out the writing, printing, calculating, or other mistakes in the ruling and submit a written application to the arbitration tribunal for their correction. If these mistakes do exist, the arbitration tribunal shall make written corrections within 30 days after receiving these written applications. The arbitration tribunal can also make written corrections on their own accord within 30 days after sending out an arbitration ruling. These written corrections shall be a component part of a ruling.

   Article 61 If any items are left out in an arbitration ruling, any of the parties can file a written application, within 30 days after receiving the arbitration ruling, to the arbitration tribunal requesting it to make a supplementary ruling on the items left out in the arbitration ruling.

If such commissions do exist, the arbitration tribunal shall make, within 30 days after receiving the written application as mentioned above, a supplementary ruling on the items that have been left out. The arbitration tribunal can also make a supplementary ruling on its own accord within 30 days after sending out an arbitration ruling. The supplementary ruling shall constitute a part of the original ruling.

   Article 62 The parties shall implement the ruling on their own accord in line with the term prescribed in an arbitration ruling. If no specific term is written into a ruling, this ruling shall be implemented immediately.

If one party fails to implement a ruling, the other party can ask, in accordance with stipulations of Chinese laws, a Chinese court to force implementation, or apply for implementation to a foreign court with the power of jurisdiction in accordance with the 1958 Convention on Acknowledging and Implementing Foreign Arbitration Rulings or other international conventions China has signed or participated in.

   Article 63 Unless otherwise agreed to between the parties, these summary procedures shall be applicable to disputes involving funds of no more than 500,000 Renminbi yuan, and disputes involving funds of more than 500,000 Renminbi yuan but with written application from one party and written agreement from the other party.

   Article 64 The secretariat of the Arbitration Commission shall, upon deciding after examination that the arbitration application filed by an applicant to the Arbitration Commission can be accepted and it is suitable to apply the summary procedures, immediately send out notices of arbitration to both parties.

Unless the parties have jointly chosen their independent arbitrator from the panel of arbitrators provided by the Arbitration Commission, the parties shall, within 15 days after the respondent receives the notice of arbitration, jointly choose from the panel of arbitrators provided by the Arbitration Commission or jointly entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint an independent arbitrator. Should the parties fail to jointly choose or jointly entrust the president of the Arbitration Commission to appoint an independent arbitrator after the expiration of the time limit, the president of the Arbitration Commission shall immediately appoint an independent arbitrator to form an arbitration tribunal to hear the case.

   Article 65 The respondent shall, within 30 days after receiving the notice of arbitration, submit a reply and other relevant documents of certification to the Arbitration Commission. It shall also raise counterpleas, if there are any, within this prescribed time limit and provide relevant documents of certification.

   Article 66 The arbitration tribunal can hear cases in the form it deems as appropriate. It can decide to hear a case simply with the written materials and evidences provided by the parties, or open a tribunal session to hear a case.

   Article 67 The parties shall submit written materials and evidences necessary for arbitration according to the requirements raised and the time limit set by the arbitration tribunal.

   Article 68 For cases to be heard with the sitting of the arbitration tribunal, the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission shall notify, after the determination of the dates of the sittings by the arbitration tribunal, the parties of these dates of sittings 15 days before the sitting of the tribunal.

   Article 69 If the arbitration tribunal decides to hear a case with a sitting, it will sit only once. If necessary, it may decide to sit again.

   Article 70 During the implementation of summary procedures, the failure by any of the parties to behave in line with these summary procedures shall not affect their implementation or the right of the arbitration tribunal to make a ruling.

   Article 71 Alteration of arbitration requests and the raising of counterpleas shall not affect the continuous implementation of summary procedures.

   Article 72 For cases to be heard with the sitting of the arbitration tribunal, the arbitration tribunal shall make arbitration rulings within 30 days after the sitting of the tribunal or the second sitting. As for cases to be heard in the written form, the arbitration tribunal shall make arbitration rulings within 90 days after its formation. These time limits can be extended if requested by the arbitration tribunal and deemed as necessary and well justified by the secretary general of the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 73 Matters left out in this chapter shall be handled in accordance with stipulations in other chapters of these Rules.

   Article 74 The Arbitration Commission shall use Chinese as its official language. If otherwise agreed upon by the parties, the agreement shall be obeyed.

If the parties or their agents need interpreters during the sitting of the arbitration tribunal, the interpreters can be provided either by the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission or the parties themselves. The parties who submit written materials and certificates in various language shall be asked by the arbitration tribunal and/or the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission to provide Chinese copies or copies in other languages, if this is deemed as necessary by the tribunal and/or the secretariat.

   Article 75 All the correspondences, notices, and materials related to arbitration can be sent to the parties and/or their agents in person or through registered mail, express airmail, fax, telex, cable, or in any other form deemed as appropriate by the secretariat of the Arbitration Commission.

   Article 76 All the written correspondences sent to the receivers of the parties and/or their agents in person, or to the business venues, permanent residences or addresses of communication of these receivers, or to the last known business venues, permanent residences or addresses of communication of these receivers through registered mail or any other method that has been recorded as attempted deliveries due to failure to find any of the above-mentioned places after rational inquiry shall be regarded as having been delivered.

   Article 77 Apart from charging the parties according to its tables of arbitration expenses, the Arbitration Commission can charge the parties rational amounts of additional costs that have actually taken place including special remunerations to arbitrators for handling the cases, travel expenses, accommodation costs, and fees for engaging experts, assessors and interpreters by the arbitration tribunal.

The Arbitration Commission can charge arbitration fees for cases the parties apply to withdraw after concluding an agreement of conciliation on their own accord according to the amount of work and the actual amount of costs.

   Article 78 If it is stipulated in the agreement of arbitration or the arbitration clauses of a contract that a case is to be arbitrated by the China Maritime Arbitration Commission or by its former the Maritime Commission of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, the parties involved shall be regarded as having agreed to arbitration by the China Maritime Arbitration Commission.

   Article 79 These Rules of Arbitration shall be implemented starting from October 1, 1995. The cases accepted by the Arbitration Commission before the implementation of these Rules shall still be handled in accordance with the arbitration rules under implementation when the cases were accepted, although they may also be handled in accordance with these Rules with agreement from the parties.

   Article 80 These Rules of Arbitration shall be explained by the arbitration commission.