THE BEIJING DECLARATION OF THE CHINA FORUM ON INTERNATIONAL LEGAL COOPERATION (2020)

(November 13, 2020, Beijing, China)

1. On November 13, 2020, the China Forum on International Legal Cooperation (2020) was organized by the China Law Society (CLS) in Beijing. Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic of China, sent a letter to the Forum. In the letter, President Xi Jinping points out that the joint building of the Belt and Road requires a sound law-based business environment. China will adhere to the principle of openness, inclusiveness, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation, and actively engage in international legal cooperation to provide legal support to the building of an open economy and advancing global economic recovery with all parties. President Xi Jinping hopes the attendees will have in-depth exchanges and consensus on the theme of ‘international legal cooperation in the context of COVID-19’, and contribute wisdom and strength to promote the joint building of the Belt and Road through legal measures and offer robust solutions to tackling global challenges. Legal scholars and professionals from China and 18 countries and international organizations were present at the Forum. Wang Chen, member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and President of the CLS, attended the Forum and delivered a keynote speech.

2. At present, great changes unseen in a century are interwoven with the COVID-19 pandemic. With COVID-19 sweeping across the world, all countries face the dual challenges of fighting the epidemic and recovering the economy. It thus necessary to uphold more firmly the international order underpinned by international law, and follow the purposes and principles of the UN Charter as the fundamental guidelines for handling international relations and a cornerstone of stable international order. The global fight against COVID-19 has demonstrated that mankind rise and fall together in a community with a shared future, and mutual support and cooperation in solidarity are the only way for mankind to overcome crises. Promoting connectivity and adhering to openness and inclusiveness are the only way to tackle global crises and achieve long-term development. All parties participating in the Belt and Road should establish the sense of community with a shared future and the concept of win-win cooperation, take the road of unity and cooperation, actively advocate and practice multilateralism, work together to address global challenges, commit to mutual opening up that promotes shared benefits, shared responsibilities and shared governance, strengthen international legal cooperation and promote the high-quality joint building of the Belt and Road.

3. It is supported that all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road strengthen pre-event prevention of international commercial disputes, establish and improve a mechanism for the prevention and settlement of international commercial disputes, actively carry out cooperation on legal risk prevention, and enhance compliance construction, consultation and negotiation as well as publicity and training, strengthen  enterprise compliance awareness, effectively prevent and reduce international commercial disputes, and help business entities prevent and avoid legal risks and achieve win-win cooperation. The International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization (ICDPASO) is supported to play its role, and all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road are encouraged to make good use of the ICDPASO platform.

4. It is supported that all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road properly address international commercial disputes in accordance with the law, respect the right of the parties to choose the means of dispute settlement by agreement, and improve the diversified dispute settlement mechanism that effectively links litigation with mediation and arbitration, encourage arbitration institutions from countries participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road to establish mechanisms for joint arbitration, promote arbitration and mediation institutions from various countries to carry out arbitration and mediation in international commercial disputes related to the Belt and Road, so as to resolve such disputes in a fair, efficient and convenient manner, provide equal protection to the legitimate rights and interests of all parties, and foster a business environment under the rule of law featuring stability, fairness, transparency and predictability.

5. It is supported that all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road further intensify cooperation in law enforcement, promote the conclusion of bilateral or multilateral treaties of judicial assistance, actively coordinate judicial assistance in matters of judicial jurisdiction, investigation, collection of evidence and service of commercial judicial documents, and facilitate mutual recognition and enforcement of commercial judgments. On the basis of generally accepted international commercial rules, strengthen cooperation in commercial laws and regulations, explore the establishment of a mechanism for sharing and exchanging information on international commercial court cases, a mechanism for exchanges on law application and a mechanism for cooperation in the training of judges, improve the mechanism for ascertaining the laws in parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road, and promote the construction of databases of laws and cases for parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road.

6. It is supported that all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road strengthen the application of digital technologies to meet the urgent demand of regular epidemic prevention and control, improve the level of informatization construction of judicial guarantee, explore the application of big data, artificial intelligence and blockchain in the field of international commercial dispute prevention and settlement, promote the construction of online dispute resolution mechanism, improve online functions of dispute resolution platforms, optimize the ways of judicial document service and procedures of dispute mediation, and provide a diversified international commercial dispute settlement scheme that is easy, fast and low in costs through online mediation, online court hearing and online arbitration.

7. It is supported that all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road properly handle COVID-19-related cases and accurately apply the force majeure rule in accordance with the law, comprehensively consider the impact of the epidemic on different industries and different cases, accurately grasp the causal relationship and causal force between the epidemic or epidemic prevention and control measures and non-performance of contract, exempt part or all of the liabilities in accordance with the law. All parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road are called on to support the trade organizations, industrial associations and chambers of commerce issuing factual proof of force majeure, and strengthen mutual recognition of such factual proof, so as to support businesses to tide over difficulties.  

8. It is supported that all parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road fully harness the role of lawyers, notaries and other legal service institutions and professionals in the prevention and resolution of international commercial disputes, organize lawyers and other professionals to actively provide high-quality and efficient legal services for international investment and trade, intellectual property protection and international trade, cross-border e-commerce, etc., encourage and support lawyers and other professionals to participate in the activities of international commercial legal organizations, arbitration institutions and mediation organizations, intensify international exchanges and cooperation in the legal service industry, and support bar associations and industrial associations to conduct related studies and training in laws, practices and cases.

9. The history of human civilization is a history of fighting diseases and tiding over disasters. Viruses do not respect borders. Nor is race or nationality relevant in the face of epidemic. We oppose politicizing and labeling the COVID-19 situation. Unity and cooperation is the most powerful weapon to prevail over the virus. All parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road are called on and supported to uphold the UN-centered global governance system, give full play to the leading role of the World Health Organization and launch a joint international response to beat the pandemic; We must always put the people first, as nothing in the world is more precious than people’s lives; we must carry out epidemic control in a law-based manner, strengthen the legal framework of public health, enhance international legal cooperation in such key areas as prevention, quarantine, testing, treatment and tracing, and improve the governance system for public health security; we need to respond more quickly to public health emergencies and jointly safeguard global public health security; we will strengthen cooperation in the research and development of COVID-19 medicines and vaccines, promote fair allocation of vaccines and work together to build a global community of health for all. All countries should enhance world economic policy coordination in the context of COVID-19, maintain the stability and smooth flow of global industrial and supply chains, and lead and ensure the global economic recovery with the power and mechanism of the rule of law.

10. Since 2018, through friendly cooperation and continuous exploration, the China Forum on International Legal Cooperation has become an important platform for more international dialogues on the rule of law and an effective mechanism for deeper international legal cooperation. All parties participating in the joint building of the Belt and Road are called on and supported to take the high-quality joint construction as the main line, further carry out legal cooperation in a multi-level, multi-channel and all-round manner, and actively promote the development and improvement of relevant legal systems, so that the rule of law plays a better role in stabilizing expectations, resolving disputes and bringing long-term benefits.

We believe that under the joint efforts of all parties participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, acting in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and international law, upholding the principle of extensive consultation, joint efforts and shared benefits, adhering to open, green and clean approaches, and pursuing high-standard cooperation to improve people’s lives and achieve sustainable development, the Belt and Road legal cooperation will be deepened and consolidated and yield new fruits, so as to make new and greater contributions to building an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world that enjoys lasting peace, universal security and common prosperity, and building a community of shared future for mankind.