On 28th August,2025, the Jianwei Institute, with the support of AALCO Hong Kong Regional Arbitration Centre, the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, and the Shanghai International Arbitration (Hong Kong) Center, successfully held a seminar “Clause Design and Arbitration Selection for Dispute Resolution of EPC（Engineering Procurement Construction）Contracts under the Belt and Road Initiative”at the former French Mission Building in Hong Kong. The event brought together numerous experts and scholars from the fields of law, engineering, and arbitration to explore new approaches to resolving disputes in the context of international engineering cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
In his opening address, Mr. Nick Chan, Director of AALCO-HKRAC warmly congratulated the successful convening of the seminar. He reviewed Hong Kong’s achievements in building dispute resolution mechanisms in the construction industry, including the recent successful organization of the Construction Industry Adjudicator Training Programme under the Construction Industry Security of Payment Ordinance. Mr. Chan highlights Hong Kong’s Legal Advantages: President Zhu Shuying Proposes Vision for Chinese Standard Contract and emphasized that the implementation of this ordinance marks a major institutional innovation, promoting interdisciplinary integration and contributing significantly to the creation of a fair and transparent legal ecosystem for the construction sector. He further noted that Hong Kong, with its mature common law system, a wealth of professional talent, and the unique “One Country, Two Systems” framework, is well-positioned to become an indispensable dispute resolution hub for both the Greater Bay Area and countries along the Belt and Road, thereby reinforcing its role as an international legal hub.
A key highlight of the seminar was the forward-looking vision presented by Mr. Zhu Shuying, President of the Jianwei Institute. Mr. Zhu expounded on his central idea: the establishment and promotion of China’s own international investment and construction contracts. This vision seeks to shift the current reality in which Chinese enterprises must passively adapt to international standard contracts in overseas projects. Instead, it aims to foster a contract system that aligns with international practices while embodying Chinese characteristics and better protecting the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises from BRI partner countries—offering them a new option in contract frameworks.
In addition, Mr. Dennis Cai, Deputy Director of the AALCO-HKRAC, shared the unique advantages of AALCO’s dispute resolution mechanisms in handling BRI project disputes—highlighting their flexibility, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness.
This seminar provided a high-level platform for intellectual exchange among industry stakeholders. Attendees engaged in in-depth discussions on the development of diversified and multi-tiered dispute resolution mechanisms, yielding fruitful results and laying a solid foundation for future cooperation. It is expected to strongly support the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative in the next stage.
