In 1980, the revitalized Hong Kong Law Reform Commission’s first project was on arbitration. It estimated that there had been fewer than 20 arbitrations a year in Hong Kong from 1978 to 1980. By 2026, Hong Kong had become a global arbitration center. The author guesstimates that about 500 new arbitration cases each year are commenced in Hong Kong, whether under institutional arbitration rules, for example, the rules of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission Hong Kong (CIETAC Hong Kong), or where no institution is involved (called “ad hoc” arbitration).
Hong Kong is also a global financial and commercial center. Hong Kong ranked third in the 2025 Global Financial Centres Index. As of Sept 30, the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Ltd had hosted 116 initial public offerings in 2026, raising HK$388 billion ($49.45 billion) on the main board, well behind the Nasdaq, but ahead of other leading stock exchanges. Why mention this in an article about Hong Kong’s role as a global arbitration hub? It is because Hong Kong’s status as a leading commercial and financial center is a major contributor to Hong Kong’s international arbitration center, both in terms of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and private capital disputes, and beyond.
Post M&A and private capital disputes typically arise where investors, as shareholders, have been given convertible debt or rights to sell their shares in a private company to the public in an IPO on a stock exchange, with the intention of allowing them to “exit” from their investment with a profit, but where the IPO does not take place.
The contributing factors to Hong Kong’s global role in dispute resolution (many of which are interrelated) include the city’s status as a special administrative region of China under the “one country, two systems” framework; its common law system with extensive experience of civil law; its interconnectivity with the Chinese mainland (particularly the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area) and the rest of the world; its independent, experienced, multilingual and pro-arbitration Judiciary; its arbitration law based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration; its range of first-tier international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution institutions with offices in Hong Kong, including the HKIAC, eBRAM, ICC, CIETAC Hong Kong, the Beijing Arbitration Commission, and the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, among others; the range of international law firms with offices in Hong Kong from the mainland, Asia and around the world; its depth of relevant expertise, including Hong Kong lawyers who are dual or multiqualified (including in England and Wales, the Greater Bay Area, and the United States); its geographical location; and its infrastructure including in the transport, logistics and hospitality sectors.
The mainland and Hong Kong’s mutual arrangements for enforcement of judgments, arbitration awards and procedural orders for preservatory relief (among other subject matters) enable Hong Kong to provide unique services to parties with a mainland element to their arbitration.
The increasing presence of international bodies also contributes to Hong Kong’s global role, including the International Organization for Mediation, the world’s first intergovernmental legal organization dedicated to resolving international disputes through mediation. The International Institute for the Unification of Private Law, an independent intergovernmental organization based in Rome, opened its first overseas office in Hong Kong on Monday; its mission includes “to study needs and methods for modernizing, harmonizing and coordinating private and … commercial law as between states … and to formulate uniform law instruments, principles and rules”.
Hong Kong must continue to strengthen its role as an international arbitration and dispute resolution center to attract parties and their advisers to choose Hong Kong in the future. It is suggested that strengthening measures including continuing to develop the next generation of international arbitration lawyers’ skills and knowledge, including by programs offered by universities, bodies supported by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the Hong Kong Bar Association, and other lawyers associations, and arbitration and other dispute resolution institutions and associations; ensuring that the legal framework is updated to address the impact of the exponential development of artificial intelligence, so that it is a tool for humans that may be ethically and safely used; ensuring the arbitration legal framework is regularly updated to reflect best international practices are adopted by Hong Kong (the Hong Kong Department of Justice currently has a task force that is doing this); continuing to strengthen its mutual arrangements with the mainland to support cross-boundary dispute resolution, including in the Greater Bay Area; providing sufficient resources to the Hong Kong Judiciary; and maintaining Hong Kong’s supportive, safe, and welcoming environment for parties to arbitrations and other international arbitration stakeholders.
In the past 46 years, with support from various arbitration stakeholders, international arbitration in Hong Kong has thrived; the next 46 years offer opportunities and challenges that Hong Kong can meet with stakeholders’ continuing support.
The author is a current council member of the Hong Kong Bar Association and the chair of its Arbitration Committee. She practices as an international arbitrator and barrister.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
