ARBITRATION WORLD Arbitration News from around the World Sean Kelsey (London) ASIA China It is being reported that a ruling of the Supreme People’s Court (the “SPC”) dated 15 July 2015 has brought to an end the jurisdictional uncertainty surrounding arbitrations conducted under the auspices of the South China/Shenzhen and Shanghai subcommissions, which broke away from the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) three years ago. The subcommissions have their own rules of arbitration and panels of arbitrators and have rebranded themselves. The South China/ Shenzhen subcommission became the Shenzhen Center for International Arbitration (“SCIA”) on 22 October 2012, and the Shanghai subcommission became the Shanghai International Arbitration Center (“SHIAC”) on 8 April 2013. CIETAC has subsequently remodelled versions of the former subcommissions in both of the relevant jurisdictions. The ruling was made in response to requests by courts in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Guangdong, and is known as a “reply”. In its reply, the SPC held that jurisdiction in cases involving either of SCIA or SHIAC is to be determined in accordance with the form of the relevant arbitration agreement and the date on which those two entities took their new names. Reportedly, where arbitration agreements concluded prior to the relevant name change refer disputes to CIETAC in Shanghai or Shenzhen, the former subcommissions will have jurisdiction. Where arbitration agreements entered into after the relevant name change still contain references to CIETAC Shanghai or 20 K&L Gates: ARBITRATION WORLD