Swiss-Chinese Dispute Resolution Forum
What the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement and
Switzerland’s Arbitration Hub can offer to Chinese Companies
15 – 16 May 2015
Hilton Beijing Choayang
1 Dong Fang Road
North Dong Sanhuan
Chaoyang, Beijing, 10027
Schedule at a glance
Day One: Public Seminar: 15 May 2015
Day Two: Workshops for Practitioners: 16 May 2015 (by invitation only)
Conference topic
Commerce between China and Switzerland is at an all-time high and is only set to
continue its increase, especially in light of the Free Trade Agreement that came into
force last year. Switzerland represents a unique opportunity for outbound Chinese
investment, not only as its own market but as a gateway to Europe. Its centrally located,
stable and reliable economy is linked to the neighbouring European Union through a
network of bilateral agreements. Moreover, the Swiss legal system and its longstanding traditions of neutrality and dispute resolution make it the ideal choice as a seat
of arbitration for agreements between Chinese and European (or other) parties. The
Swiss judicial environment is arbitration-friendly and efficient. Like China, Switzerland
has a civil law tradition, making Swiss law particularly well-suited to contracts involving
Chinese parties. Switzerland is also home to a number of established and
internationally renown arbitration institutions, including the Swiss Chambers’
International Arbitration Institution, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Arbitration and Mediation Center, the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Resolution
Panel, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Workshop Objective and methodology
On the occasion of the Swiss-Chinese Dispute Resolution Forum, Swiss arbitration
experts will be available for a day to share practical know-how on key aspects of
international arbitration proceedings. This will be done through the use of a mock case,
using realistic fact patterns to illustrate how arbitration proceedings would be managed
under the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration, and under the ICC (International
Chamber of Commerce) Rules of Arbitration.
Public Seminar Programme for Day One – 15 May 2015
9:00 –
9:45
WELCOME ADDRESS AND
INTRODUCTION TO THE CONFERENCE
TOPIC
Bernhard F. MEYER
Vice President, ASA – Swiss Arbitration
Association
HE Jean-Jacques DE DARDEL
Ambassador of Switzerland
MOFCOM Government Official (TBC)
He Zhenwei
General Secretary of CODA
9:45 –
10:45
CHINA & SWITZERLAND AS TRADE
PARTNERS
Session Chair:
Alain GRAF, Counsellor / Head of Swiss
Business Hub China, Embassy of Switzerland
Switzerland: Your Gateway to the
European Market
Philipp Haas, Swiss Business Hub China,
Embassy of Switzerland
The Swiss-China Free Trade
Agreement: How it Works
Susan Ju, Partner, Worldtrade Management
Services, PwC, Beijing
Discussion (panel and floor)
10:45 –
11:15
COFFEE BREAK
11:15 –
12:30
SWISS LAW AND INTERNATIONAL
BUSINESS
Session Chair:
Philippe BÄRTSCH
Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd, Geneva
Felix DASSER, Homburger, Zurich
Discussion (panel and floor)
Paul THALER, Wenfei Attorneys-at-law,
Zurich/Beijing/Shanghai
12.30 –
13:30
NETWORKING LUNCH
13:30 –
14:45
SWITZERLAND: A GLOBAL DISPUTE
RESOLUTION FORUM, PART I
Session Chair:
Urs ZENHÄUSERN, Baker & McKenzie, Zurich
The Swiss tradition of dispute
resolution
Blaise GODET, President of the Swiss-Chinese
Chamber of Commerce (Geneva Chapter) and
former Swiss Ambassador
The Swiss Chambers’ International
Arbitration Institution
The ICC International Court of
Arbitration
Discussion (panel and floor)
Philipp HABEGGER
President, Arbitration Court
Swiss Chambers’ International Arbitration
Institution
Urs WEBER-STECHER
President, Swiss Arbitration Commission, ICC
Switzerland
14:45 –
15:30
SWITZERLAND: A GLOBAL DISPUTE
RESOLUTION FORUM, PART II
The World Intellectual Property
Organization (WIPO) Arbitration
and Mediation Center
The Court of Arbitration for Sport
(CAS)
A user’s perspective
Session Chair:
Laurence BURGER, Landolt & Koch, Geneva
Ignacio DE CASTRO
Deputy Director, WIPO Arbitration and Mediation
Center, Geneva
LIU Chi, CAS Arbitrator, Dacheng Law Offices,
Beijing
Jan-Michael AHRENS, Senior Counsel Litigation,
Siemens AG, Nürnberg
Discussion (panel and floor)
15:30 –
16:30
COFFEE BREAK
16:00 –
17:00
CHOICES OF DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Arbitration, Mediation, Dispute
Boards, ADR. What do the
institutions offer?
Session Chair:
Dieter HOFMANN, Walder Wyss, Zurich
Frank SPOORENBERG
Vice President, Arbitration Court, Swiss
Chambers’ International Arbitration Institution
Urs WEBER-STECHER
President, Swiss Arbitration Commission,
ICC Switzerland
Ignacio DE CASTRO
Deputy Director,
WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center
17:00 –
17:15
CONCLUSIONS
Alexander McLIN, Executive Director, ASA –
Swiss Arbitration Association
Clarisse von Wunschheim, Hartmann Dreyer,
Fribourg/Beijing
He Zhenwei
General Secretary of CODA
17:1519:00
NETWORKING COCKTAIL
Workshops for Day Two – 16 May 2015
(by invitation only)
Four workshops of 90 minutes each will be held in parallel throughout the day, such that
by the end of the day, participants will have taken part in each workshop. Each workshop
itself will be divided into workgroups of 4-5 people each. The topics are listed below.
Participants will have the opportunity to work through problems in groups and present
results at the end of each 90-minute session. Instruction will be in English, with Chinesespeaking discussion leaders present in each workshop.
PLENARY SESSION:
9:00am –
9:30am
9:30-11:00
Introduction into the Mock Case
Room A
Room B
Room C
Room D
Workshop 1:
Workshop 2
Workshop 3
Workshop 4
Launching
Arbitration
Provisional
Measures
Organize costefficient and speedy
proceedings
Managing the
hearing
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group D
Group A
Group A
Group B
Group B
Group C
11:00-11:15
11:15-12:45
Coffee Break
Group B
Group C
12:45-14:00
14:00-15:30
Lunch
Group C
Group D
15:30-16:00
16:00-17:30
Coffee Break
Group D
18:00-20:00
Group A
Networking
Workshop Instructors:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Christopher Boog, Schellenberg Wittmer, Zurich
Laurence Burger, Landolt & Koch, Geneva
Felix Dasser, Homburger, Zurich
Philipp Habegger, LALIVE, Zurich
Dieter Hofmann, Walder Wyss, Zurich
Cesare Jermini, Bär & Karrer, Lugano
Liu Chi, Dacheng Law Offices, Beijing
Bernhard Meyer, MME Partners, Zurich
Frank Spoorenberg, Tavernier Tschanz, Geneva
Hansjörg Stutzer, THOUVENIN, Zurich
Urs Weber-Stecher, Wenger Vieli, Zurich
Marc Veit, LALIVE, Zurich
Clarisse von Wunschheim, Hartmann Dreyer, Fribourg/Beijing
Urs Zenhäusern, Baker & McKenzie, Zurich
Zhang Libin, Head of Legal M&A – Asia & Australia, Siemens Ltd., Beijing
Who is
attending?
Professionals involved in dispute resolution: corporate counsel,
lawyers, arbitrators, and academics. Chinese companies with
investments abroad; lawyers from law firms practicing
international dispute resolution and/or outbound investment;
Chinese chambers of commerce, export agencies, arbitration
institutions.
Sponsorship
opportunities
The conference provides a meaningful opportunity to gain
visibility and build partnerships within the global business and
dispute resolution. For further information, please contact
Michael Jin at [email protected].
CPD/CLE
Credits
Participants will receive an official certificate of attendance from
ASA – the Swiss Arbitration Association.
Practical information
Registration
Please complete the attached registration and return to
[email protected].
Where?
Hilton Beijing Chaoyang
1 Dong Fang Road
North Dong Sanhuan
Chaoyang, Beijing, 100027
How to get there Hilton Beijing is centrally located in Chaoyang. Please refer to
the map below.
About the organisers
ASA – Swiss
Arbitration
Association
The Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) has over 1200
members, practitioners and academics engaged and/or
interested in domestic and international arbitration, from
Switzerland and abroad. ASA contributes to the development
of arbitration law and practice through regular conferences and
workshops, including this Annual Conference; the Arbitration
Workshops Seminar; ASA Local Group meetings; ASA below
40 events for young practitioners, and the publication of the
ASA Bulletin, a renowned arbitration quarterly, and of the ASA
Special Series.
For more information and membership
enquiries, see www.arbitration-ch.org, or contact Alexander
McLin, Executive Director, at [email protected].
CODA – China
Overseas
Development
Association
China Overseas Development Association (CODA) is a
national non-profit social organization with corporate capacity
duly approved by and registered with the Ministry of Civil
Affairs of the People’s Republic of China. CODA was
established on 10 December 2004. CODA’s Honorary
Chairman is Zeng Peiyan, former Vice-Premier of the State
Council, and its President is Zhang Guobao, former ViceChairman of the National Development and Reform
Commission (NDRC) and former Director (at ministerial level)
of the National Energy Administration.
Alexander McLin, ASA – Swiss Arbitration Association,
Geneva / Zurich
Bernhard F. Meyer, MME Partners, Zurich
Conference
Organisation
Clarisse von Wunschheim, Hartmann Dreyer,
Fribourg/Beijing
Emily Xiao, Project Director, CODA
PLEASE RETURN TO:
Registration Form
For Invitees
Michael Jin at LexPR Consulting
[email protected]
Fax: +86(10)6416 1567
I hereby register for the Swiss-Chinese Dispute Resolution Forum
A□ Day one: Public Seminar on 15 May 2015
□ Networking Cocktail on 15 May 2015
NB:
Day two (Workshops) is on invitation only. If you would like to attend,
please send your CV to Michael Jin – [email protected]
Name
First Name
Position
Firm/company
Address
A
City
Country
Tel
.
Fax
E-mail
Conference Fee
Attendance is free of charge thanks to our sponsors.
Disclaimer
The pictures and/or footage taken by the organizers at this event may be used at a later date in
printed and/or online materials including but not limited to marketing tools, brochures, and websites.
Date
Signature