On 18 December 2017 local time in Austria, CIETAC Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Wang Chengjie and CIETAC delegation visited Vienna International Arbitral Centre.

President of VIAC Mr. Gunther J Hornath, Secretary-General Dr. Manfred HEIDER, Deputy Secretary-General Mrs. Elisabeth VANAS-METZLER and Deputy Secretary-General Mrs. Alice FREMUTH-WOLF received the visit with warm welcome.

The two parties had a friendly and fruitful communication. Secretary-General Wang Chengjie said that CIETAC had maintained a good cooperative relationship with VIAC for a long time. Austria is an important hub for the cultural and economic development and exchange between East and West, and it plays a significant role in the process of Chinese enterprises’ entering into Europe. CIETAC values Vienna’s important status in international law areas and therefore chose it to be the city where to set up the CIETAC European Arbitration Center. With further promotion of the Belt & Road initiative, CIETAC expects to strengthen practical cooperation with VIAC, to promote arbitration in Europe and in the world, to provide high-level legal services for parties from different countries and to promote the cooperation and development of international economy and trade.

The president and other representatives of VIAC highly complimented the two parties’ cooperation in promoting the development of international arbitration in the long term, and welcomed CIETAC to set up its European Arbitration Center in Vienna. CIETAC has rich experience in dealing with international arbitration cases and accepts a large number of international arbitration cases every year. Though in a position of competition as two arbitration institutions, CIETAC and VIAC have been actively developing cooperative relationship with each other. In the future, VIAC will continue to strengthen its cooperation with CIETAC in promoting arbitration as in the past and is willing to provide relevant support for CIETAC European Arbitration Center to register in Austria and to develop its business in Europe. The development of international arbitration can only make greater progress with the the cooperation of each international institution.

During the meeting, Secretary-General Wang Chengjie introduced CIETAC business development in recent years, events like China Arbitration Summit and China Arbitration Week, and the panel of CIETAC arbitrators especially the appointment of foreign arbitrators. Both parties conducted deep exchanges and discussions on the cultural differences between the Eastern and Western dispute resolutions, the number and trend of foreign-related cases handled by respective institutions, and cases involved with non-domestic clients, and reached a consensus on promoting the development of international arbitration with mutual cooperation. By the end of the meeting, the VIAC representatives expressed their expectations on an early opening of CIETAC European Arbitration Center once again. Secretary-General Wang Chengjie also invited VIAC representatives to participate in 2018 China Arbitration Week and Arbitration Summit. The two parties had full confidence in future cooperation.

On 20 December 2017 local time in Austria, CIETAC Vice Chairman and Secretary-General Wang Chengjie and CIETAC delegation visited the Embassy of China in Austria and held talks with Gao Xingle, the Economic and Commercial Counselor of the embassy.

CIETAC delegation also visited Bank of China Vienna Branch, the chair institution of China Enterprise Association in Austria (), and the International Business Department of Vienna Business Agency, and held conferences on the business operations of CIETAC European Arbitration Center during their visit in Vienna Austria.