From November 6 to 10, 2015, the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) hosted The 13th CIETAC Cup International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Beijing. After 85 rounds of moot including round robin, elimination game, semifinal and final, University of International Business and Economics won the CIETAC Cup first prize and East China University of Political Science and Law won second prize. CIETAC will sponsor them to participate the Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Vienna and the Willem C Vis East International Arbitration Moot in Hong Kong respectively.

The 13th CIETAC Cup attracted 39 teams from 37 well known domestic universities, with a total number of over 300 students’ participation. Nearly 100 arbitrators and lawyers from more than 10 countries and regions such as Sweden, France, Russia, Singapore, and Hong Kong accepted their invitation and served as judges. The number of teams, students, rounds of moot and judges reached a historical new high this year. The 13th CIETAC Cup also had the highest degree of internalization of judges’ nationality. Eighty two percent of the moot rounds had at least one foreign arbitrator or lawyer as the member of judges. Some rounds’ judges were all from foreign countries and regions.

The CIETAC Cup is a professional arbitration law annual event hosted by CIETAC facing nationwide law schools in China. The objective of this event lie in furtherly expanding the influence of arbitration system and fostering reserve talents in arbitration law area. Professionals such as senior arbitrators and famous lawyers from domestic and foreign regions format tribunal in the moot. Participating students served as stimulated claimants and respondents of one arbitration case and participate in the arbitral trial of the arbitration court. The parties present their requests, statement of defense, arguments and respond to the questions from the tribunal during the hearing. The combination of theory and practice of the Moot shows great value in enhancing the level and ability of legal practice. The CIETAC Cup also serves as domestic selection match of the Annual Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, in which the same case and arbitration rule are applied and the language is English.

The CIETAC Cup was established in 2000. To this day, CIETAC has successfully hosted twelve session of The CIETAC Cup and accumulatively attracted more than 1400 students, 70 well-known law schools’ participation. After years of accumulation, the CIETAC Cup has become the most important arbitration moot competition in China arbitration and legal education area. The CIETAC Cup is supported strongly and enthusiastically by teachers and students from domestic law schools and becomes their scheduled annual event to them. They generally reflected that, with the deep development of economic globalization, the increasing significance of international commercial arbitration and the essentiality of mastering and improving related knowledge were widely accepted by law school students, also the future legal practitioners. The CIETAC Cup provided a good “actual combat” platform and established a “second classroom” for students’ learning and practicing their arbitration knowledge. At present, there is an increasing number of legal practical institutions like domestic and foreign law firms participating into the Moot in their own methods, which meanwhile provides more variable job opportunities for students.

As one of the world’s major permanent established arbitration institutions, CIETAC attaches highly importance to the forstering of legal reserve talent of China. Besides hosting the CIETAC Cup, CIETAC also jointly provides internship opportunities for students perennially with domestic universities, appoints arbitrators as part-time professors and cooperative tutors of law schools, sets up arbitration courses or lectures in some universities and organizes arbitration session competition nationwide, in order to continually strengthen cooperation with Chinese legal educational circles, assistant with the fostering of legal reserve talent and improve the sustainable development of arbitration career in China.