On December 8 2018, sponsored by the State Level Kunming Economic and Technological Development Zone Management Committee, co-organized by the Bureau of Commerce, Bureau of Justice, Foreign Affairs & Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, Law Society, Federation of Industry and Commerce of Kunming Municipal and Yunnan Legal Trade Association, the "Arbitration Tea Talk" of the First 2018 South Asia (International) Famous Tea Conference  was held in Kunming, Yunnan province. More than 100 guests of arbitration experts, lawyers and tea producers from Yunnan Province and Thailand, India and other countries attended the forum.

Deputy Secretary General of CIETAC Li Hu was invited to attend the forum and delivered opening remarks. Li Hu pointed out that commercial arbitration enjoyed a long history as an internationally  adopted means of dispute resolution, and the tea industry was a pillar industry in the Yunnan Province, and played an important role in the foreign trade of the Yunnan Province. The forum had a significant impact by combining Yunnan’s Tea industry and international arbitration, where arbitration experts and industry experts can talk about arbitration together.

In the discussion and dialogue session, Li Hu pointed out that by exploring the possibility of arbitration to resolve international tea trade disputes, we could not only safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of all parties in the tea industry, maintain a fair trade order in the tea industry, improve the international business environment, safeguard the tea industry in the Yunnan province and even South Asia, but also rely on practice to explore and accumulate experience for industry arbitration. He also pointed out that the relevant international arbitration institutions of the Yunnan Province may make best use of their regional advantages, maintain international perspectives,  and use the existing platforms to introduce arbitration service provided by domestic and international arbitration institutions such as CIETAC, so as to provide high-quality arbitration resources for the regions and serve the development of regional industries.

Experts and scholars from the Thailand Arbitration Center, the Supreme Court of India, the Indian Law Foundation, the South Asian China Friendship and Cooperation Organization and other related fields attended the discussion session of the forum, and exchanged views on tea trade and international arbitration. Yao Yu from the Business Development Division of CIETAC also participated in the forum.