On November 23, 2021, the signing ceremony of the Strategic Cooperation Agreement between China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission ("CIETAC") and Asset Management Association of China ("AMAC") was successfully held in Beijing. Wang Chengjie, Vice Chairman and Secretary General of CIETAC, and Wu Meng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the AMAC, signed the Cooperation Agreement.

According to the Cooperation Agreement, the two parties will conduct exchanges, cooperation and joint construction around establishing mediation and arbitration docking mechanism, holding fund industry dispute resolution research and training. Both parties will jointly promote the effective connection of securities investment and fund industry mediation and arbitration systems and they will be committed to facilitating the regularized and orderly development of the securities investment and fund industry.

Before the signing ceremony, the two parties had an exchange and discussion.

Secretary General Wang Chengjie welcomed Secretary Wu Meng and his delegation. He briefed on the characteristics of the fund cases accepted by CIETAC, the exploration and innovation made by CIETAC in the securities, futures and fund industries in the past, as well as the achievements of CIETAC in the development of specialization and internationalization in recent years.

During the discussion, Secretary Wu Meng said that due to the adjustment of financial macroeconomic policies and changes in financial structure, the securities investment and fund industry are facing complicated situations such as difficult supervision and increasingly diversified dispute types. Important measure is to be taken, for instance, the establishment of a diversified industry dispute resolution mechanism, to comply with market needs and development trends. CMAC is confident to work with CIETAC to implement the work and contribute to the promotion of stable and high-quality development of the fund market.

Vice President Gao Tianhong said that the current barriers of the entry level of the fund industry are relatively low, and the lack of authorization by the upper law makes the supervision difficult. There are more disputes in the industry, and risks are greater in later stage. In addition, private equity funds require high thresholds for investors, having a certain degree of privacy and flexibility in business operations, which makes it difficult to resolve disputes. In addition, the current international trend of fund cases has become increasingly prominent, which made unique advantages of arbitration become prominent in resolving similar cases.

Secretary General Wang Chengjie agreed with the above viewpoints and emphasized that the establishment of a legal platform and environment for the parties to realize the freedom of contract is a philosophy that CIETAC has always upheld. While focusing on handling cases, CIETAC is willing to use its platform advantages and diversified dispute resolution experience to help and support the standardized and healthy development of emerging professional fields.

Both parties agreed to further strengthen cooperation on the basis of the Cooperation Agreement and implement the "Opinions on Strictly Cracking Down on Illegal Securities Activities According to Law"  issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and the “Opinions on Conducting Pilot Arbitration in the Securities and Futures Industry According to Law” issued by the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the Ministry of Justice to promote the proper settlement of securities and fund-related disputes, prevent and resolve financial risks, and promote the continuous optimization and improvement of the legal environment of the securities and fund industry.