http://www.bjreview.com APRIL 20, 2017 BEIJING REVIEW 27
Copyedited by Bryan Michael Galvan
Comments to [email protected]ìThe intention of CAJAC is to create an
arbitral family for China and Africa to resolve
Chinese and African business, construction
and trade and investment disputes in a unit-
ed family atmosphere,î said Michael David
Kuper, President of the Johannesburg-based
Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa, at
the launch ceremony in Beijing.
Kuper said besides settling disputes,
CAJACs are meant to serve another impor-
tant function: ìCAJAC is not only there to
provide protection but also to provide in-
formation to all those who want to set up a
business, whether in South Africa or Kenya
or the neighboring states.î Besides arbitra-
tion, CAJACs will also maintain a database of
industrial information as well as recommend-
ed lawyers who are well-versed in the laws
and legal systems of both China and Africa.
Chinese infrastructure, transport, tele-
com and power companies have a special
interest in CAJACs. ìAfrica is one of our part-
ners in terms of infrastructure cooperation,î
said Xin Xiuming, Vice President of China
International Contractors Association.
Almost 40 percent of the 500-plus-
member associationís business comes from
Africa. In 2016, Xin said $82.1 billion of the
$159 billion generated came from Africa, a
The China Arbitration Summit is held in Beijing on September 25, 2015
XINHUA
7.3-percent annual increase.
This rising business has brought ad-
vantages for Africa as well. Besides building
infrastructure, which is a key part of Africaís
social development, Xin said Sino-African
engagement has created massive job op-
portunities. While the association members
collectively have 1.65 million Chinese
employees, they employ 3.69 million local
people in Africa.
ìMore and more Chinese companies are
trying to participate in designing construc-
tion and maintenance projects [in Africa],î
Xin said. ìHow to solve legal disputes is the
concern of governments, societies and our
industries. Arbitration is very fast, economic,
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are selecting arbitration as an important
method to solve our disputes.îGlobal perspective
Chinaís legal cooperation with other countries
has a long-term visionóto eventually have
unified regulations cutting across borders
that would also address imbalances in legal
frameworks.
ìWith developments in the international
situation, the existing legal framework or
conventions may not be in tandem with thetrends,î Gu said. ìIn these existing frame-
works, the interests of developing countries
might not be well protected. So it is very
important that legal professionals of these
developing countries join together to pro-
mote and safeguard our own development
interests. In this way we can build a commu-
nity with shared destiny.î
Arbitration centers are a part of the
comprehensive legal cooperation. ìChinese
businesses are going global,î Gu said.
ìChinese have more trade and invest-
ment relations with foreign countries. It is
necessary to have legal cooperation and
coordination among different legal systems
and policies to smooth, promote and safe-
guard economic cooperation.î
CLS has helped to establish 12 diverse
regional legal forums to do this. They include
the China-ASEAN Legal Forum, BRICS Legal
Forum, and the China-Europe Legal Forum.
ìWe want to try to provide better
understanding for international legal profes-
sionals,î Gu said. ìWe hope they will learn
more about Chinese culture, legal culture
and legal values and we will also learn about
these things from them.î QWORLD