In the past several months, China has adopted new arbitration rules and unveiled a new arbitration center to help resolve the inevitable international disputes arising from the development of The Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road, commonly referred to as the One Belt One Road Initiative.

Although China is a signatory to the New York Arbitration Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards,[1] China has been considered a difficult jurisdiction for international arbitration because few Chinese judges and lawyers are familiar with the relevant law. Between 1994 and 2004, Chinese courts enforced just 37 percent of foreign arbitral awards.

In a case that highlights both that governments are not above the rule of law and that it is difficult to swiftly enforce arbitral awards, a Swedish appeals court, on December 12, 2016, upheld a $506 million award against Kazakhstan. The award stems from Kazakhstan’s 2008 seizure of the oil and gas investments of two Moldovan businessmen. The Swedish appeals court refused to allow Kazakhstan to further appeal the award and also ordered the country to pay attorney’s fees in excess of $3 million.