From November 18-23, 2018, the 16th CIETAC Cup International Commercial Arbitration Moot (CIETAC Cup) was hosted by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) in Beijing. The scale of the event was unprecedented, with 56 teams and 500 participants from well-known universities across the country. The competition held a total of 119 races. More than 100 arbitrators, lawyers and experts from more than 10 countries and regions around the world served as judges. The number of teams, players and competitions reached the highest record.

The Team of School of Law of the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE Team) went through fierce competition in the round robin, the elimination round and the semi-finals, and successfully advanced to the finals, eventually winning against the Peking University team and winning the championship. The UIBE Team has created a brilliant record in the history of the CIETAC Cup for three championships in four years. The outstanding performance of the UIBE Team fully demonstrated the deep roots and talents of UIBE Law School in the field of international commercial law.

(Winning moments: All members of The UIBE Team, from left to right: Hao Jiarui, Gao Zhuang, Zhao Chao, Liu Ben, Li Ruiting, Liu Zibo)

The CIETAC Cup is not only China’s highest-level English moot competition in the field of international commercial arbitration, but also the first regional pre-moot competition officially recognized by the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot (Vis Moot). The design of this competition was a dispute arising from the price adjustment of two stallion companies, involving legal issues such as the jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal, the secrecy of evidence and the adoption of illegal evidence, contract interpretation and change of circumstances. The competition follows Vis Moot’s arbitration rules. Participating teams alternatively play the role of the claimant and the respondent in arbitration proceedings, submit memoranda and compete in the oral hearings.

The 2018 UIBE Team is comprised of Li Ruiting (the captain), an undergraduate of the 2016 Extraordinary Economic and Legal Talents Experimental” program, Zhao Chao (main oralist), a master student of 2018 international law, and researchers Gao Zhuang, a 2018 international law graduate student, Liu Ben, a 2016 foreign-related experimental class student, Liu Zibo, a 2016 law undergraduate student, and Hao Jiarui, a student of the 2017 foreign-related experimental class.

This year’s student coaching group was led by the outstanding student coach of the previous Vis Moot competition team and the 2016 master student Feng Kun. It was carefully recruited by the last CIETAC Cup champion and the 2015 foreign-related experimental class Wang Boyang and Li Fangning. In just over two months, a high-quality team has been established, fully demonstrating the mature management of UIBE Law School foreign-related moot court competition, forming a unique model culture in the cooperation of new and old players. It opened a new world of trade law to cultivate foreign-related economic and legal personnel.

Feng Kun (fourth from right), Li Fangning (third from right) and all team members

Under the careful guidance of the student coaching staff, the UIBE Team overcame a series of difficulties such as short preparation time and insufficient experience in the competition and went all-out to prepare for the competition. The coaching team developed a detailed training plan for the competition team, cultivated the team members’ legal research skills and reasoning ability, organized the team’s simulated confrontation training for many times, and polished and improved the identification skills. From understanding abstract arbitration rules to studying a large number of arbitral awards and academic writings, to the difficult advancement of essay writing and repeated moot exercises, the competition team presented a satisfactory answer to the college with perseverance, hard work and rigorous style, good professionalism and excellent English ability.

(Awards Venue: The UIBE Team (left) and Peking University Team (right), Secretary-General Wang Chengjie (middle), Professor of Art University of Vienna University Arthur Wolff (middle right), former Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Arbitration Organization Yang Liangyi (center right 2) and Navin G. Ahujah lawyer (middle left) jointly presented the award)

In the round of robin competition, the UIBE Team successively confronted the four teams of Liaoning University, Central University of Finance and Economics, School of International Relations and Inner Mongolia University of Finance and Economics. The four investigators constantly captured the sensitive arguments of each team during the promotion of the schedule, enriched the research results, and adjusted the court strategy in a timely manner. The main oralists Zhao Chao and Li Ruiting absorbed the research results of the team in time, and quickly turned them into smooth and fluent English expressions and dealt with them in an orderly manner. The team won the acclaim of the arbitral tribunal for its excellent basic skills and excellent resilience. A presiding arbitrator spoke highly of the performance of one oralist on the UIBE Team and believed that this team made him deeply feel the essence and tradition of the model competition. The UIBE Team entered the quarterfinals with the second overall score. In the follow-up phase of the knockout stage, the UIBE Team first competed with China Foreign Affairs University team in the quarterfinals, and the main oralist Zhao Chao was awarded “Best Oralist”.

(Quarterfinal: against China Foreign Affairs University team )

In the semi-finals, the UIBE Team competed against the Renmin University of China team. In the face of strong opponents, the team members adjusted their status in a timely manner, calmly and steadily, and won the finals with an outstanding performance. Zhao Chao was once again awarded “Best Oralist”.

(Semi-final: against the Renmin University of China)

The finals of the CIETAC Cup was held at the Beijing Guobin Hotel on the afternoon of November 23rd. The two sides were the UIBE Team (Claimant) and the Peking University Team (Respondent). The UIBE Team continued to maintain a stable style of courtroom identification, with clear thinking and organization, strong argumentation and ingeniously responding to the arbitrator’s highly difficult problem, timely pointed out the loopholes in the other party’s arguments to fight back, and finally won the judges’ approval. For the third time, the UIBE Team was on the CIETAC Cup championship podium. Li Ruiting was awarded the "Best Oralist" in the final.

(Final: fight against the Peking University team)

At this point, the UIBE Team has entered the CIETAC Cup finals for four years, winning the championship three times, accumulating to the historical record of the CIETAC Cup. This achievement was inseparable from the long-term effective management and strong support of the law school for the international moot court competition. Under the leadership of the school headed by Dean Shi Jingxia, UIBE Law School adheres to the elite education path of “thick foundation, wide caliber, emphasis on characteristics and high-end”, and uses the special experimental class construction and international moot court competition as an important platform for talents, reporting success in international academic competitions in recent years. This year’s winning in CIETAC Cup contest and top eight in FDI Moot at the beginning of the month fully demonstrated the new results of the talent training model of UIBE Law School.

Awards Ceremony: Photo of The UIBE Team and Vice Dean Gong Hongliu (middle)

The UIBE Team has achieved even better results, and it is also inseparable from the enthusiastic support of the teachers and students of the whole school and the alumni. In the late stage of the preparations, Associate Professor Liu Tong gave careful guidance to the UIBE Team. The previous CIETAC Cup champion debater Lan Nan, the runner-up team debater Wang Chen and researcher Fan Mohui guided the team training in various ways and provided preparations for the competition.

With the CIETAC Cup coming to a close, the UIBE Team will enter a new journey. As the champion team, the UIBE Team will go to Vienna, Austria, in March 2019 to participate in the Vis Moot International Competition under the sponsorship of the organizer. By summarizing the experience and shortcomings in the CIETAC Cup, the UIBE Team will continue to work hard to achieve the goal of the world’s strong teams and strive to achieve more in the international competition.