From November 8 to November 11, 2018, the 11th Foreign Direct Investment International Arbitration Moot (FDI Moot) Global Final Rounds were held in the capital of Sweden, Stockholm. 53 outstanding competition teams stood out from 118 participating universities in more than 30 countries and regions on five continents, and gathered at the Law School of University of Stockholm to compete for an unprecedented event.

The UIBE Team feared no setbacks and challenges. With the support of the lLaw school, the UIBE Team directly declared for the finals in accordance with the competition rules, and engaged in fierce confrontation with 7 teams from Argentina, Russia, Indonesia, India, Uruguay and so on. In the round robin, the UIBE Team ranked first in its group and successively defeated the third-place team in the Asia Pacific Rounds and the second-place team in the round robin, which qualified them to move on as “Top 16” in the world. 

In the elimination rounds, the UIBE Team competed against the traditionally strong team from India, but was eventually narrowly defeated by the team from Russia National Research University Higher School of Economics, and ranked as “Seventh-Place” in the world, ranking the highest of China teams, and the second of Asia (the other is the National University of Singapore) to enter the “Top 8” in the world. Wan Yanlin, the leading oralist of UIBE Team and member of the 2017 UIBE “Foreign-Related Extraordinary Legal Talents Experimental Class”, was awarded the “Honorable Mention Advocate” and the “Manuela Beltran Woman Advocate Award”.

(Picture One: UIBE Team at the awarding ceremony. Front row from left to right: Team member Su Jingyao, Mao Liangyu, Jiang Huizhen, Coach Professor Eric Ng; Back row from left to right: Team member Yang Jiayin, Wan Yanlin, Tanglei)

This year, the UIBE Team was led by Eric Ng, a Professor Adjunct from UIBE Law School and a Hong Kong litigation lawyer. The team was comprised of six outstanding law school students: Mao Liangyu (Team Captain and Researcher, second-year graduate); Su Jingyao (Oralist, third-year undergraduate); Jiang Huizhen (Researcher); Wan Yanlin (Oralist, second-year undergraduate); Yang Jiayin (Researcher, second-year graduate); and Tang Lei (Researcher, second-year graduate).

Last year Professor Eric Ng led the UIBE Team to the “FDI Moot” Global Top 4, and this was the second time he guided our students to this international award. As the Global Oralist Winner of the 2013 Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition, his high sense of responsibility, solid professional foundation and rich experiences in the practice of moot court are the greatest guarantee for the UIBE Team to achieve good results and win honor for the law school, which also sets up a model for all the students of a highly professional legal person with diligence and self-discipline.

(Picture Two: Oralist Wan Yanlin at the awarding ceremony)

With the first-round robin of the Global Rounds starting on November 8th, the UIBE Team competed against 3 teams in a row on the same day. In the first match of this round, UIBE Team encountered the Argentinian team from the University of San Andrés. In the face of the competent rival from South America, the UIBE participants responded with poise and confidence, and their performance was unanimously praised by the arbitrators. The second match pitted the UIBE Team against the Russian team from the National Research University Higher School of Economics. Faced with the unusual presentation tactics of the opponents and the difficult questions raised by the chief arbitrator, the UIBE Team still stuck to their own position, settling questions one by one and smoothly solving a series of knotty problems.

In the third match, the UIBE Team competed against the Malaysian team from Multimedia University, which was the third winner of the Seoul-Asia Pacific Rounds. Due to the serious overtime in the previous match, the UIBE Team rushed to the next match without any rest. However, all the team members still tried their utmost to adjust themselves for the new competition. Even if the opponent had the advantages of succinct statement and effective communication with the arbitrator, the UIBE Team still kept calm and accurately found out loopholes and defects in the other side’s presentation, finally defeating them with the commanding height of its professional knowledge and logical thinking.

The following morning, the UIBE Team ushered in the last match of the round robin against Hidayatullah National Law University from India. Faced with clear expression and rigorous argumentation of the opponent, the UIBE Team was able to give precise and substantial responses to the arbitrator’s questions with no rashness and mess, consistently maintaining control of the match. In the end, with a record of consecutive victories in 4 matches and excellent written memorials, the UIBE Team received the highest scores and ranked first in its group, which qualified them to advance to the “Top 16” of the Global Rounds.

On November 9th, upon the notice of the “Top 16” list, the UIBE Team quickly adjusted themselves within half an hour so as to enter into the elimination round. They first confronted a traditionally strong team from India -- The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. This team eventually won the “Top 3” written memorials for both claimant and respondent, and ranked first in the previous round robin. Under enormous pressure, the UIBE Team still arranged everything in an ordely way by maintaining their steady pace and moving forward step by step. During this process, the three arbitrators (especially Mark Kantor, the chief arbitrator) constantly raised sharp questions concerning a series of hot issues, such as the influence of a host country’s control on the investors nationality, the possibility of investor’s obligations under bilateral investment treaties, the balance between state regulation and treaty obligations, the environmental factors in investment arbitration, as well as the function of general exception clauses in international investment law, etc. With persuasive legal arguments and solid authorities cited, the UIBE Team evaded the tackles of the opponents and handled all the problems smoothly, successfully answering a professional question from the arbitrator for their rival, which brought them unanimous appreciation from the three judges and entrance into the “Top 8” of the world.

In preparation for the following elimination round, Mao Liangyu, Tang Lei, Yang Jiayin and Jiang Huizhen, the 4 researchers of the UIBE Team, worked all night long to collect information and materials for the oralists. In the next morning, the UIBE Team met the Uruguayan team from the University of Montevideo, which was also the second-place team of the Global Rounds. With deep knowledge reserves, solid professional foundation and high-level comprehension, the oralists Su Jingyao and Wan Yanlin efficiently formulated their teammates’ research results into court opinions and presented their conclusion in an organized manner. Although the final loss made the UIBE Team fail to enter into the semi-finals, they had already proved themselves and UIBE Law School in the FDI Moot Court, and the judges were all deeply impressed by their shinning points.

(Picture Three: Coach Mr. Eric Ng and team members)

The accomplishments and progress that the UIBE Team has made can be dedicated to the support and encouragement of the UIBE Law School, as well as the organization and coordination from the school’s Moot Court Club. Previous moot court leaders and participants, who won the Global Top 4 last year, including Liu Chenxiao, Wang Ziheng, Feng Yi, Li Mingzhe and Xu Zheyuan, all tried their utmost to the cultivation and improvement of the new members. Vis Moot Team’s student coach Feng Kun and ELSA-WTO Team’s student coach Zhang Jun also actively assisted the FDI Moot team in preparing for the competition.

The success of the UIBE Team also depended on the enthusiasm and assistance from the academia and practical circle at home and abroad. Lawyer Peng Jun of Jincheng Tongda & Neal Law Firm, once again generously sponsored the UIBE Team to participate the competition abroad. Scholar Zhang Weiwei of the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEID), Assistant Professor Li Fenghua and Lawyer Sun Huawei, a well-known investment law expert at Zhong Lun Law Firm, all provided training assistance and valuable advice in the preparation for the competition.

From Seoul in Asia to Stockholm in Nordic Europe, from the loss in the Asia Pacific Rounds to the first of its group in the Global Rounds, the UIBE Team grew up in obstacles, struggled under adversity, and finally proved themselves on this international platform, demonstrating the perseverance and resolution of UIBE students in the field of international economy and trade. “Maintain integrity, strive for perfection, put into practice and cherish lofty ambitions” are the high expectations of the UIBE Law School to the students, and the international moot court competition is always an important platform for students to achieve these goals. The UIBE Law School will consistently continue its efforts and make new accomplishments on this platform.