Legislative Recognition and Judicial Coordination of Tribunals Competence-Competence in Chinas Foreign-Related Arbitration: Under the New World Economic and Trade Landscape

This paper examines Chinas legislative omission of explicit statutory recognition for arbitral tribunals competence-competencethe authority to self-determine jurisdictionand its consequential judicial inconsistencies, which collectively deviate from international arbitration norms. Amid anti-globalization pressures, the analysis identifies systemic challenges rooted in Chinas fragmented "foreign-related priority" legislative approach, historical administrative legacy undermining tribunal autonomy, premature judicial intervention in arbitration proceedings, and evolving conceptualization of arbitration from dispute resolution tool to strategic governance instrument. Following critical engagement with academic debates on dual-track legislation, judicial intervention timing, and substantive-procedural review boundaries, the study proposes a tripartite reform framework drawing on comparative insights from Frances minimal judicial intervention principle and Singapores mediation-arbitration integration. The roadmap advocates: legislative reconstruction through unified foundational laws supplemented by specialized foreign-related rules, local pilot reforms, and institutional rule harmonization; judicial coordination prioritizing ex ante tribunal authority with narrowly defined interim exceptions and ex post award scrutiny; and institutional innovation via mediation-arbitration-litigation coordination, regionally tailored pilots, and AI-enhanced procedural efficiency. Collectively, these measures aim to synchronize Chinas arbitration system with global standards while accommodating domestic sociolegal realities to bolster its trade governance competitiveness.