The Great Britain-China Centre, the Centre for Common Law at Renmin University (CCL) and the University of Oxford Law Faculty’s China Law Discussion Group recently held a webinar on contractual disputes involving force majeure arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CCL is a joint platform between Renmin University of China’s School of Law, the Oxford’s Faculty of Law, and the Great Britain-China Centre. The webinar was chaired by GBCC deputy director, Cyril Poulopoulos, and opened by representatives from the three organisations constituting the CCL: Marina Wheeler QC, GBCC board member and member of the CL’s academic advisory council; Professor HE Jiahong, director of the CCL; and Professor William Swadling, University of Oxford Law Faculty.
The webinar was an opportunity to share key findings from the Expert Report on Force Majeure Issues Arising from the COVID-19 Epidemic: The position in China with relevant insights from English law, authored by Professor WANG Yi, Dean at Renmin Law School, Dr Mimi Zou, Oxford Law Faculty and Dr WU Zhicheng, Renmin University Law School.
The report was developed in response to the onset of the COVID-19 and pandemic containment measures that have led to contractual defaults across a wide range of commercial transactions in China’s supply chains. These disruptions have hit many enterprises hard, particularly SMEs. Policy recommendations focused on how to contribute towards greater legal certainty around key contractual questions relating to force majeure and change of circumstances. China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) invited one of the report’s authors, Professor Wang, to contribute content from the report that fed into the SPC’s April 2020 Guiding Opinion (I) on the Proper Handling of Civil Cases Involving the Novel Coronavirus Outbreak in Accordance with the Law.
Following a presentation of the report, Dr LI Hu, Deputy Secretary-General of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), William Godwin QC, GBCC board member, and Helen Tang and YE Weina, partners at Herbert Smith Freehills Shanghai, reflected on the reports findings and recommendations. Mr Justice DING Yuxiang of Beijing First Intermediate People’s Court also provided a pre-prepared feedback presentation.
Dr LI Hu explained that CIETAC has accepted many cases in relation to the COVID-19 outbreak and outbreak-related containment actions, and that the expert report has provided important reference for arbitrators at CIETAC regarding the trial and judgement of COVID-19 cases. William Godwin QC further explained the stance of the English law on force majeure issues, and how this contrasts with civil law jurisdictions. Helen Tang and YE Weina, who have both practised in common law jurisdictions and in mainland China, offered a comparative perspective and discussed recent cases they have dealt with that relied on the interpretation of force majeure and change of circumstances.
Professor YE Lin, director of the Centre for Rule of Law for Ease of Doing Business at Renmin University closed the webinar, reflecting on the complex picture of the force majeure system and its practical application, and the benefits of sharing experience between the UK and China. GBCC, Renmin University of China Law School and the University of Oxford Law Faculty look forward to continued cooperation through the Centre for Common Law.