China: A Dispute Resolution (PRC Firms) Overview

Overall Trends in the Dispute Resolution Field

The Supreme People's Court guides adjudication work through new channels like the People's Court Case Database and the Fada Network

Since 2024, the Supreme People's Court has vigorously promoted the People's Court Case Database and “Selected Q&As From Fada Network”. According to relevant regulations, cases included in the People's Court Case Database possess higher authority than non-included cases and should, in principle, be referenced by courts in their adjudication work. The "Selected Q&As from Fada Network" also carry significant authority due to their issuance by the Supreme People's Court. Compared with guiding cases, the number of cases in the People's Court Case Database is substantially larger, and the update frequency is faster; the publication frequency of the Selected Q&As From Fada Network is also very high. This enables practitioners to find adjudication rules for similar cases encountered in practice from this source. Specifically, in our case handling process, we have noted that an increasing number of judges require parties to indicate whether submitted cases are included in the People's Court Case Database. Furthermore, more judgments are explicitly referencing or even citing views from the Selected Q&As From Fada Network in their rulings.

Mediation is being more widely applied in the dispute resolution field

Diversified dispute resolution has been a central theme in the dispute resolution field in recent years. Among the various methods, mediation has received significant attention at the national level. Whether in courts, arbitration commissions or regulatory agencies, mediation work is a top priority. Mediation centres have sprung up like mushrooms after rain across various regions and industry sectors. Mediation holds advantages unmatched by litigation and arbitration in terms of speed, confidentiality, cost control and achieving final resolution. However, the number of experienced mediators remains insufficient, and mediator training presents a substantial task for the future.

Laws and regulations in the dispute resolution field

The revised Arbitration Law will further accelerate the development of China's arbitration industry

In September 2025, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the newly revised Arbitration Law. This revision introduced significant innovations in areas such as the arbitral tribunal's investigation and evidence collection, pre-arbitration property preservation, ad hoc arbitration, online arbitration and the determination of arbitration agreements. While aligning with international standards, it retains Chinese characteristics. Accompanying this revision, arbitration has become a hotspot in the entire dispute resolution industry, facilitating parties’ understanding and selection of arbitration as an important method for dispute resolution.

The Supreme People's Court issues new judicial interpretations on the Company Law, profoundly impacting commercial dispute resolution

Around the implementation of the new Company Law in July 2024, the Supreme People's Court first issued a judicial interpretation concerning the temporal effect of the Company Law, followed by a reply regarding the non-retroactive application of Article 88, paragraph 1 of the Company Law. The latest development is its release of the Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the Company Law (Draft for Comments) in September 2025. This draft interpretation contains 90 articles, covering numerous contentious issues in the application of the Company Law, and holds strong guiding significance for handling litigation and arbitration cases.

Challenges in the dispute resolution industry

Parties are becoming increasingly sensitive to the time and monetary costs of dispute resolution

Cost reduction and efficiency improvement are underway across the entire commercial sector. Costs associated with dispute resolution cases – such as court, arbitration, preservation and legal fees – are playing an increasingly significant role in parties' decisions on whether to initiate proceedings. More parties are inquiring about the possibility of applying for deferred payment of court fees, whether legal fees can be structured as pure contingency fee arrangements, and if litigation or arbitration timelines can be accelerated. In this context, dispute resolution lawyers need to communicate more thoroughly with their clients to assist them in making rational decisions.

The challenges posed by AI development to dispute resolution cannot be ignored

With the free proliferation and rapid iteration of AI tools like DeepSeek, an increasing number of clients are consulting AI about their cases before and during their engagement of lawyers. They use the AI's feedback to assess the professionalism of dispute resolution lawyers and make related suggestions. As is well known, each dispute resolution case possesses unique complexities. These complexities can inherently create a degree of information asymmetry between lawyers and clients. While AI intervention can sometimes alleviate this asymmetry, it often exacerbates the gap between lawyers and clients. This adds a new challenge for dispute resolution lawyers in maintaining client trust consistently. It is recommended that dispute resolution lawyers increase the frequency of in-depth, face-to-face communication with their clients to sustain stable trust relationships over the long term.

争议解决领域的总体动向观察

最高人民法院通过“人民法院案例库”和“法答网”等新形式指导审判工作。

自2024年开始，最高人民法院开始大力推广“人民法院案例库”和“法答网精选问答”。根据相关规定，入选“人民法院案例库”的案例具有比非入库案例更高的权威性，法院在审判工作中原则上应当参照。“法答网精选问答”也因其公布的主体为最高人民法院而具有较高的权威性。与指导性案例相比，“人民法院案例库”中的案例数量明显更多，更新频次也更快，“法答网精选问答”的发布频次也很高，这就使得众多实务中遇到的案件可以从“人民法院案例库”和“法答网精选问答”中找到类案裁判规则。具体在办案过程中，我们注意到，越来越多的法官要求当事人说明提交的案例是否为“人民法院案例库”入库案例，越来越多的判决书明确参照甚至引用“法答网精选问答”的观点进行裁判。

调解在争议解决领域得到更加广泛的应用。

多元化解决纠纷是近些年争议解决领域的主旋律。在众多解决纠纷的方式中，调解得到了国家层面的高度重视，无论是在法院、仲裁委还是监管机构，调解工作都是重中之重。在各个地区和各个行业领域，调解中心如雨后春笋般设立。调解在速度、保密性、成本控制和终极解决纠纷方面，有着诉讼和仲裁难以比拟的优势，但有经验的调解员数量仍显不足，未来调解员培训的工作任重道远。

争议解决领域的法律法规观察

新的仲裁法修订将进一步为中国的仲裁行业发展提速

2025年9月，全国人大常委会通过了新修订的仲裁法。此次仲裁法修订，在仲裁庭调查取证、仲裁前财产保全、临时仲裁、网络在线仲裁、仲裁协议的认定等方面进行了较大创新，在与国际接轨的同时，保留了中国特色。伴随着此次仲裁法修订，仲裁成为了整个争议解决行业的热点，有利于当事人了解和选择仲裁作为争议解决的重要方式。

最高人民法院发布新公司法司法解释，对商事争议解决产生深远影响

在新的公司法2024年7月实施前后，最高人民法院先是出台了公司法时间效力司法解释，又出台了关于公司法第88条第1款不溯及适用的批复。最新的进展是其在2025年9月发布了《关于适用公司法若干问题的解释》（征求意见稿），该征求意见稿共90条，内容涵盖了公司法适用中的诸多争议问题，对于诉讼仲裁案件的办理有很强的指导意义。

争议解决行业的挑战

当事人对于争议解决的时间成本和金钱成本愈发敏感

整个商业领域都在进行降本增效。诉讼费、仲裁费、保全费、律师费，这些争议解决案件的支出在当事人决策是否启动案件时占据的地位越来越高，越来越多的当事人询问可否申请诉讼费缓交，律师费可否设置为纯风险代理，诉讼和仲裁周期可否加快。在这个背景下，争议解决律师需要更加充分地与当事人沟通，协助当事人做出理性的决策。

AI的发展对于争议解决的挑战不容忽视

随着DeepSeek等AI工具的免费普及和快速迭代，越来越多的当事人在委托律师处理案件之前和律师处理过程中，会将自己案件的相关情况询问AI，并依据AI反馈的结果评估争议解决律师是否专业并向律师提出相关建议。众所周知，每个争议解决案件都具有其独特的复杂性，这种复杂性本来就可能会在律师和当事人之间形成一定的信息不对称，AI的介入有时能够减轻这种信息不对称，但很多情况下会加剧律师和当事人之间的隔阂。这就为争议解决律师持续保持客户信任增加了全新的挑战。建议争议解决律师要增加与当事人见面深度沟通的频次，让信任关系长期保持稳定。