By Alex Liu and John Zhou
Hong Kong, 27 August 2025: Registrations are now open for the 14th edition of Hong Kong Arbitration Week, an event that will provide further impetus to our city’s growing reputation as a world-class seat of arbitration. Boase Cohen & Collins will participate in most of the events.
More than 1,000 legal professionals, academics and specialists in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) are expected in town for the gathering from 19-24 October, which will include the flagship ADR in Asia Conference at the Four Seasons Hotel. Some 35 affiliate events are being organised while there will be strong charity and community outreach initiatives.
The flurry of activity comes with Hong Kong’s global arbitration stock at an all-time high. The latest figures from the industry-leading Queen Mary University International Arbitration Survey place Hong Kong equal second overall, alongside Singapore, behind London as the preferred seat of arbitration worldwide. Crucially, among those survey respondents who principally practise or operate in Asia-Pacific, Hong Kong comes out on top, scoring 45% to Singapore’s 40%.
The report notes: “Interviewees praised the judicial support of the Hong Kong courts and the overall strength and depth of arbitration culture in Hong Kong. Interviewees also noted Hong Kong’s privileged status as the ‘gateway to mainland China’, appreciating the ability to enforce Hong Kong-issued awards in mainland China.”
An overwhelming majority (87%) of respondents continue to choose international arbitration to resolve cross-border disputes, either as a standalone mechanism (39%) or with ADR (48%). It is also worth pointing out that this year’s poll sees a 97% increase in respondents from the previous survey in 2021, with 2,402 questionnaire responses received and 117 interviews conducted.
Hong Kong’s strong regulatory regime and rule of law, proximity to China and value-for-money legal services combine to give it a huge competitive edge in the global arbitration market. Our city is a party to the 1958 New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, so awards obtained here are enforceable in other signatory countries.
Over the past decade, there has been an increasing number of reputable international legal and dispute resolution institutions setting up offices in Hong Kong, reinforcing its worldwide arbitration standing. The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) is the city’s home-grown arbitration body. Totally independent and free from governmental interference, it is one of the world’s leading dispute resolution bodies and its facilities have been ranked first worldwide for location, value for money and IT services.
The HKIAC had a record-breaking year in 2024 both in terms of caseload (a total of 503 matters were submitted, of which 352 were arbitrations arising from 510 contracts) and dispute value (HK$106 billion, or about US$13.6 billion).
BC&C’s arbitration proficiency means we are handling an increasing number of cases. Our team is led by Senior Partner Colin Cohen, who is admitted as a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators and serves on the Panel of Arbitrators of the Law Society of Hong Kong.
As coincidence would have it, both BC&C and the HKIAC are celebrating their 40th anniversaries this year. We look forward to co-operating further in the coming months as Hong Kong’s arbitration success story continues.
Alex Liu is Managing Partner of BC&C. His key areas of practice include commercial and corporate litigation, investigations by governmental bodies such as the SFC, ICAC and Commercial Crime Bureau, insolvency and debt restructuring, intellectual property and employment matters. He can be contacted at alex@boasecohencollins.com.
A Consultant for BC&C, John Zhou is admitted to practice law in Hong Kong, the Mainland and the New York State. He has dedicated his career to cross-border dispute resolution and has vast experience in complex commercial arbitration, litigation and compliance matters. He can be contacted at john@boasecohencollins.com.
