HKIAC’s Arbitration Caseload Hits Record High In 2022

On January 20, 2023, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) released its annual statistics for 2022. The statistics suggest that HKIAC swiftly recovered from the drop in caseload in 2021 and has returned to its pre-pandemic growth track.

In 2022, HKIAC’s arbitration caseload hit a record high. Out of 515 matters submitted to HKIAC, HKIAC received a total of 344 arbitration filings. This is the highest number received in over a decade, and represents a 24.2% increase from 277 in 2021, and an 8.2% increase from 318 in 2020. The total amount in dispute in all arbitration cases, however, decreased from HKD 54.6 billion (approximately USD 7 billion) and HKD 68.8 billion (approximately USD 8.8 billion) in 2021 and 2020, respectively, to HK$43.1 billion (approximately US$5.5 billion) in 2022.

Contributing to HKIAC’s record-breaking caseload are banking and financial services disputes. For the first time since HKIAC started to release its annual statistics on types of disputes in 2015, banking and financial services disputes became the most prevalent type of disputes before HKIAC in 2022, accounting for 36.9% of all cases registered by HKIAC. Following banking and financial services disputes are corporate disputes and international trade/sale of goods disputes, respectively constituting 17.7% and 14% of all cases registered by HKIAC in 2022.

Parties appearing before the HKIAC in 2022 continue to be international and diverse. Parties from a total of 63 jurisdictions participated in arbitrations submitted to HKIAC in 2022, with Hong Kong, Mainland China, and British Virgin Islands topping the list. In 83.1% of all arbitrations submitted to HKIAC in 2022, at least one party to the dispute was not from Hong Kong.

Under the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-Ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the “Arrangement”), which came into force on October 1, 2019, parties to institutional arbitrations seated in Hong Kong are able to seek interim relief from Mainland Chinese courts in aid of arbitration. (For an overview of the Arrangement, please see our client alert in September 2019.) Three years on, the Arrangement remains well-utilized by parties appearing before the HKIAC, with a vast majority of these applications (82.8%) made by parties outside of Mainland China, including parties from Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia. In 2022, HKIAC processed a total of 26 applications made to 14 different Mainland Chinese courts under the Arrangement, increasing slightly from 25 in 2021 and 22 in 2020. In respect of these 26 applications, the Mainland Chinese courts issued orders to preserve RMB 1.26 billion (approximately US$185.8 million) worth of assets. The HKIAC also reported that since the Arrangement came into force, the HKIAC has processed 86 applications made under the arrangement. As of the end of 2022, HKIAC is aware of 58 decisions issued by Mainland Courts, 54 of which granted the applications for preservation of assets upon the applicant’s provision of security. The total value of assets preserved by the 54 decisions amounted to RMB 14.5 billion (approximately US$ 2.1 billion).

HKIAC’s annual statistics for 2022 show that Hong Kong remains a vibrant and growing international arbitration hub. Moreover, the active use of the Arrangement by non-Mainland parties to preserve assets in Mainland China in aid of HKIAC arbitration demonstrates Hong Kong’s unique advantages as an international arbitration seat for China-related disputes.

For more information, please see HKIAC’s 2022 statistics.