Acceptance or Rejection of a Request for Arbitration
In order to be accepted, a request for arbitration shall contain the personal information of the claimant and the respondent, the specific claims and reliefs sought by the claimant, and the facts and grounds on which the claims and reliefs are based. In particular, when amounts or other digits are involved, they should be specific and supported by appropriate data. For example, if a monetary claim is filed, the request must contain a specific amount, and where necessary, its calculation data.
A request for arbitration shall be accompanied by a valid arbitration agreement. As discussed above, an arbitration agreement will not be deemed valid unless it is entered into between individuals, legal entities, and/or other organizations of equal legal status and with full capacity for civil acts. If a party to an arbitration agreement is a person without capacity or with limited capacity for civil acts, the agreement must be ratified by his legal representative. If an arbitration agreement is signed by an agent without authorization by the principal, the principal may challenge the validity of the arbitration agreement before the arbitral tribunal proceeds with the first hearing. Otherwise, it will be deemed his ratification of the arbitration agreement and waiver of the right to challenge its validity.
In addition, the disputes to be arbitrated must be arbitrable. In accordance with the Arbitration Law and other applicable laws, arbitrable disputes include disputes arising out of or in connection with contracts or over property rights or interests between individuals, legal entities, and/or other organizations of equal legal status. For example, disputes between passengers and carriers can be referred to arbitration if they sign a written arbitration agreement.
Provided, however, that labor disputes, i.e., disputes between employers and employees, may be referred to arbitration by the labor arbitration commission under the competent labor bureau rather than a commercial arbitration commission or institution.
The Arbitration Law lists two types of disputes that cannot be arbitrated: (1) disputes relating personal or family relations, such as marriage, adoption, guardianship, child maintenance, or inheritance; and (2) disputes over administrative issues subject to the jurisdiction of competent administrative authorities according to law.
The time limit for accepting or rejecting a request for arbitration is five days. Within five days of receipt of a request for arbitration, the arbitration commission will decide whether to accept or reject the request after considering whether the filing requirements have been satisfied and notify the claimant of the acceptance or notify the claimant in writing of the rejection stating the reasons for rejection.
If the request for arbitration is rejected due to absence of an arbitration agreement, invalidity of the arbitration agreement submitted, or unarbitrability of the disputes, the disputing parties may reach a new arbitration agreement and refer to arbitration again or file a lawsuit with a people’s court of competent jurisdiction.
If they have a dispute over the validity of the arbitration agreement, they may request the arbitration commission or a court of competent jurisdiciton to make a decision, in whic case, the court has priority over the arbitration commission in making such a decision.
After a request for arbitration is accepted, the arbitration commission will serve a copy of its arbitration rules and roster of arbitrators on the claimant and a copy of the request for arbitration, arbitration rules, and roster of arbitrators on the respondent within the time period specified in the arbitration rules.
The respondent will submit an answer to the arbitration commission within the time period specified in the arbitration rules after receiving a copy of the request for arbitration. After receiving an answer, the arbitration commission will serve a copy of the answer on the claimant within the time period specified in the arbitration rules. Failure by the respondent to submit an answer will not prevent the arbitration from proceeding.
Robert Zhang 
Steve Li 