Premier Li Qiang has signed a State Council decree promulgating China's first national Commercial Mediation Regulation — a 33-article framework that took effect on May 1, 2026, and marks the most consequential structural reform to Chinese commercial dispute resolution in years.
The regulation's scope is broad. It covers disputes across trade, investment, finance, transportation, real estate, engineering and intellectual property, and assigns judicial administrative departments responsibility for guiding implementation nationwide, with local governments at county level and above overseeing mediation work in their regions.
Most notable for the international community is the regulation's outward-facing posture: it explicitly encourages the development of commercial mediation organizations with international competitiveness and supports cross-border mediation and international cooperation. Read alongside Beijing's championing of IOMed in Hong Kong, the direction of travel is unmistakable — China intends to be a rule-maker in global mediation, not a rule-taker.
Early commentary from practitioners has been striking in its enthusiasm; one international ADR provider called the framework a turning point for dispute resolution in China. The practical test begins now, as provinces stand up the oversight structures the regulation requires and China's commercial mediation centres — from CCPIT's national network to the Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center — position themselves for a larger caseload.
