Preface to the Chinese Version
On April 11, 1980, at the United Nations Conference on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods held in Vienna, the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (“the Convention”) was approved through Resolution No. 33/93 of the United Nations General Assembly and made available to all states for signature, ratification, and accession. The Convention, which adopts uniform rules for contracts for the international sale of goods that take into account different social, economic, and legal systems, is committed to reducing the legal impediments to international trade and developing international trade on the basis of equality and mutual benefit, so as to establish a new international economic order. The Convention has been in force in China since January 1, 1988, after China acceded to the Convention on December 11, 1986. As of October 16, 2020, the Convention has had 94 contracting states,1 basically covering the world’s most important trading entities.
The year 2020 is the 40th anniversary of the Convention. After 40 years of practice and development, the Convention has become one of the most successful and important international conventions in the commercial field all over the world today due to its irreplaceable role in promoting the liberalization and facilitation of international trade.
The year 2020 also marks the 40th anniversary of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which was the first special economic zone in China. As the product of China’s reform and opening-up and the construction of the special economic zone, the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (“the SCIA”) was founded in 1983. It was not only the first arbitration institution established among all provinces and municipalities on the Mainland China since the reform and opening-up, but also the first arbitration institution in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. With China’s reform and opening-up, the SCIA has handled a large number of international trade cases, a significant portion of which are held by applying the Convention.
To help domestic and foreign legal and business communities better understand the main points of international trade disputes, we have selected a number of typical arbitration cases handled by the SCIA since China’s accession to the Convention and further organized experts to provide targeted analysis of these cases. We discuss 10 issues in terms of these cases, including the application of the Convention, the formation and validity of the contract for the international sale of goods, obligations of the buyer in the contract for the international sale of goods, obligations of the seller in the contract for the international sale of goods, actual performance and damages, declaration of contract avoidance, force majeure and change in circumstances, commodity inspection and claims, INCOTERMS, and payment in international trade, which basically cover the major disputes over contracts for the international sale of goods. We believe that they will provide valuable references to practitioners.
In 2019, China generated a total value of USD 4,575.3 billion in import and export trade,2 maintaining its global leading position. However, as affected by trade frictions between China and the United States, rising protectionism, and the impact of COVID-19, economic globalization and the international trade order face unprecedented challenges. At the 40th anniversary of the Convention, it is of special historical significance to become reacquainted with the principles and values established by the Convention by reviewing these typical cases of the SCIA.
Editors October 16, 2020