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1. Q: I shipped the goods but only got 30% of the payment. What shall I do?
A: You may negotiate with the other party, or submit the dispute to a domestic or foreign arbitration institution, or bring a lawsuit against the supplier in the court where the supplier is located to claim for the goods back and damages.
2. Q: I made 50% of the payment to the Chinese supplier but the goods are different from the sample and seriously defective. What shall I do?
A: You may negotiate with the supplier, or submit the dispute to a domestic or foreign arbitration institution, or bring a lawsuit against the supplier in the intermediate court where the supplier is located to claim for money refund and damages.
3. Q: What is arbitration?
A: Arbitration and litigation are two parallel legal procedures that each can lead to a final and binding resolution to a dispute.
Arbitration is a procedure in which a dispute is submitted, by agreement (arbitration clause in the contract) of the parties, to one or more arbitrators who make a binding decision on the dispute. Commercial arbitration is a universal way in settling disputes in today's business world.
4. Q: What is the difference between arbitration and litigation?
A: Compared with litigation, arbitration has 3 major distinctions: 1) An arbitral award is final, binding and cannot be appealed; 2) An arbitral award can be enforced in more than 142 countries all over the world; 3) With more flexibility and thorough confidentiality, arbitration is more cost-effective and suitable for commercial disputes than litigation.
5. Q: Is the arbitral award enforceable?
A: Domestically, an arbitral award is final and has the same enforceability as a judgment by a court. Internationally, an arbitral award can be enforced by national courts in 142 countries under the New York Convention while a national court judgment cannot be enforced abroad.
6. Q: Must I hire a lawyer for the arbitration?
A: There is no restriction on arbitration advocates, so parties are free to decide whether to hire a lawyer or not. Through the user-friendly Commercial Arbitration Online system, even a party without legal knowledge can easily file a case by following the instructions and filling in the gaps.
7. Q: What is the condition to apply for arbitration in the CIETAC South China?
A: Arbitration is consensual, that is, arbitration can only take place if both parties have agreed to it. In the case of future disputes arising under a contract, the parties insert an arbitration clause in the relevant contract. Without an arbitration clause, the Commission has no jurisdiction over the dispute.
8. Q: How to make an arbitration agreement?
A: Parties only need to consolidate their deal with contract and specify an arbitration
clause in the contract.
Customized model contracts for online businesspersons are available for free download on CIETAC South China Sub-Commission's official website www.sccietac.org or on Alibaba's Trade Risk Control BBS.
9. Q: Can I apply for arbitration if I reach an arbitration agreement with the other party after the occurrence of the dispute?
A: An arbitration agreement concluded between the parties, either before or after the occurrence of the dispute, can be the arbitration basis. However, in real life, parties can seldom reach an agreement after dispute arises. So it is strongly recommended that you insert an arbitration clause in your contract with the other party in the very beginning of the deal.
10. Q: What about the cost of arbitration?
A: Generally, cost of arbitration will be lower than that of litigation because there are two or more trials in litigation while an arbitration is final and binding. In addition, if the parties insert the model arbitration clause suggested by the CIETAC South China
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and apply for arbitration based on this clause, the cost will be even lower than ordinary procedure. In any case, the party who lose the case shall bear the arbitration cost and attorney fee.
11. Q: What is the advantage of filing a case through Commercial Arbitration Online by CIETAC South China?
A: The Commercial Arbitration Online system is specially developed for online businesspersons like those who are dealing on Aibaba: fast, cost-effective, legal-knowledge-not-required, user-friendly and most importantly, parties need not personally attend and participate in the arbitration.
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