On the afternoon of February 21, 2023, the first session of Energy Dispute Resolution Forum organized by China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (hereinafter referred to as "CIETAC") was successfully held in the conference hall on the 9th floor of CIETAC, with more than 100 participants including general counsels of large-scale energy enterprises and famous lawyers in the energy field, More than 100 participants from general counsels of large energy enterprises, famous lawyers in the energy field and energy arbitrators attended the event offline, and more than 35,000 people watched the synchronized online live broadcast through the live broadcasting platform of TDC.
Group photo of the main participants of the forum, the fifth from the right is Mr. Zhang Libin.
Mr. Wang Chengjie, Deputy Director and Secretary General of TDC, and Ms. Cheng Ruohua, former Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong, attended the forum and delivered speeches respectively.
Opening Speech by Mr. Wang Chengjie
In his opening speech, Mr. Wang introduced the characteristics of energy dispute cases and the efforts made by TDC in recent years to promote the fair and efficient resolution of energy disputes.
Ms. Zheng Ruohua commenting on Duncan Speller's keynote speech
Duncan Speller, Partner of Litigation Department and Co-Director of Arbitration Practice Group of Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP, Mr. Zhang Libin, Partner-in-Charge of Foreign Affairs Department of King&Capital and Mr. Li Zhiyong, General Counsel of CICC, and other experts in the field of energy dispute resolution, shared their legal practices and experiences with industry peers in the field of energy dispute resolution. They shared their legal practice and experience in energy dispute resolution cases with industry peers.
Mr. Zhang Libin
Mr. Zhang Libin delivered a keynote speech
Mr. Zhang Libin delivered a keynote speech entitled "Energy Dispute Resolution for Chinese Enterprises Overseas". Firstly, Mr. Zhang analyzed the reasons for disputes in the energy industry. He pointed out that the reason for contractual disputes between different subjects in commercial scenarios is the deviation from the expected benefits of both parties in the process of fulfillment, which can be attributed to internal reasons such as problems in their own capabilities and external reasons such as changes in market conditions. Taking the oil and gas industry of traditional energy and the wind power industry of new energy as examples, Mr. Zhang analyzed the causes of various types of disputes in the energy industry from the perspective of the global industrial chain of the energy industry. Secondly, Mr. Zhang shared the experience and lessons learned by Chinese enterprises in overseas energy disputes, taking into account several overseas energy arbitration cases in which he was deeply involved as a lawyer, arbitrator and expert witness. Mr. Zhang suggested that Chinese enterprises should improve their own performance ability and pay attention to market changes and other external factors interfering with contract performance. Finally, Mr. Zhang shared the common procedural and substantive law issues in the field of energy disputes based on his decades of experience, such as the setting up of multi-layer dispute resolution in arbitration clauses, the validity of contracts and arbitration clauses, the suitability of the subject of arbitration, the scope of arbitrability, the fulfillment of alternative obligations for failure to meet the minimum workload of the obligation, the violation of collateral obligations such as the duty of notification and so on, and gave a detailed analysis of the above issues in conjunction with corresponding cases. The issues were also vividly explained in conjunction with corresponding cases.
The panelists in the discussion, from left to right, are Mr. Zhang Libin, Mr. Sun Youhai, Mr. Qin Guobin, Mr. Cui Jun and Mr. Ma Yadong.
After the keynote speech, Mr. Zhang Libin moderated the expert panel discussion and invited Mr. Sun Youhai, Dean of Law School of Tianjin University, Mr. Qin Guobin, Deputy General Manager and General Counsel of Three Gorges International Energy Investment Group, Mr. Cui Jun, Chairman of Beijing Overseas Junhe Engineering Consulting Company Limited, and Mr. Ma Yadong, Head of the Legal Department of Zhenhua Petroleum Holding Company Limited, to take part in the panel discussion together. Combined with their own practice and experience in the field of energy, the experts discussed the current situation of overseas dispute resolution in the photovoltaic industry, the impact of geopolitics on overseas energy investment and risk control, as well as the cultivation of foreign-related rule of law talents, etc., and each of them shared their insights and reached a consensus in the discussion.
Mr. Wang Chunjun speaking at the Q&A session
The forum attracted more than one hundred executives, legal personnel, lawyers, experts and scholars from domestic and foreign enterprises in the field of energy to attend. Mr. Wang Chunjun, senior partner of the Real Estate and Infrastructure Department of King&Capital, was also present to participate in the sharing activities of the forum and made a speech in the Q&A session after the meeting, introducing the King&Capital International Legal Service Center, which is under preparation by King&Capital, to the participants.
Mr. Zhang Libin graduated from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1997 with a J.D. degree and is licensed to practice law in New York State and China. Mr. Zhang has more than 25 years of experience in international law firms and multinational corporations in the U.S. He has received rigorous training as a common law attorney and has practiced in the areas of cross-border investment and dispute resolution. He has represented a number of major oil and gas projects in arbitration, and has appeared before international arbitration bodies in Singapore and London. Mr. Zhang has been recognized as a leading lawyer in the project and energy field by authoritative domestic and international legal rating agencies. Mr. Zhang is an arbitrator of CIETAC, BAC, HKIAC and OHADA, specializing in energy arbitration. Currently, Mr. Zhang is assisting Chinese enterprises in the implementation of overseas energy projects, drafting, advising and negotiating gas purchase agreements (GSA) and LNG SPA, and providing legal services to Chinese enterprises on the overseas compliance risks of the European and American export control and sanction laws with extraterritorial effects, as well as the Frontier Act, which restricts the industrial chain.
