CIVIL LAW AND CIVIL PROCEDURE

Controlled globalisation”: the tension between Reform and control in china's arbitration and its Implications for cooperation with kazakhstan

Abstract

This article critically examines the evolution of China's arbitration system and its implications for future cooperation with Kazakhstan. It argues that China's arbitration reform is characterized by a distinct model of 'controlled globalisation' – a deliberate strategy that selectively adopts international norms (e.g., competence-competence, online arbitration) while retaining robust domestic oversight mechanisms to mitigate perceived risks (e.g., limiting ad hoc arbitration, combating fraud). Through a diachronic analysis of the 1994 Arbitration Law and its successive revision drafts (2021-2025), the study reveals a legislative preference for experimentalism over wholesale adoption, using free-trade zones as 'regulatory sandboxes.' It further analyses the institutional diversification of China's arbitral landscape and the legal challenges posed by digitalisation, particularly the 'enforcement gap' in online arbitral awards under the New York Convention. The article then assesses avenues for Sino-Kazakh arbitration cooperation, identifying both opportunities and political-legal hurdles. It concludes that while both nations share a strong legal foundation as signatories to the New York Convention and the Belt and Road Initiative, realising effective cooperation requires moving beyond rhetorical commitments towards operational transparency and bilateral procedural agreements. This analysis offers a lens through which to understand broader trends in Eurasian legal integration.