Perceptions and Reality : The Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in China

China is on the cusp of its fourth decade as a party to the New York Convention for the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards. At the time of China’s accession in 1987, the highest levels of the Chinese government supported entry and implementation of the New York Convention, which creates strict international standards requiring member states to enforce most private commercial arbitration awards. In the intervening three decades, numerous studies have been conducted to assess whether Chinese courts enforce foreign arbitral awards consis- tent with the requirements of the New York Convention. Many of these studies, especially those published in the United States, have reported that there are serious problems with China’s system of enforcing foreign arbitral awards