Opening Remarks by Minister for Law and Second Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Tong SC, at SIAC China Conference (Shenzhen)
Mr Wang Shourui, Member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Party Committee; Secretary of the Work Committee of the Qianhai Cooperation Zone; Director of the Administrative Committee of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, Qianhai and Shekou Area of Shenzhen
Mr Shao Baozhou, Member of the Party Committee and Deputy Director-General of the Justice Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality
Mr Xia Sha, Deputy Director-General of Municipal Qianhai Authority
Mr Davinder Singh SC, Chairman of SIAC Board
Ms Lucy Reed, President of SIAC Court
Ms Gloria Lim, CEO of SIAC
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
Introduction
1. Good afternoon to all of you. 大家下午好。 I am delighted to join all of you here today, for the SIAC China Conference in Shenzhen.
2. I have been in Shenzhen several times. The first time I was here, it was probably about 20-30 years ago. It was a very different Shenzhen.
3. The last time I was here, it was 1.5 years ago, around the end of 2024. During that visit, I had the opportunity to visit the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) as well as to attend SIAC’s roundtable with several Chinese companies.
4. That trip back then was very brief, but it made a deep impression on me. What shocked me was not only Shenzhen’s remarkable pace of development, but I think for those of you who have been to Shenzhen several times, including myself several decades ago, you would agree wholeheartedly that the pace of development in Shenzhen has been nothing but remarkable.
5. But beyond the physical infrastructure that is developed in Shenzhen, there is also a very strong sense of extraordinary dynamism, enthusiasm, ambition and openness. 深圳真的是充满朝气与活力, full of vitality and vibrancy. And the businesses that I met were all looking to expand into new markets, thinking about investing in new technologies and operating with an increasingly outward-looking global mindset.
6. Following this visit in 2024, I suggested to SIAC to think about holding its China Conference here in Shenzhen and I am very glad that this has now come to pass. I am told that this is the very first China conference that SIAC has in Shenzhen.
Shenzhen’s Transformation
7. Indeed, when people speak about Shenzhen today, they speak of a global city at the forefront of innovation, technology and enterprise. It is also a key driver of China’s modern economy.
8. Yet as I mentioned, when I was first here, decades ago, Shenzhen was still a small town of around 30,000 workers, bordering Hong Kong, with a largely agrarian base and limited industrial development. Qianhai, where we are now, was largely coastal land, which was reclaimed some years ago. The establishment of China’s first Special Economic Zone in 1980 marked a historic turning point in Shenzhen’s reform and opening up.
9. Since then, the speed of development has been unprecedented. Shenzhen’s population has grown by more than 600 times to about 18 million today, while its GDP has expanded by more than 10,000 times to more than RMB 3.8 trillion (USD 557 billion).
10. At the same time, today, it hosts over 25,000 high- and new-tech companies – roughly twelve firms per square kilometre. It is densely packed, filled with technology, innovation and enterprise. This makes it China’s leading city in both the absolute number and density of advanced technology enterprises. And Qianhai has emerged as one of China’s most internationally-oriented hub for finance, technology and modern services.
11. Its journey is a story of resilience, foresight and courage to experiment and push beyond the boundaries – values that deeply resonate with Singapore’s own development. It is the same story that we had in Singapore. We had to develop, we had to expand, and also to reclaim land.
Singapore-Shenzhen Partnership
12. In that aspect, Singapore and Shenzhen share much in common. Both are dense, dynamic cities, shaped by migration. Singapore, by generations of settlers, many from Southern China, including the region around Shenzhen. Shenzhen, also by entrepreneurs and workers from across China. Both cities have nurtured the culture of openness, resilience, evolution and adaptability as well.
13. Over the years, our collaboration between both cities have taken many forms, from the Singapore-China (Shenzhen) Smart City Initiative to investments in the Qianhai Special Cooperation Zone, where Singapore companies have contributed expertise in urban planning, innovation ecosystems and advanced services.
14. Our cities benefit from learning from each other. Shenzhen’s entrepreneurial energy has inspired Singapore’s tech and innovation hubs, while Singapore’s experience in building a globally connected, liveable, and sustainable city has helped Shenzhen refine its smart city planning and governance.
15. Shenzhen continues to pioneer breakthrough technologies, including AI, supported by China’s 15th Five-Year Plan and strategies, to navigate trade restrictions, while scaling innovative business models.
Demand for Trusted Dispute Resolution
16. Why am I telling you all these in a conference about dispute resolution and arbitration? The answer is this. Rapid economic growth naturally brings complexity in cross-border commerce. With more innovation, the complexity of transactions will grow and the complexity of disputes will rise. Hence, a robust, efficient and trusted mechanism for dispute resolution will become increasingly important.
17. The Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA) was established in 1983, some years before SIAC and I was told, on exactly the same date as SIAC, eight years earlier and three years after Shenzhen became a Special Economic Zone. We have quite a lot in common between our two cities.
18. SCIA quickly adopted an open approach, appointing foreign arbitrators as early as 1984, the year after it was set up.
19. When I came to visit in 2024, SCIA President Dr Liu Xiaochun shared a photo collage of SCIA-Singapore interactions over four decades. He showed me four decades of photos, documenting the collaboration between Singapore and SCIA and I think that itself is a testimony to the long-standing trust, relationship and cooperation that we have built up over the years.
20. Two days ago, I visited SCIA again, and Dr Liu and Professor Shen Sibao, Chairman of SCIA Council, gave me a tour of SCIA. This time, they showed me their new gallery, this time updated with my photograph from 2024.
21. With each time we come together, each collaboration, each meeting, each visit, we become part of each other’s history, part of each other’s growing tapestry of ties between Singapore and SCIA.
22. I think that partnership will deepen with SCIA’s new office in Singapore – joining other international arbitral institutions, engaging not only in their administration of dispute resolution but enlarging the thought leadership around it, overall reflecting confidence in Singapore’s legal ecosystem.
23. SIAC has similarly expanded its presence in China, opening a Shanghai office a decade ago and a Beijing office just four days ago. These offices provide Chinese parties with a trusted forum when a domestic option may not be available – just as SCIA offers a credible forum for those who cannot turn to Singapore. They reflect our shared commitment to providing parties dispute resolution options that are familiar, yet neutral and independent.
Looking Ahead
24. Looking ahead, I expect to see Shenzhen’s arbitration landscape continue to evolve, as well as grow, in tandem with its economic transformation, particularly in frontier sectors such as digital economy, data governance, AI, green technology, and complex supply chains.
25. These areas present unique challenges. Disputes often involve highly technical subject matter, multiple jurisdictions, novel regulatory questions, and rapidly shifting business models.
26. Traditional approaches to arbitration may struggle to keep pace, requiring legal professionals to combine sector-specific expertise with flexible, innovative case management techniques.
27. Singapore and Shenzhen can explore ways to address these challenges collaboratively. We could share best practices, pilot procedural innovations, and conduct joint workshops to equip arbitrators with the skills needed for emerging technical issues.
28. Exchanges between legal institutions and in-house counsel can also ensure that all stakeholders remain up to date with evolving practices and standards. We can immerse our people – lawyers, arbitrators, case managers, in each other’s system.
29. It is not just about learning the technical aspects of each other’s system but also strengthening our people-to-people exchange, where we exchange not just our technical and legal know-how but also share in each other’s culture exchange.
Conclusion
30. On that note, I warmly invite all of you to Singapore Convention Week later this year in August. It is a platform for global dispute resolution to exchange ideas, share experiences, talk about best practices, shape the future of arbitration and dispute resolution, and to embed the thought leadership around it, on resolving disputes in Asia.
31. We would be very pleased to welcome friends from Shenzhen to Singapore, and to continue strengthening the ties between our legal and business communities – in a spirit of openness, trust, and collaboration. These are three key principles on which we have built between SCIA and Singapore over many years and I look forward to continuing with them.
32. Thank you.
Last updated on 29 May 2026