Peking University, Mar. 12, 2017: On Mar. 4, The Willem C.Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Beijing Pre-Moot was officially heldat Beijing International Arbitration Center. Teams from the PKU School of Transnational Law (STL)bested other teams in the fierce competition. Team Vis Vienna outperformed all the other domestic teams to win the competition, and Team Vis East won the national second prize.

This year, the moot court competition was sponsored and held jointly by the Chinese Initiative on International Law, Beijing Arbitration Commission, International Chamber of Commerce for Young Arbitrators, and Young Chinese Arbitration Group. Schools which have traditionally achieved outstanding results in the international Vis Moot were participating in the competition. The competition provided intense training in legal writing and oral advocacy, and helped to augment skills. Faculty coaches worked closely with each moot court team to guide learning and instruct competing. The coach for Vis Vienna was John H.Aycock, and the coach for Vis East was Yi Seul Kim. There were three students on each team. The competition consisted of three stages: round robin, knockout round, and final. It is worth mentioning that Cai Jinlan from Vis Vienna was awarded best debater in the knockout round, and Qin Shijie, also from Vis Vienna, was awarded best debater in the final.

Except of the help from the coaches, professional lawyers from Gao Weikun Law Firm and Zhong Lun Law Firm had provided the participants with great instructions as well. Concentrating on trending International topics, the lawyers gave guidance to students from STL and encouraged them to have debates on these topics in due contexts. The debating topic for this year was expanded from a trade dispute about aircraft engine blades, which involved many innovative issues such as international exchange rate, currency regulation, the power of the arbitral tribunal and other topics that required the ability of contract interpretation and a comprehensive understanding of the arbitration system.

Qin Shijie, member of Vis Vienna, said that it was the instructions from coaches and professional lawyers and the cooperation between teammates that led to the glorious triumph. Moreover, it also owed to the profound understanding of legal systems which was cultivated by the strict training of STL.

Written by: ZhongYaoqiong
Edited by: Xu Liangdi
Source: PKU News