In May 2025, the Shanghai International Commercial Court (SHICC) issued its first investigation order to support a request for interim measures by the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (Shanghai International Arbitration Center, SHIAC). This move represents the first time a Chinese court has assisted in evidence collection for international commercial arbitration through an investigation order, highlighting Shanghai’s efforts to create an arbitration-friendly judicial environment.
The case involves a cross-border data service contract dispute among a Hong Kong company, a foreign company, and a Jiangxi-based company. The arbitral tribunal needed to verify the identity of the transaction representative via a WeChat account to determine the contract’s validity, but was unable to obtain the necessary account registration information, resulting in a deadlock. After the arbitration institution failed to obtain evidence from a third party, the tribunal issued an interim measures decision under the “Arbitration Rules of the SHIAC” (上海国际仲裁中心仲裁规则) and submitted an investigation order application through the Shanghai court’s “one-stop” international commercial dispute resolution platform.
Upon review, the court confirmed that the evidence was relevant and necessary to the case, that the parties and tribunal could not obtain it independently, and that the interim measures complied with procedures. It thus issued the investigation order in accordance with the “Measures of the Shanghai High People’s Court on Issuing Investigation Orders to Assist Arbitration in Evidence Collection (Trial Implementation)” (上海市高级人民法院关于开具调查令协助仲裁调查取证的办法(试行)).
This action implements the 2023 “Regulation of the Shanghai Municipality on Promoting the Initiative for an International Commercial Arbitration Center” (上海市推进国际商事仲裁中心建设条例), which allows arbitral tribunals to submit interim measures requests to courts for review and enforcement. This practice, for the first time, translates the “court assistance in evidence collection” clause in the “UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration” (联合国国际贸易法委员会国际商事仲裁示范法) into domestic judicial procedures. The ruling demonstrates China’s judicial efforts to align with arbitration rules through operational procedures, strengthening support for cross-border commercial dispute resolution.