The press conference for the launch of the "Guangzhou Standard."

The Guangzhou Arbitration Commission (GZAC) officially released its recommended standards for internet arbitration on Sept 10, which were the first of its kind around the world.

The standard will be shortened to "Guangzhou Standard" according to international conventions.

"GZAC has taken the lead in discovering and optimizing remote court hearings, giving full play to the advantages of internet technologies to bring convenience for both parties involved and the arbitrator," said an expert in civil law.

The expert added that remote court hearings allow people to solve disputes in a timely fashion due to the current COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control measures, greatly supporting the smooth operation of the local economy and society.

GZAC has handled a total of 276 foreign-related cases from August 2019 to August 2020, a year-on-year increase of 48.3 percent, of which nearly 80 percent of these cases were related to countries and regions alongside the Belt and Road.

GZAC established the first generation of its online arbitration platform for internet disputes in 2015 and launched a new platform in October 2019 that integrates online filing, remote court hearings, blockchain storage, and intellectual examinations, reducing the average closing time for a case to within around 20 days.

The "Guangzhou Standard" has now won support and recognition from many arbitration organizations in China and abroad. GZAC has signed memorandums of cooperation with arbitration organizations from 18 countries and regions, such as Singapore, South Korea, Hungary, Egypt, Thailand, and Iran, as well as several domestic ones to promote the "Guangzhou Standard."

"We will strive to keep in line with the highest standards around the world to turn GZAC into a global leading organization to make more contributions to the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Belt and Road," said a person in charge of GZAC.