The first cross-Straits arbitration center was established in the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone in North China’s Fujian province on Dec 29 in order to facilitate business cooperation and investment development in Pingtan, the closest mainland region to Taiwan.

He Rong, vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, said at the opening ceremony that the Arbitration Center across the Straits (ACAS) has a strategic meaning for Pingtan’s efforts to promote rule of law and will help settle cross-Straits civil and commercial disputes and further boost legal cooperation and exchange.

She said that the top court will continue to back up arbitration development by perfecting judicial supervision procedures to ensure it works to resolve disputes in a wider area. She encouraged the center to build a cross-Straits arbitration cooperation mechanism, drawing on Pingtan’s geographic location and preferential policies.

Pingtan is a pilot for cross-Straits cooperation and an economic bridgehead on the west coast of Taiwan.