The closing ceremony of the FDI Moot Shenzhen 2023, hosted by the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), was held on Aug 20 2023.

As the only officially qualified FDI tournament in China, this competition attracted global attention and received support from 25 international organizations and legal institutions, including the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank, the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the Department of Justice of Hong Kong SAR, the Legal Affairs Bureau of Macao SAR government, and the Foreign Affairs Office of Shenzhen Municipal People's Government.

Nearly 300 legal professionals from 46 countries and regions formed a high-level judging team responsible for event evaluation. Distinguished figures such as Zhao Hong, council member of the SCIA and former chair of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Appellate Body (2016-2020), Meg Kinnear, secretary-general of ICSID, Anna Joubin-Bret, secretary-general of the UNCITRAL, and Peter Malanczuk, council member of the SCIA and former dean of the School of Law at City University of Hong Kong, served as judges or guests.

The event was broadcast live internationally over the internet, with over 50,000 viewers online. It also received extensive attention from major TV, newspapers, and online media, including China Daily, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, and Hong Kong Commercial Daily.

In conjunction with the competition, the SCIA, in collaboration with supporting institutions and co-organizing law firms, organized 12 online seminars featuring experts, scholars, and senior practitioners in international investment arbitration.

Additionally, the SCIA, in collaboration with the Futian district of Shenzhen, hosted the "Future Legal Stars" study camp to help young talents in foreign-related legal affairs further understand the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and attract more outstanding talents to join the legal construction of Shenzhen.

The knockout matches and finals of this competition were held offline, with about 100 participating students from major universities across the country and domestic and international experts and scholars gathering at the SCIA Tower in Qianhai, Shenzhen.

After intense competition, the team from Renmin University of China School of Law won the championship this year, followed by the team from Peking University School of Transnational Law as the runner-up and the teams from Tsinghua University and China-EU School of Law of China University of Political Science and Law were third place winners.

The top eight teams of this competition will directly advance to the FDI Moot 2023 global finals; the 9th-12th place teams will advance to the FDI Moot 2023 Asia-Pacific finals to compete for a spot in the global finals with teams from other countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

A group photo was captured during the closing ceremony's award presentation.

Xing Jiabao, a student from Peking University School of Transnational Law, was awarded the "Best Oralist" title for her outstanding on-site performance and solid foundation in international investment arbitration law in this competition.

Twelve students from Peking University School of Transnational Law, Tongji University, China University of Political Science and Law and other universities were awarded the title of "Honorable Mentioned Advocates".

In October 2020, SCIA launched the first FDI Moot Shenzhen, marking the first introduction of the FDI Moot into China and its settlement in Shenzhen, which kicked off the prelude to Shenzhen's Pioneering Demonstration Zone for the establishment of an international investment arbitration hub and helped Shenzhen become a talent highland in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, creating a more globally influential legal and business environment. The SCIA will continue to assist in training young talents in international arbitration, collaborate with the Hong Kong SAR and the Macao SAR, and jointly build an international commercial arbitration center and an international investment joint arbitration hub.

Top 8 Teams:

Champion

Renmin University of China Law School

Runner-up    

Peking University School of Transnational Law

Second Runner-up    

Tsinghua University and China-EU School of Law of China University of Political Science and Law

Other teams entering the top 8 finalists: Beijing Normal University, Shandong University, University of Hong Kong, China University of Political Science and Law.

Other teams entering the top 16 finalists: Peking University, University of International Business and Economics, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shenzhen University, Tongji University, and Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.