Hong Kong stepping up as international arbitration hub, deputy justice secretary says

Hong Kong is stepping up its game as an international arbitration hub while pushing forward to help mainland Chinese companies go global with its professional services, the city’s deputy justice secretary has said.Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan on Tuesday described Hong Kong as an “indispensable bridge” between China and the world, while the head of a key government legal body in Indonesia said Singapore remained the more “famous” arbitration hub.Cheung was speaking alongside Andry Indrady, the Head of the Law Policy Strategy Agency at Indonesia’s Ministry of Law, at the China-morning-post" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="12558" data-entity-type="organization">South China Morning Post’s China Conference Southeast Asia 2026 in Jakarta on Tuesday.“No matter if you are an Indonesian company or Asean company looking into the China market, or a Chinese company venturing into the Southeast Asia market, Hong Kong is an irreplaceable bridge,” Cheung said.During the discussion, Cheung noted that Hong Kong was doing “very well” in terms of international arbitration, a key strategic priority for the city in recent years.He said Hong Kong was the most preferred city in Asia for arbitration and second globally. Many arbitrators from the UK come to Hong Kong to practise, he added.