The second Shanghai Commercial Mediation Debate Competition took place between November 6 to November 23, 2022, where twenty teams from fourteen universities in Shanghai competed in both Chinese and English. Fudan University Law School took home the championship in the English debate final. The second debater Yu Yunke (LLB’ 25) was awarded the Outstanding Debater Award. The Fudan team competing in the Chinese debate advanced to the second round, where Zhang Haoshen (JM’ 24) earned the Outstanding Debater Award.

Students from Fudan University Law School began preparing for the competition in early September following a fierce team selection process. The Chinese team consisted of Fang Zhenyu (JM’ 24), Li Lei (JM’ 24), Zhang Haoshen (JM’ 24), Sha Tong (LLB’ 24), Zhou Yongjian (LLB’ 25), Chen Jiayue (LLB’ 25), coached by Dr Liu Guiqiang. The English team consisted of Xu Cenyu (LLB’ 24, 1st debater), Yu Yunke (LLB’ 25, 2nd debater) and Chen Lingyun (LLB’ 25, 3rd debater), along with Fan Muzi (JM’ 25, researcher) and Yu Bizhen (JM’ 25, researcher), coached by Dr Liu Lu (assisted by Li Ruoqing LLM’24). Both teams were coordinated by Professor Chen Li and received guidance from Professor Lu Zhi'an, Associate Professor Chen Li and Dr Liu Yang.

The English team placed first in the preliminary round debating on the role of commercial mediators, making their way to the final with their fellow debaters from East China University of Political Science and Law. At the final round, the two teams engaged in heated exchange of views on whether settlement agreements under Singapore Convention on Mediation should be subject to judicial review by local courts. Team Fudan bested the opposition arguing for the necessity of judicial review, emphasizing the specific conditions and judicial practice in China.

After winning the competition last year, the team of Fudan University Law School has made another great achievement this year. Fudan University Law School will continue to support its students to participate in moot court and debate competitions both at home and abroad, aspiring to train future legal professionals with a solid legal background, international perspective and knowledge of international rules for China.