Study on the Effect of Foreign-related Arbitration Agreements on Insurance Subrogation in Chinese Law

Regarding the issue of “whether the arbitration agreement signed between the insured and a third party in property insurance is binding on the insurer” in international disputes, China has not made clear provisions in the law, the basic point that China ’s Supreme People ’s Court hold is that unless the insurer agrees, it is not binding in principle. In November 2019, Article 98 of the “Minutes of Civil and Commercial Trial Work Conference of the National Court” promulgated by the Supreme People s Court of China, provided that although arbitration agreements in domestic cases are recognized as binding on insurance companies, they are not recognized in international cases. Extra-territorial countries and regions generally recognize the effectiveness of the arbitration agreement on the insurer. As a result, in related international trade cases, Chinese court judgment have been refused recognition and enforcement abroad. From the perspectives of the principle of autonomy of private law, interpretation of meaning, system interpretation, similarity of insurance subrogation right and creditor s rights transfer, and the validity of the litigation jurisdiction agreement to the insurer, the arbitration agreement should be deemed to be valid for the insurer.