Recently, the Supreme People's Court ("SPC") officially released the Arrangement Concerning Mutual Assistance in Court-ordered Interim Measures in Aid of Arbitral Proceedings by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (the "Arrangement") which was signed by both sides on April 2, 2019 and took effect from October 1, 2019.

The overall purpose of this Arrangement is to equate, in respect of interim measures, the arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong with the Mainland's arbitral proceedings, which enables a party to arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong to file an application for an interim measure with a people's court in the Mainland. Meanwhile, a party to the Mainland's arbitral proceedings may also apply to a court in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) for an injunction or interim measures. The Arrangement provides clarity on the scope of interim measures, the definition of arbitral proceedings in Hong Kong, procedures for applying for interim measures, processing of applications for interim measures, etc. Among others, Article 6 of the Arrangement defines Mainland's arbitral proceedings, under which applications may be filed with the courts of the HKSAR for interim measures, as the arbitral proceedings administered by a Mainland arbitral institution, regardless of whether the places of arbitration are set in the Mainland. The application filed by a party to the arbitral proceedings administered by a Mainland arbitration institution, with a HKSAR court for an interim measure, covers both the preservation claimed during the ongoing arbitral proceedings and the preservation claimed prior to the acceptance of an arbitration application.

(Source: The Supreme People’s Court)