I Introduction

Globalisation has led to the boom of cross-border trade, which has, in turn, resulted in an enormous increase in international commercial disputes.3 For a long time, international arbitration has served as the primary approach to settling international commercial disputes due largely to its merits in neutrality and flexibility.4 However, the other side of the coin is that international arbitration has considerable weaknesses, such as high costs and the lack of effective sanctions during the arbitral process.5 Against this backdrop, international commercial courts have mushroomed throughout the world over recent years, aiming to combine the advantages of litigation and arbitration to provide “tailor-made procedures” for cross-border commercial dispute resolution.6