New global mediation body could open in Hong Kong as early as end of 2025

Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung says organisation will ‘elevate’ city’s status as international legal hub and bring other benefits

Reading Time:4 minutes

Legal experts say the new International Organisation for Mediation will be able to handle disputes between states, as well as matters between a state and an individual from another country. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 1:57pm, 25 May 2025Updated: 7:22pm, 25 May 2025

An international mediation body to be inaugurated in Hong Kong and backed by mainland Chinese authorities could open its office as early as the end of this year, a senior official has said.

Legal experts said they expect it to burnish the city’s status as a top jurisdiction to resolve disputes between states amid rising geopolitical tensions.

Deputy Secretary for Justice Horace Cheung Kwok-kwan on Sunday gave an update on the opening schedule for the International Organisation for Mediation, days before China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, was expected to arrive for the signing ceremony of the Convention on the Establishment of the International Organisation for Mediation on May 30.

Cheung said the body’s Hong Kong headquarters, currently under renovation at the site of the old Wan Chai Police Station, could be open by the end of this year or the beginning of 2026.

“It marks the first time an intergovernmental international organisation sets foot in Hong Kong,” Cheung said on social media.

“This will significantly elevate Hong Kong’s international image as a global mediation hub and bring numerous benefits, including enhancements in its economy, political standing, cultural influence and international impact.”

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x