The Shanghai Municipal Justice Bureau announced on Thursday that the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)'s Shanghai Center for Arbitration and Mediation has been officially established and put into operation.

This is the first business institution set up by an arbitration institution affiliated to an international organization in China, according to the bureau.

Located at Jinmao Tower in Pudong district's Lujiazui financial area, the center will carry out arbitration and mediation of foreign-related IP disputes that take place in China. It can accept and mediate disputes, organize hearings and announce verdicts. It can also provide business consultation and guidance as well as organize business seminars, training, and exchanges.

"The establishment of the center is a milestone for the opening up of China's foreign-related arbitration business to the outside world. It is also a vivid example and best practice to show Shanghai's efforts to build itself into an international highland of IP protection and an arbitration center in the Asia Pacific region," said Lu Weidong, head of the Shanghai Municipal Justice Bureau.

In July, the center successfully arbitrated its first foreign-related IP dispute.

Headquartered in the Switzerland and established in 1994, WIPO specializes in providing arbitration and mediation between parties over their disputes in international business and commerce.