From 24-26 November 2017, the first conference of the China-Africa Joint Arbitration Centre (CAJAC) titled “From Vision to Action”, was held in Cape Town, South Africa. CAJAC is an initiative spearheaded by the Chinese Law Society to address the need for a tailor-made, neutral and cost-effective mechanism for resolving commercial disputes between African and Chinese parties, given the increasing trade and investment cooperation between China and African countries. The conference was well-attended by members of arbitral institutions from China, Kenya and South Africa, and arbitration practitioners. Panel discussions centred around the challenges faced by the private sector in dispute resolution, and the expectations of legal practitioners in relation to CAJAC. Discussions are underway to formulate a standard set of CAJAC rules to be used by the five CAJAC centres, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Johannesburg and Nairobi.