Arbitration is generally a system in which the parties voluntarily submit their disputes to an arbitration tribunal composed of unofficial arbitrators for arbitration according to the arbitration agreement concluded by both parties and are bound by arbitration. Arbitration activities, like court trial activities, are related to the substantive rights and interests of the parties and are one of the ways to solve civil disputes.

The scope of application of arbitration refers to which disputes can be resolved through arbitration and which disputes cannot be resolved through arbitration. This is what we usually call "arbitrability of disputes".

According to Article 2 of the Arbitration Law, "contract disputes and other property rights disputes between citizens, legal persons and other organizations with equal subjects may be arbitrated".

Three principles are defined here: first, the parties to a dispute must be civil subjects, including domestic and foreign legal persons, natural persons and other legal person organizations with independent subject qualifications; Second, the disputed matters in arbitration should be matters that the parties have the right to dispose of; Third, the scope of arbitration must be contract disputes and other property rights disputes.

Contract disputes refer to disputes arising from the conclusion or performance of various economic contracts by both parties in economic activities, including domestic economic contract disputes, intellectual property disputes, real estate contract disputes, futures and securities trading disputes, insurance contract disputes, loan contract disputes, bill disputes, mortgage contract disputes, transportation contract disputes, maritime disputes between legal persons and natural persons with equal subjects at home and abroad, and foreign-related disputes involving Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan provinces.

Other property disputes mainly refer to disputes caused by infringement, which are more common in the fields of product quality responsibility and intellectual property rights.

There are two types of disputes that cannot be arbitrated:

1. Disputes over marriage, adoption, guardianship, support and inheritance cannot be arbitrated. Although these disputes are civil disputes, they also involve property rights disputes to varying degrees. However, these disputes often involve the identity relationship that the parties themselves can't freely dispose of, and need the judgment of the court or the ruling of the government, which is not within the jurisdiction of the arbitration institution.

2. Administrative disputes cannot be decided. Administrative disputes, also known as administrative disputes, refer to disputes between state administrative organs, or between state administrative organs and enterprises, institutions, social organizations and citizens due to administrative management. Foreign laws stipulate that such disputes should be resolved through administrative reconsideration or administrative litigation according to law.