Mr. Cao specializes in commercial arbitration and litigation. He has represented both Chinese and foreign clients in over a hundred commercial arbitration and litigation cases before domestic and overseas arbitral tribunals as well as PRC courts at various levels including the Supreme People's Court. In addition, Mr. Cao was an associate professor of the University of International Business and Economics. He was a visiting scholar at Queen’s University in Canada from 1984 to 1985. He was also a visiting scholar of the Law School, Loyola University, from 1990 to 1991. From 2002 to 2003, he was appointed as an external legal practitioner expert for the ‘Master Lawyer Practical Training’ programme at the Law School of Tsinghua University; from March 2003 to January 2005, he served as an adjunct mentor for master's degree students in law at the Law School of Peking University; in 2015, he was appointed as an expert at the International Commercial and Investment Arbitration Research Base of the Fourth Civil Division of the Supreme People's Court and the International Commercial and Investment Arbitration Research Centre of the University of International Business and Economics.

Professional Philosophy: Hold the law in awe, take pride in my profession, cherish trust, and never forget my why.

As a senior arbitrator of CIETAC, Mr. Cao has adjudicated hundreds of arbitration cases throughout almost thirty years. He acted as the presiding arbitrator in most of such cases, and has been highly respected for his professionalism. A number of the cases that Mr. Cao presided were of pervasive influence and selected by CIETAC as exemplary cases. 

He has served as a mediator since the establishment of CCPIT/CCOIC Mediation Center and the US-China Business Mediation Center. He presided over the first successfully mediated case administered by US-China Business Mediation Center. The case involved disputes arising from a service agreement between a US-based Fortune Global 500 enterprise and a large France-based advertisement company. 

Note: Due to health reasons, Mr. Cao has not directly represented clients in arbitration or litigation cases since 2007.