Lancashire Law School

The Official Launch of the Institute for International

and Comparative Law & International Conference

on

“Rule of Law and Chinese Legal Reforms:

Developments and Prospects”

in Collaboration with the Confucius Institute

Lancashire Law School

University of Central Lancashire

13 May 2015, Preston, UK

Lancashire Law School

Conference Programme

13 May 2015 (Wednesday)

09:30-10:00 Registration

10:00-10:40 Welcome Session

Chair: Professor Keyuan Zou, Harris Professor of International Law, Lancashire Law

School, UCLan, Preston, UK

Panelists:

Ms. Jane Anthony, Dean, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston, UK

Professor Gang Sui, Co-Director, Confucius Institute, UCLan, Preston, UK

Professor Michael Salter, Professor of Law, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston,

UK

10:40-11:00 Photo Session and Coffee break

11:00-12:30 Panel I: Public Dimensions

Moderator: Ms. Jane Anthony

Speakers:

Professor Keyuan Zou, Harris Professor of International Law, Lancashire Law School,

UCLan, Preston, UK

Towards Rule of Law in China: Recent Developments

Dr. Ming Du, Reader, Law School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

Conceptualizing Chinese State-owned Enterprises (SOEs)

Ms. Chunfang Qi, Judge, People’s Court of Gaoyang County, Hebei, China & PhD

Candidate, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston, UK

Judicial Reform in China: Analyzing from the Hugjiltu Case

Discussant:

Ms. Feixia Yu, Director, Confucius Institute, UCLan, Preston, UK

Lancashire Law School

12:30-13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:00 Panel II: Business Dimensions

Moderator: Professor Michael Salter

Speakers:

Dr Xiaohong Wen, Associate Professor, School of Law, Beijing International Studies

University, Beijing, China

Reforming the Trial System for Intellectual Property Cases in China

Dr Lu Xu, Senior Lecturer, Law School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

Land Registration and Property Law in China

Dr Jia Chen, Associate Professor, School of Law, Hebei University, Baoding, China

Numerus Clausus and China’s Legal System Reform of Rural Land: Reflections on

China’s ‘from Pilot to Legislation’ Model

Discussant:

Dr Yanying Su, Associate Professor, School of Law, Hebei University, Baoding, China

15:00-15:15 Coffee/Tea Break

15:15 – 16:45 Panel III: International Dimensions

Moderator: Professor Keyuan Zou

Speakers:

Professor Michael Salter, Professor of Law, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston,

UK

The Rule of Law as a Critical Yardstick within the International Context: Implications

for China

Dr Qianlan Wu, Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies,

University of Nottingham, UK

Economic Security and Competition Law: EU and China’s Experiences

Dr Henrik Andersen, Lecturer, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston, UK

China and the WTO Appellate Body’s Rule of Law

Discussant:

Lancashire Law School

Ms. Yinan Yin, PhD Candidate and Associate Lecturer, Lancashire Law School, UCLan,

Preston, UK

16:45 – 17:00 Wrap-up and Concluding Remarks

Professor Michael Salter

Professor Keyuan Zou

18:00 Dinner

(For chairs, speakers, discussants and invitees only)

End of the Conference

Lancashire Law School

Speakers’ Bios and Abstracts

Henrik Andersen, Lecturer, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston, UK

Brief Bio:

Dr Henrik Andersen is currently Lecturer, Lancashire Law School, UCLan and also

Visiting Lecturer, Copenhagen Business School, Law Department since 2014. He

obtained his PhD from the Copenhagen Business School in 2008. His research areas

include WTO law; International Economic Law; International Rule of Law; Western and

Asian Legal Cultures; Dispute Settlement; and Legal Fragmentation and Constitutional

Pluralism, including values in international law. His latest publications are “Protection

of Non-Trade Values in WTO Appellate Body Jurisprudence: Exceptions, Economic

Arguments, and Eluding Questions “, 18 (2) Journal of International Economic Law,

2015 (forthcoming); “Core Workers’ Rights as Constitutional Principles in the WTO?”

in “Festskrift - Liber Amicarum et Amicorum in Honour of Ruth Nielsen”, Christina

Tvarnø, Ulla Neergaard, Jens Fejø, and Grith Ølykke (eds.) – 2013, DJØF Forlag; and

“EU Safeguards Applications and WTO Law, in “Liberalizing Trade: Comparing the

Experiences of the EU and the WTO”, Sanford Gaines, Birgitte Egelund Olsen, and

Karsten Engsig Sørensen (eds.) – 2012, Cambridge University Press. He is working on a

monograph: “An International Rule of Law in the Context of WTO Appellate Body

Jurisprudence”. He was a visiting scholar in various universities including University of

Westminster, City University of Hong Kong, and European University Institute. He is a

Reviewer for European Law Journal, Modern Law Review, and Journal of Economics

and International Finance.

Presentation Title:

China and the WTO Appellate Body’s Rule of Law

Abstract:

The World Trade Organization is no longer just seen with intergovernmental lenses. Rule

of law is part of the vocabulary of the WTO and is developed by the Appellate Body.

However, the concept of rule of law is a hazy concept with several normative challenges

and it is often associated with Western ways of thinking. This article addresses how

China approaches a rule of law at WTO level as rule of law in a Chinese context has

specific Chinese traits which may not fit into a WTO rule of law and China has a strong

intergovernmental approach to international law. The article claims that China

recognizes a rule of law at WTO level and accepts the methodological approach by the

Appellate Body. However, a WTO rule of law has not been challenged with human

rights issues and it needs further refinement but so far it has served Chinese interests

which might be a reason behind the Chinese approach.

Lancashire Law School

Jia Chen, Associate Professor, School of Law, Hebei University, Baoding, China

Brief Bio:

Dr Jia Chen is currently Associate Professor and LLM Postgraduate Supervisor in Civil

and Commercial Law at the Law Department of the College of Political Science and

Law, Hebei University, China. She works as a specially invited expert for the Legislative

Affairs Office of the People’s Government of Hebei Province, and Secretary-General

and Executive Director of the Hebei Association for Legal Education. She specializes in

Chinese real property law and contract law. Her publications have appeared in Chinese

leading academic journals including Law and Social Development, Studies on Case

Interpretation, China Radio ＆ TV Academic Journal (Analysis on Infringements in

Radio Programs), and Hebei Academic Journal.

Presentation Title:

Numerus Clausus and China’s Legal System Reform of Rural Land: Reflections on

China’s ‘from Pilot to Legislation’ Model

Abstract:

In the past thirty years, the basic mode of Chinese legal system reform of rural land is to

allow or default some administrative areas to attempt legislation and system innovation.

Small social risks and low cost of system compatibility are the advantages of this mode.

But sometimes it is in conflict with the numerus clausus according to Article 5 of the

Real Right Law of the People’s Republic of China. By suspending the implementation of

laws, the decisions made by the 12th Session of the 13th Meeting of the National People’s

Congress Standing Committee authorized the State Council to adjust temporarily the

relevant administrative laws and regulations in 33 pilot counties (city, district) such as

Daxing District, Beijing Municipality. These pilot projects give us some insights on the

solution to this problem. But further efforts are still needed in system improving and law

implementation.

Lancashire Law School

Ming Du, Reader, Law School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

Brief Bio:

Dr Ming Du is a Reader in Law at Lancaster University School of Law. He holds a

DPhil in law from the University of Oxford, an LL.M from Harvard Law School, and a

bachelor of law from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. Prior to moving to the UK

in 2013, he taught corporate law and international economic law in Hong Kong and

practised corporate law in New York. His recent publications include: M. Du (2015),

“Explaining China’s Tripartite Strategy towards the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Agreement”, forthcoming in 18 (2) Journal of International Economic Law; M. Du

(2014), “When China’s National Champions Go Global: Nothing to Fear but Fear itself”,

48 (6) Journal of World Trade, 1127- 1166; and M. Du (2014), “China’s State Capitalism

and World Trade Law”, 63 (2) International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 409-448.

Presentation Title:

Conceptualizing Chinese State-owned Enterprises (SOEs)

Abstract:

State-controlled investment entities, such as state-owned enterprises (SOEs),

development banks, sovereign wealth funds, among many other vehicles of

governmental capital, have taken centre stage in the global economy in recent years. The

recent global financial crisis seems to have further enhanced the appeal of state capital in

contrast to the liberal market model.

However, the rise of state capital has presented a host of challenging questions.

How should we conceptualize Chinese SOEs after their extensive re-structuring and

reforms over the past thirty years: are they part of the government apparatus, or should

they be treated the same as independent private enterprises? A series of recent cases have

clearly shown that there are no straightforward answers to these questions. There is a

general lack of understanding of the nature of SOEs and an ambivalent attitude towards

how to deal with state capital. This presentation will reflect the nature of modern

Chinese SOEs and the problems that they encountered in the business law context.

Lancashire Law School

Chunfang Qi, Judge, People’s Court of Gaoyang County, Hebei, China & PhD

Candidate, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, Preston, UK

Brief Bio:

Chunfang Qi, who got LLM from Peking University, has been working as a grade 1

judge since 2006 in Gaoyang People’s Court, Hebei Province, China. In 2013, she came

to England to become a PhD student at Lancashire Law School, UCLan, but her

judgeship has been still reserved with the Gaoyang People’s Court.

Presentation Title:

Judicial Reform in China: Analyzing from the Hugjiltu Case

Abstract:

This paper will analyse the judicial reform in China under the background of the reform

of the death penalty. This paper will discuss the judicial reform in two aspects. First, it

will focus on the macro perspective. Since the decision in the 3rd Session of the 18th

Congress of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) prescribes

that in order to construct a perfect legal system in China, it is necessary to deepen the

reform of judicial system through which a just, efficient and authoritative socialist

judicial system can be built. The paper will discuss to what extent this system

construction can be achieved.

Second, this paper will analyse the judicial reform from micro empirical

perspective. It will study a concrete case- Hugjiltu’s case to find the reason why the

wrongful case has generated at that particular time and what the debates have been going

over the judicial reform in respect of death penalty in China. It will discuss the old

judicial reform before the media exposure of this case and analyse on how the judicial

reform has made progress after this wrong case was corrected. From this analysis, the

paper will try to discuss what the possible tendency of the judicial reform in relation to

death penalty in China will be in future.

Lancashire Law School

Michael Salter, Professor of Law, Lancashire Law School, UCLan, United Kingdom

Brief Bio:

Professor Salter's most recent research has involved developing a model of regionalism

appropriate to the changing geopolitics of an international order dominated by regional

power-blows or Grossraum, whose de facto sovereignty exceeds the formal state borders

of their leading states' borders, and which require the recognition of different levels of

analysis including intra-Grossraum relations and inter-Grossraum relations. These recent

projects have included collaborative articles with Yinan Yin in the Chinese Journal of

International Law 2015 (1), on the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation as a Grossraum,

and a forthcoming study on the African Union. These studies will soon be supplemented

and gathered together into a research monograph with Ashgate publishers.

Presentation Title:

The Rule of Law as a Critical Yardstick within the International Context: Implications

for China

Abstract:

This paper will outline debates over whether the prevailing liberal mode of the rule of law,

as classically formulated, provides a contextually appropriate standard for critically

assessing developments over governance within China. It argues that there are serious

difficulties in identifying a viable understanding of the meaning, scope and rationale for

this principle both generally and with respect to legal and political systems that have not

arisen from the historically specific context of Western Europe, and its ideological

offshoots - such as the USA. It will also consider whether only - at most - a substantially

modified version of this rule of law model is applicable to the specifics of the Chinese

context: one that takes into account the very different cultural and legal traditions that

prevail in this country, its different constitutional and political systems and political

culture, which in any event will influence the meaning Chinese judges and other

constitutional interpreters give to this principle. It suggests that we considers changing the

ideologically-loaded question of "what does the rule of law doctrine mean for the

governance of China" with an equally polemical question of "how can our understandings

of the rule of law be redefined in the light of the practicalities of securing governance

within China and other states outside the ambit of Western liberalism and neo-liberalism?

Can alternative values internal to the legal and constitutional thinking indigenous to these

cultural traditions, including regional self-determination, the non-intervention of spatially

alien powers and distinctive models of democratisation, be recognised as rivals to the

ideological values associated with the Western model of the rule of law. If so then the rule

of law would continue to operate as a critical yardstick of evaluation but in ways not

beholden to the type of human rights imperialism that overgeneralises European values

with those of "humanity as such."

Lancashire Law School

Xiaohong Wen, Associate Professor, Beijing International Studies University, Beijing,

China

Brief Bio:

Dr Wen is currently Associate Professor at the School of Law and Politics, Beijing

International Studies University, China. She received her B.A. from Inner Mongolia

University of Technology and PhD from Communication University of China. She was

a Visiting Scholar at the McGeorge School of Law, University of Pacific, and School of

Law, University of California, Davis. Her research interest lies in communications law

and policy, intellectual property law, and especially the issue of Internet copyright.

Presentation Title:

Reforming the Trial System for Intellectual Property Cases in China

Abstract:

Starting in November 2014, significant reforms took place for the trial system of

intellectual property cases in China. Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have set up

specialized courts for intellectual property cases. Civil and administrative cases relating

to intellectual property will be tried in these courts. Relevant provisions regarding the

jurisdiction of the courts are conducive to the unification of the standards for justice.

The judgments in the "Qiong Yao v. Yu Zheng" and "Ni Xueli v. CCTV" cases indicate

that China has taken unprecedented measures to improve the judicial protection of

intellectual property. However, there are so many intellectual property cases on the one

hand, and there is the lack of legal professionalism for some judges on the other. In such

circumstances, China is facing many challenges as how to implement the reform of the

trial system of intellectual property effectively in future.

Lancashire Law School

Qianlan Wu, Assistant Professor, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University

of Nottingham, UK

Brief Bio:

Dr. Qianlan Wu is an assistant professor in Law in the school of Contemporary Chinese

studies, University of Nottingham. Her main research area is on international

competition laws and China. Dr. Wu is the author of the book on Competition Laws,

Globalization and Legal Pluralism: China’s Experiences published by Hart Publishing,

Oxford in 2013. Dr. Wu holds a LLM from the University of Edinburgh and PhD in law

from the LSE.

Presentation Title:

Economic Security and Competition Law: EU and China’s Experiences

Abstract:

The EU played an influential role in shaping the design of China’s Antimonopoly Law

(AML) and continues to function as one main reference framework for Chinese

competition authorities in the AML enforcement. However, in recent years, China has

become more assertive in its merger regulation and is building up its own conceptual

framework for competition regulation. This can be observed in the fact that the AML is

expected to be used as a legal instrument to curb China’s economic security, as one

integral part of China’s national security. The paper aims to compare EU Commission

merger decisions on China national Blustar, PetroChina, and DMS/Sinochem, where

Chinese state owned enterprise were parties to the proposed merger on the one hand, and

Chinese Ministry of Commerce decision to prohibit Network shipping alliance between

Maersk Line, Mediterranean Shipping Company and CMA-CGM on the ground of

economic security in 2014 on the other hand. It aims to compare the understanding of

economic security and its application in competition regulation in EU and China. It then

attempts to assess to what extent China has developed its own conceptual framework for

its AML enforcement, by developing the Chinese economic security rationale for the

AML, in the context of global competition laws.

Lancashire Law School

Lu Xu, Senior Lecturer, Law School, Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK

Brief Bio:

Dr Lu Xu is currently a Senior Lecturer in Property Law at Lancaster University. Prior

to that, he was Lecturer in Property Law at University of East Anglia between 2007 and

2014. He graduated from Shanghai Foreign Language School before coming to the

United Kingdom. He attained BA (Hons) Law 1st Class from Robert Gordon University,

LLM in Property Law with Distinction from University of Aberdeen, and PhD in law

from University of Strathclyde. His PhD thesis was on the comparative studies of

English and Scottish apartment ownership law. He has the Legal Profession

Qualification Certificate from China, through passing the National Judicial Examination.

His main research interests are in property law, including land registration, subsidiary

interests, and apartment ownership.

Presentation Title:

Land Registration and Property Law in China

Abstract:

The Interim Regulation on Real Property Registration, issued by the State Council of the

People’s Republic of China, came into force on March 1st 2015. This Regulation should

be an important milestone in establishing a national system of real property registration.

Nevertheless the high-profile political move is still lacking in terms of details and rules

(which is still in public consultation stage until 25th April 2015). More importantly there

is no clear direction as to the role of property law in relation to the apparently imminent

structure of real property registration. The key question, namely whether parties can rely

on the register in their decisions and transactions involving real property, remains

unanswered. The absence of legal principle in this regard will have serious implications

when registration becomes an integral part of the law and practice of real property.

Where comparative knowledge could help with formulating rules in a new system,

this paper reflects on the approaches to the issue by different jurisdictions with a

particular focus on the recently reformed Scottish system, and the English system in the

midst of heated debate of fundamental principles. Whatever approach the Chinese

system develops in the end, it is more helpful to have careful consideration and

principled discussion now rather than leaving key questions unanswered before

venturing into uncharted waters.

Lancashire Law School

Keyuan Zou, Harris Professor of International Law, Lancashire Law School, UCLan,

United Kingdom

Brief Bio:

Keyuan Zou is Harris Professor of International Law at the Lancashire Law School of

the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan), United Kingdom. He specializes in

international law, in particular law of the sea and international environmental law.

Before joining UCLan, he worked at Dalhousie University (Canada), Peking University

(China), University of Hannover (Germany) and National University of Singapore.

He has published over 60 refereed English papers in more than 30 international

journals. His single-authored books include Law of the Sea in East Asia: Issues and

Prospects (London/New York: Routledge, 2005), China’s Marine Legal System and the

Law of the Sea (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff, 2005), China’s Legal Reform: Towards

the Rule of Law (Leiden/Boston: Martinus Nijhoff, 2006), and China-ASEAN Relations

and International Law (Oxford: Chandos, 2009). His recent co-edited volumes include

International Law in East Asia (Ashgate, 2011), and Conflict Management and Dispute

Settlement in East Asia (Ashgate, 2011).

He is member of Editorial Boards of the International Journal of Marine and

Coastal Law (Martinus Nijhoff), Ocean Development and International Law (Taylor &

Francis), Journal of International Wildlife Law and Policy (Taylor & Francis), Journal

of Territorial and Maritime Studies (Northeast History Foundation), Copenhagen

Journal of Asian Studies (Copenhagen Business School), and Chinese Journal of

International Law (Oxford University Press), and Advisory Boards of the Chinese

Oceans Law Review (Hong Kong: China Review Culture Limited), Global Journal of

Comparative Law (Brill) and Korean Journal of International & Comparative Law

(Brill).

Presentation Title:

Towards Rule of Law in China: New Developments and Prospects

Abstract:

Rule of Law has become a popular jargon in the Chinese society particularly since the

adoption of the Third Amendment to the Chinese Constitution in 1999. There are several

reasons to explain why China has determined to carry out legal reforms towards rule of

law. First, since the economic reform and open-door policy in 1978, the Chinese society

has experienced a fundamental change either in economic developments or in the

reconstruction of the legal system. As China has been marching towards establishing a

market economy, law is indispensable for the development of the Chinese

market-oriented economy. It is commonly said that a market economy is a rule of law

economy. Second, the requirements from the World Trade Organization (WTO)

constitute another main factor for the change of China’s legal environment and law

Lancashire Law School

enforcement mentality and methods. As a WTO member, China has to bring its relevant

laws and regulations in line with those of the WTO. Those administrative rules and

regulations which are in conflict with WTO rules have to be revised and/or abolished.

The WTO effect is fundamental to the change of Chinese laws at present and in the years

to come. Finally, the change of the Chinese leadership may have some impact on the

furtherance of the legal reform and the enhancing of the legal awareness within the

Chinese society. It is recalled that Hu Jintao, before he took over all the top posts from

Jiang Zemin, emphasized the importance of abiding by the Constitution and called for

all the cadres to respect its legal authority on the occasion of commemorating the

implementation of the 1982 Constitution for twenty years in December 2002. The

current Chinese leader Xi Jinping has called for the construction of a rule of law country

in China. It is clear that legal reforms towards rule of law are one of the primary

missions for the current Chinese leadership.