University of Helsinki
The 11th Annual General Conference of the European China Law Studies Association (ECLS) was held at the Faculty of Law of the Roma TRE University in Rome, Italy, from 22 to 24 September 2016. The Conference has attracted more than 120 participants from different corners of the world. Twenty parallel panels were organized and more than six presentations were arranged at the conference.
The main theme of this year’s conference focused on the rule of law, legal reform, foreign investment and human rights development in China. In the keynote speech, Rector of the University of Turin, Professor Giammaria Ajani, gave an introduction of the development of Chinese law study Italy. As the business connection between Italy and China increases, there have been more and more China-related teaching and research activities and cooperation between Italian and Chinese educational institutions. Professor Ajani also discussed the future of China’s rule-of-law development within the context of current political environment. While there has been some roll-back on Chinese legal reform, Professor Ajani has noted some signs of positive development, especially in capital market regulation.
Director of the Finnish China Law Center, Professor Ulla Liukkunen and postdoc researcher Zhang Yihong attended the conference and exchanged ideas with conference participants.