Author: Iina M Tornberg

 

Welcome to the lectures by Professor, Liu Zuoxiang.

Professor Liu Zuoxiang is the Director of the Institute of Rule of Law and Human Rights, Shanghai Normal University, College of Philosophy, Law and Political Sciences. He is also the Vice director of Jurisprudence Institute of Chinese Law Society; Member of branch of Chinese IVR .

 

Chinese Structure of Social Order in a Period of Transformation 

Time: 17^th May 2017 at 2.15 pm-3.45 pm

Venue: Porthania Building, University of Helsinki, fifth floor, room P 545

Discussant:

Kangle Zhang, Research Fellow, Erik Castrén Institute

Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaca, Postdoctoral Researcher, Erik Castrén Institute

After China advanced in 1996 the strategy of the rule of the country entitled “administering the country according to law and constructing a socialist country under the rule of law”, which was officially confirmed by the constitutional amendment in 1999, the issue of what kind of social order and structure pattern the Chinese society should undertake became a focus of academic debate in China for some time. Chinese scholars from the discipline of anthropology, sociology, cultural studies and legal studies have challenged the orthodoxy theory of rule of law in China. Professor Liu Zuoxiang’s talk on the “Chinese Structure of Social Order in a Period of Transformation” will discuss the disciplinary perspectives, their differences, and varying conceptions of the contemporary Chinese social order. Afterwards, Professor Liu Zuoxiang will introduce his research on the topic, focusing on the following issues:

Ⅰ. Rule of Li Order—Main Characteristics of the Traditional Chinese Social Order Structure

Ⅱ. Pluralistically Mixed Order—Main Characteristics of the Chinese Social Order Structure in the Period of transformation

Ⅲ. Chinese Scholars’ Views on State Law and Non-governmental Law

1. How to treat the rural society in contemporary China: reality uncovered by a case study
2. The focus of issues and conclusion

 

 

The Relationship between the Party Regulations and National Laws

Time: 30^th may 2017 at 13.15 pm-14.45 pm

Venue: Porthania Building, University of Helsinki, fifth floor, room P 545

Discussant:

Kangle Zhang, Research Fellow, Erik Castrén Institute

In recent years, there is a new research focus in Chinese law field, along with some theoretical confusion: Party Regulations and National Laws. Such confusions are mainly manifested in the viewpoints of some Chinese scholars. Some scholars hold that the party constitution, the party rules and regulations should be considered as an integral part of law, the party constitution is the “unwritten constitution” of China, and the party regulations have been playing the role of law in effect.  There are also scholars who proposed that the party rules itself is already a constituent part of law.  So whether there is a boundary between the party regulations and national law or not?

While a lot of debates has centered on whether the party regulations have legal attributes, the fourth plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee did not adopt this proposition. The session put forward that the general target of comprehensively implementing the fundamental principle of the rule of law is to “form the socialist system of laws with Chinese Characteristics and build a socialist country under the rule of law”.  The “socialist system of laws with Chinese Characteristics” is distributed into five aspects as following: “form a complete system of laws and regulations, a highly effective system to ensure the rule of law is put into effect, a stringent system to oversee the implementation of the rule of law, and a robust system to guarantee the rule of law; put in place a well-defined system of Party rules and regulations.”  It can be seen from these five systems that the first one is the system of laws and regulations and the fifth is the system of Party rules and regulations. This illustrates the fourth plenary session did not agree to regard the party rules as a part of the system of laws and regulations.  There is no need to describe them separately if the party regulations are seen as the component part of law.  However, the decision of the fourth plenary session did not patch up these arguments, the proposition about “the legal nature of party rules” is still in dispute.  Especially after the party regulations were brought into the system of the rule of law, some scholars simply think that the party rules are a constituent part of law.

Professor Liu Zuoxiang will introduce his research on the relationship between the Party Regulations and National Laws.

 

Prof. Dr. Jieming Liu, Vice Dean of the School of Humanity and Law of Wuhan University of Technology（WUT), and Deputy Director of  Hubei Intellectual Property Right (IPR) Research Center and WUT IPR Research Center, held a specialist lecture at Hanken School of Economics, one of the Finnish China Law Center’s Member Institutions, on June 6, 2016. Prof. Dr. Jieming Liu is a Chinese National IPR Specialist and Chinese National Leading Talent of Patent Information. He started his IPR related research and teaching in 2005, and has gained since extensive experience in the field of IPR, especially in the IPR law and policy, and IPR management of enterprises.

 

 

 

 

Prof. Dr. Jieming Liu’s lecture covered current laws and policies on patent implementation, license and transfer in China. He underlined that China has taken an active approach to IPR questions. Prof. Dr. Jieming Liu noted that China’s IP system continues to evolve. More attention is paid to emerging practical problems. Prof. Dr. Jieming Liu brought up the broad prospects the development of IP and IP service industry in China have. He noted that the patent transformation and operation continue to develop rapidly. A particular focus of the lecture was on the 4th Amendment to the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China  (not yet in force) and the Amendment of the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Promoting the Transformation of Scientific and Technological Amendment (Amendment of 2015).

 

 

 

 

During his visit in Finland, Prof. Dr. Jieming Liu completed and published his monograph “Conflicts and Coordination Mechanisms of Intellectual Property among Supply Chain Enterprises 《供应链企业知识产权冲突与协调机制研究》”.

 

For more information about the book, please contact, Vice Dean, Associate Professor Liu Jieming, locus2003 (at) hotmail.com.

 

Prof. Dr. Renwen Liu, Director of the Criminal Law Department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, held a fascinating specialist lecture at the Finnish China Law Center on February 15. The presentation covered many current issues in criminal law from the Chinese perspective, including developments in death penalty regulations, food security, cybercrime and environmental protection.

 

The burning question of death penalty was discussed in great detail. Prof. Liu pointed out that the number of death penalty crimes has been notably reduced. Amendments in law as well as changes in the attitudes of adjudicators has led to a more lenient criminal policy. For instance, in the past decade the number of annual death sentences has been reduced by half. According to Prof. Liu, in the future this form of punishment will be limited even further to only severe criminals convicted for the crime of murder.

The lecture also dealt with the changes in anticorruption law. Prof. Liu introduced the newly established life imprisonment system for corrupt officials. The system excludes the possibility to commute the sentence and denies the possibility of parole. Prof. Liu specified that the system was created in response to public opinion. Formerly high ranking officials have often been released illegally back into the community, causing discontent amongst the population. The new model of life imprisonment mitigates this problem. On the other hand, Prof. Liu mentioned that the corruption threshold was increased from 5,000 CNY (approx. 680 euros) to 30,000 CNY (approx. 4,100 euros). This amendment has faced criticism as it contradicts with China’s zero-tolerance policy towards corruption.

In addition, the issues of terrorism and cybercrime as well as environmental pollution and food and drug safety were discussed during the presentation. The overall view was that Chinese criminal law was becoming more gentle and humane, and the threshold for the definition of crime against the environment has come down.

 

 

After the inspiring lecture by Prof. Liu, a variety of good questions were posed, and Prof. Liu presented extended answers. During the discussion, similarities between the Chinese and Finnish criminal laws were examined. For instance, the challenges of the impact of public opinion on criminal justice policy in the era of populism were explored. The enthusiastic audience included academics, representatives of both courts and ministries as well as students.

 

The Finnish China Law Center wishes you a Prosperous and Happy Chinese New Year 2017, the Year of the Rooster!

 

祝大家在鸡年大吉大利！

身体健康，事业有成！

幸福快乐，万事大吉！

 

 

 

Aalto University and Tongji University have signed an agreement to establish a new college, Shanghai International College of Design and Innovation (Shanghai D&I). This college will start operating in fall 2017.

Shanghai D&I forms a part of the Tongji University, with which Aalto University has closely cooperated for several years. Already in May 2010, the partners joined forces and opened the Aalto-Tongji Design Factory at the Tongji Campus which now operates as Sino-Finnish Center. Tongji University is among China’s 15 best universities and the leading one, for instance, in the field of architecture as well as and urban and regional planning.

Aalto University and Tongji University have been developing a curriculum based on Aalto’s current high-quality master programmes. These programmes will include International Design Business Management, Creative Sustainability, Collaborative and Industrial Design and Aaltonaut, a multidisciplinary minor subject. Aalto University will produce approximately one-third of Shanghai D&I’s teaching content. Turkka Keinonen, Head of Aalto University Department of Design, notes that the intention is to expand the cooperation later also to research in addition to teaching.

According to Tuula Teeri, President of Aalto University the new college will bring along better opportunities for international cooperation for the Aalto University students and staff. The goals of Shanghai D&I are set high. It aspires to become the centre of design and innovation. Professor Lou Yongqi, Dean of Shanghai D&I emphasizes Shanghai’s potential as a laboratory for new models of higher education in the field of design and innovation.

See the news on Aalto University’s website for further information.