The Sino-Finnish collaboration has grown from strength to strength through common efforts and shared goals. The latest manifestation of this growing cooperation is the joint publication “Rule of Law Development and Judicial Reform: A Comparison between China and Finland“, edited by Professors Li Lin, Xie Zengyi and Ulla Liukkunen.
Nevertheless, this book should not be viewed merely as a collection of seminars papers, but rather a reflection of a shared interest in drawing legal comparison in the connection between different fields of substantive law.
“Climate Law in Finland and China: Outlines of European and Chinese climate change mitigation and energy efficiency regulation” Jenny Rontu, Sara Kymenvaara, Ari Ekroos (Eds.), Aalto University publication series Science + Technology 6/2015.
This book aims to present an outline of climate change legislation and policy in both Finland and China. The focus is predominantly on policy and legislation concerning mitigation of climate change. Although climate legislation is extensive and it is developing fast, this volume covers its most important parts and is definitely a unique and up-to-date comparison of climate change policy and legislation in China.
The publication is divided into five parts: overall view of climate change policy and legislation in China and Finland, emission trading schemes, renewable energy policy and legislation, energy efficiency regulation, and carbon capture and storage regulation.
Professor Qin Tianbao and Professor Ari Ekroos at the Climate Law Seminar held on 10 June 2015
The book has been presented during the project’s closing seminar on 10th June 2015. The seminar brought once again together the Finnish and Chinese researchers composing the research team, as well as scholars and practitioners working in the field of environmental law. The in-depth discussion was a continuation of the previous seminars and workshop held in Wuhan, Helsinki, Tallinn and Kaifeng. Although the project came to an end, all participants consider the importance of furthering comparative research in the field of climate law.
Kluwer INSIGHTreports that within few weeks after publication,“China and ILO Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work” is the best selling Kluwer’s title!
Although China is not new to labour law – it was among the founders of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1919 – labour conditions in China today are the subject of concern to observers both inside China and in the international community. In response, China has devoted much attention recently to reforming its labour law system, a process driven by a political reorientation towards labour protection in the context of economic globalization. However, labour disputes and labour unrest continue to proliferate. Using as its starting point an international research seminar held at Helsinki University in January 2013, this volume gathers a remarkable array of academic perspectives on China and its legal system by scholars from China, the United States, and Europe into a stimulating and unique combination of commentary and analysis of the challenges relating to implementation of fundamental labour rights as spelled out in the landmark 1998 ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work in the Chinese setting. Importantly, the analysis fully takes into account action in relation to the promotion of labour rights by not only the Chinese government but local governmental authorities, trade unions, enterprises, and other actors. Each author focuses on a different aspect of how these fundamental labour rights operate in the Chinese legal environment and the kinds of obstacles met in their protection. Among the issues that arise are the following:
gaps between ILO conventions and Chinese national laws occurring in the transformation of international obligations into domestic laws;
how parties to a labour dispute cases may invoke ILO conventions before courts or administrative authorities;
market obstacles caused by linking trade with observance of labour standards;
the trade union rights framework in China;
bottom-up pressures from workers’ collective action;
conflicts between Chinese state-owned enterprises and their employees;
complications in informal employment labour relations;
the growing divide between statute law and legal practice;
implementation of the anti-discrimination law;
discrimination due to China’s household registration system; and
corporate social responsibility.
Many of the challenges relating to implementation of fundamental labour rights discussed in this volume can be considered common to many countries. The book offers new research questions and a wider scope of analysis, and also provides new tools for discussion regarding the promotion of fundamental labour rights. In that sense, this volume relates not only to research on labour issues in China but also to global research concerned with an increasingly pressing challenge of our time. For these reasons, it will be of tremendous value to academics in labour law, trade law and comparative law, and greatly useful to practitioners in these fields.
University of Helsinki
