Other Research Projects

Below are examples of other research projects involving Chinese law at the Center’s member institutions:

Transnational Labour Governance and Posted Workers

During 2016-2019, Ulla Liukkunen, Professor of Labour Law and Private International Law at the University of Helsinki and Director of the Finnish China Law Center and Yifeng Chen, Associate Professor at Peking University Law School and Assistant Director of the Peking University Institute of International Law led a research project on “Transnational Labour Governance and Posted Workers”.

The economic globalization had made transnational movement of workers a growing phenomenon. Such a “delocalization” or “transnationality” of posted workers had brought much regulatory challenges for protection and enforcement of labour rights. The project offered a comparative study of the regulatory frameworks between China and EU on posted workers, and to certain extent, migrant workers. Through conceptualizing “transnationality”, the project aimed to develop a general approach for possible transnational recognition and enforcement of labour rights.

Publications

Ulla Liukkunen and Yifeng Chen (2019) Enclave Governance and Transnational Labor Law: A Case Study of Chinese Workers on Strike in African. Nordic Journal of International Law 88(4): 558-586.

EU-CN Comparative Study on Protection of Trade Secrets

Between 2016 and 2017, Hanken School of Economics, Department of Account and Commercial Law hosted the Academy of Finland-funded research project “EU-CN Comparative study on protection of trade secrets” led by Nari Lee, Professor intellectual property at Hanken School of Economics.

The project aimed to improve the general protection of trade secrets and confidential information in the course of trade and to enable the adequate level of protection in practice through adjudication of cases concerning misappropriation of trade secret, including trade secret thefts. So, this study compared trade secret protection in China, USA, and Europe with a view to allowing decision-makers to conduct informed judgment about the policy issues and the positions to be taken vis à vis the ongoing legislative reforms in China.

Publications

Nari Lee and Wushuang Huang (2017) Study on Trade Secret Protection in Europe, US and China. EUIPO European Union Intellectual Property Office.

The Rise of China and Normative Transformation in the Arctic Region

During 2018-2021, the Arctic Centre at the University of Lapland hosts the research project ‘The Rise of China and Normative Transformation in the Arctic Region’ led by Dr Sanna Kopra. The project was awarded €237,970.00 by the Academy of Finland.

The research not only addressed China’s interests and activities in the Arctic, but also investigates the normative transformation those activities may support or initiate in the Arctic region. The project asked, with China’s growing role in the area, what kind of impacts it could have in the normative framework in the Arctic, what kind of norms China wanted to promote or not to promote in the regional, and how the existing governance framework, particularly the Arctic Council, had addressed China’s involvement in the region. The project’s key concept was the notion of responsibility. Thus, it also examined China’s notion of responsibility in the Arctic, whether it is deferred from the one formulated by other Arctic players, especially the eight Arctic states, and whether there is some normative discourse or differentiation between the non-Arctic states and Arctic states, etc.

Publications:

FORK- Fraud-Free Food and Regulatory Know-How

The University of Eastern Finland hosts the research project FORK – Fraud-Free Food and Regulatory Know-How (2019-2023). The project received the funding of 479,724 euros from the Academy of Finland. The FORK project seeks to address the trends of power consumerism, personalized nutrition services, and digitalization of food commerce by developing better regulation for a modified food chain. It is partnered with the project FFF – Fighting Food Frauds regarding Foods with Intentionally Added Pharmaceutical Products, funded by the Chinese State Administration for Market Regulation (2019-2022). The FFF-project aims to identify patterns of food fraud in China and seek solutions by examining the experiences of other jurisdictions.

The project is led by Katja Weckstrom, Professor of Commercial Law at the University of Eastern Finland Law School.

China’s Arctic policy and changing security dynamics in the Arctic

The project examines the changes caused by China’s increasing presence in the Arctic and its implications for Finland’s national defense and to the global balance of powers. The project also aims to recognise opportunities for regional cooperation to balance the security implications of China’s presence in the region.  

Climate change is playing part in China’s increasingly growing interest in the Arctic as it is putting more natural resources within reach. This brings new economic opportunities for the countries and local actors in the region, but also new causes for concern, for example in the field of environmental protection, human rights, and exercise of power. 

There have been no previous systematic studies on the effects of China’s Arctic presence on Finland or other Nordic countries’ security-policy situations. 

The project is led by Dr Sanna Kopra from 01 November 2021 to 31 October 2022. The project received €40,000 from Maanpuolustuksen kannatussäätiö.