SINO-NORDIC LEGAL COLLABORATION GROWS WITH ANNUAL SINO-FINNISH RESEARCH DAYS IN NORDIC CENTRE, FUDAN UNIVERSITY 复旦大学芬兰科研日

The annual Sino-Finnish Days, held at the Nordic Center in Fudan University, represented yet another important initiative in a year marked by a growing number of legal research and education activities between China and the Nordic countries.

The two day conference provided a platform for Chinese and Finnish researchers to meet and share perspectives on areas of common interest.

The themes of this year’s conference, held on 24 and 25 October, were children and youth, education, environment and public health.

Associate Professor Suvianna Hakalehto, one of Finland’s leading scholars of child law and education law, was a member of the large Finnish delegation.

Based in the Faculty of Law of the University of Eastern Finland, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, Professor Hakalehto gave a presentation titled ‘From Social Problem to Rights Holders: Development of Children’s Rights in legislation and in legal research in Finland’.

According to Professor Hakalehto, the conference proved an excellent opportunity to discuss in-depth a range of issues of critical, and growing, importance to both China and the Nordic countries.

‘China is grappling with many of the same challenges as Finland the Nordic countries, including how to fully respect the rights and interests of children’, Professor Hakalehto says. ‘The chance to meet and share knowledge with Chinese colleagues working on these issues proved beneficial to both sides, and provided an enlightening comparative framework through which to develop the law and policies of our respective countries’.

The Finnish delegation also included representatives from other member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center, including Professor Heli Ruokama of the University of Lapland, Professor Jussi Kauhanen of the University of Tampere, and Professor Gyöngyi Kovacs from the Hanken School of Economics.

This year’s conference was a part of the Finland 100 festivities and was organized by the Finnish member universities of the Nordic Centre Fudan University.

Fudan University, a key partner in China of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture.