Seminar on Chinese IP Law and China and Global Governance Hosted by University of Lapland

On 12 November, the University of Lapland, in collaboration with the IPR University Center, hosted a seminar focusing on Chinese intellectual property law and China’s role in global governance.

The seminar, titled ‘Ongoing Reforms in Chinese and European Legal Frameworks’, was sponsored by the IPR University Center Association. The University of Lapland is one of the six Finnish institutions of the IPR University Center and a member of the Finnish China Law Center.

The event was free and open to the public, and was of interest to a variety of audiences including lawyers,  the business sector (including startups and entrepreneurs), students and scholars, as well as to the legislature and policymakers.

Event speakers included Professor Li Mingde, Director of the Intellectual Property Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a key Chinese partner of the Finnish China Law Center.

Professor Li Mingde of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Photo credit: http://www.iolaw.org.cn)

Other key speakers included Sheng Hongsheng, Professor of Public International Law at Shanghai University of Political Sciences and Law and Director of the OBOR Judicial Research Institute at the the Supreme People’s Court.

Professor Matti Nojonen, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of the Finnish China Law Center, also spoke.

Registration for the event was not compulsory. For those students who wished to gain 2 ECTS upon the attendance of the whole event, the event organized requested registration by 8 November.

The full program and list of speakers, as well as details on student registration, was available on the website of the University of Lapland.

University of Lapland (Photo credit: University of Lapland).

About the conference:

According to the latest figures from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), China filed the most patents of any country worldwide in 2015, with Chinese companies registering more than 1.3 million patents, in 2017, an increase of 14.2% per year since 2015. China’s rise as an economy focused on high-quality development, is a substantially significant economic event.

The expanding range of China’s economic interactions has provoked the most recent attention to China as an emerging superpower. China’s economic successes are impressive enough and deserve attention; they reflect China’s late entry into the international community, in organs such as UN and World Bank. Therefore, it is of vital importance to understand China’s role in the international legal system and to examining possible alterations in China’s foreign policy principles, laws and practices.

The seminar focused on different points:

  • Discussion of the ongoing reforms in these Chinese legal landscapes and contextualize and compare them to the ongoing reforms that are occurring in the European legal systems.
  • As Beijing has announced it will take more active role in international affairs, will the China’s traditional conventional role and approach to international law change?

Book launch of ‘Normative Readings of the Belt and Road Initiative: Road to New Paradigms’ (Springer 2018)

On 29 August 2018, the Finnish China Law Center and the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki hosted the launch of the new book, Normative Readings of the Belt and Road Initiative: Road to New Paradigms (Springer 2018).

The book, edited by University of Helsinki scholars Professor Kimmo Nuotio and Doctoral Candidate Kangle Zhang, is an international collaboration with Chinese scholars.

Professor Shan Wenhua, Dean of the School of Law and founding Director of the Silk Road Institute for International and Comparative Law (SRIICL) at Xi’an Jiaotong University, also co-edited the publication.

Front cover of the new publication (picture courtesy of Springer).

The event was hosted by the Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo.

An overview of the book and its main themes was given by one of the editors, Professor Kimmo Nuotio.

Comments on the new book were provided by Professor Ditlev Tamm (University of Copenhagen) and Associate Professor Chen Yifeng (Peking University), who is also Docent in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki.

The event was free and open to the public.

About the new book

The edited volume of 12 chapters provides normative readings on China’s foreign affairs ‘master plan’ and signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative.

According to Professor Kimmo Nuotio, co-editor and author of the book’s epilogue, the publication is an international effort that aims to shed light on under-explored non-trade normative aspects of China’s epic global infrastructure project, as well as the initiative’s socio-legal implications.

‘The book focuses on aspects of the so-called ‘New Silk Road’ Initiative that we thought deserved more attention, such as issues relating to culture and legal philosophy, environmental law and protection, social responsibility, and the rule of law, judiciary and the role of lawyers’, Professor Nuotio says.

Sino-Finnish Seminar on Food Regulation in the Digital Age

On 28 August 2018, the Sino-Finnish Seminar on Food Regulation in the Digital Age was held in Helsinki. 

The event, organized by the University of Eastern Finland, a member institution of the Finnish China Law Center, in conjunction with Guangzhou University and Finfood – Finnish Food Information (Ruokatieto Yhdistys ry), was free and open to the public. 

Opening remarks were delivered by Dr Harriet Lonka of the University of Eastern Finland and Tiina Lampisjärvi, Executive Director of the Finfood – Finnish Food Information.

A keynote was delivered by Dr Xiao Pinghui.

Dr Xiao is a senior lecturer at Guangzhou University Law School and a researcher (Sam Walton Scholar) affiliated to the Law School at the Center for Coordination and Innovation of Food Safety Governance of Renmin University of China. Since 2017 he has served as an officially accredited mentor of the National Food Safety Law Publicity Program launched by China Food and Drug Administration.

Dr Xiao Pinghui (Guangzhou University) will deliver a keynote address at the seminar. Photo supplied.

Another keynote was given by Professor Katja Weckström Lindroos.

Professor Weckström Lindroos is Professor of Commercial Law at UEF Law School, University of Eastern Finland. She specializes in intellectual property and international trade law with an emphasis on regulating emerging markets.

Professor Weckström Lindroos of UEF Law School. Photo supplied.

The full program for the seminar can be accessed here.

 

China’s Arctic Policy – The ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative and the Nordic Countries

On 22 August 2018, the Finnish China Law Center, in collaboration with the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, hosted a guest lecture titled ‘China’s Arctic Policy – The ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative and the Nordic Countries’.

The lecture was delivered by Egill Thor Nielsson, Executive Secretary of the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center (CNARC), Visiting Scholar at the Polar Research Institute of China (PRIC) and Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS), and Affiliated Researcher at the Institute of International Affairs, University of Iceland.

The event was free and open to the public.

Background 

China published its first Arctic Policy White Paper in January 2018 following years of preparation, including an introduction of a proposed ‘Polar Silk Road’. Prior to this, China joined the Arctic Council as an observer in 2013 and included the Arctic region in its Vision for Maritime Cooperation under the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative in June 2017.

What does it mean that China’s so-called ‘Belt and Road’ initiative has entered the Arctic region? How is this likely to affect potential Arctic investment and trade and influence legal developments?

This lecture will focus on China’s Arctic engagement, cooperation with the Nordic countries (including through the platform provided by CNARC), and its impact on Arctic developments in an evolving world order.

The event will be of interest to researchers, policy-makers, civil servants and those from civil society, as well as business people with an interest in both the Arctic region and in China’s overseas activities.

Egill Thor Nielsson, Executive Secretary of the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center, will speak in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, on 22 August 2018. Photograph supplied.

 

 

Lecture by Dr Sanna Kopra on her new book ‘China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change’ (Routledge 2018)

On 14 August 2018, Dr Sanna Kopra gave a public lecture on her recently published book, China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change (Routledge 2018) at the University of Helsinki, one of the Finnish China Law Center’s 10 member institutions.

Dr Kopra spoke at the Aleksanteri Institute (Unioninkatu 33) in the University of Helsinki, one of the world’s largest and best-known centres in the field of Russian and Eastern European studies.

The event was free, open to the public and registration was not necessary.

Cover of Dr Kopra’s new book, China and Great Power Responsibility for Climate Change (Routledge 2018). Picture credit: www.crcpress.com.

About the speaker

Dr Kopra is a specialist on China and environmental responsibility. Her publications include academic articles and popular science texts on China’s climate policy, Arctic governance, sustainable development and international environmental responsibility. Her professional positions include Postdoctoral Researcher in the Aleksanteri Institute and Member of Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), both located in the University of Helsinki.

 

Dr Kopra speaking at another recent event about her book. Photo credit: Lena Gorbacheva, Aleksanteri Institute, University of Helsinki.

About the book

Based on a premise that great powers have unique responsibilities in international society, Dr Kopra’s book explores the way China’s rise to great power status transforms the notions of great power responsibility in general and in the context of international climate politics in particular. The book produces empirical knowledge on the Chinese party–state’s conceptions of state responsibility and the influence of those notions on China’s role in international climate politics.

Regarding theory, the book builds on and contributes to the English School of International Relations and argues that the international norm of climate responsibility is an emerging attribute of great power responsibility. The book also discusses the way China will act out its climate responsibility in the future and ponders broader implications of China’s evolving notions of great power responsibility for climate change. Thus, it seeks to shed new light on the transformations China’s rise will yield and the kind of great power China will prove to be.

Asianet’s annual ‘Academic Research Projects on Asia in Finland’ catalogue

Until 30 August 2018, the Finnish University Network for Asian Studies (Asianet) was collecting information about ongoing or recently completed research on projects on Asia for the 2018 edition of its annual catalogue ‘Academic Research Projects on Asia in Finland’.

Scholars and researchers were invited to update or submit information of their research projects via webropol: https://link.webropolsurveys.com/S/C8EBE5A100036FD7.

The new catalogue will be published on the Network’s website and in print during the annual Asian Studies Days, which were co-hosted in 2017 by Asianet and the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, one of the 10 member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center.

The 2018 Asian Studies Days will be hosted by Aalto University, another of the Finnish China Law Center’s member institutions, on 17 – 18 October.

The 2017 research catalogue can be found here: http://www.asianet.fi/research-catalogue/.

Please direct questions to Dr Outi Luova (outluo (at) utu.fi), Director of Asianet and Vice Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Turku.

 

Scholars from the University of Helsinki Team with Chinese Researchers for New Book on China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative

Scholars from the University of Helsinki, one of the Finnish China Law Center’s 10 member institutions, have in collaboration with Chinese scholars written and edited a recently published book, Normative Readings of the Belt and Road Initiative: Road to New Paradigms (Springer 2018).

The edited volume of 12 chapters provides normative readings on China’s foreign affairs ‘master plan’ and signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping, the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative.

Professor Kimmo Nuotio of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki co-edited the book and penned its epilogue.

He says the publication was an international effort that aims to shed light on under-explored non-trade normative aspects of China’s epic global infrastructure project, as well as the initiative’s socio-legal implications.

‘The book focuses on aspects of the so-called ‘New Silk Road’ Initiative that we thought deserved more attention, such as issues relating to culture and legal philosophy, environmental law and protection, social responsibility, and the rule of law, judiciary and the role of lawyers’.

‘Given the scale and importance of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, we also felt it necessary that the book generate critical insights into how the project could or should develop and be better regulated’, Professor Nuotio says.

The book was also edited by Professor Shan Wenhua, one of China’s leading scholars on the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative.

Professor Shan is founding Dean of the School of Law and founding Director of the Silk Road Institute for International and Comparative Law (SRIICL) at Xi’an Jiaotong University.

Doctoral Researcher Zhang Kangle of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, also co-edited the publication and authored a chapter on the relationship between China’s new financial institutions and the country’s global strategy.

Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaca, also of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, contributed a chapter on ‘Strengthening the Cultural and Normative Foundations of the Belt and Road Initiative: The Colombo Plan, Yan Xuetong and Chinese Ancient Thought’.

The book is available for loan from the library of the University of Helsinki and for purchase online.

Front cover of the new publication (picture courtesy of Springer).

Finnish China Law Center to Collaborate with the Polish Research Center for Law and Economy of China

The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, a national umbrella organization of 10 member institutions located throughout Finland, will collaborate with the Polish Research Center for Law and Economy of China.

‘I’m pleased that the Finnish China Law Center will work with the Polish Research Center for Law and Economy of China and its School of Law and Economy of China’, says Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center.

‘It’s important for the Center to build inter-institutional and person-to-person relationships across the Nordic region and between the Nordic region and the rest of Europe’.

‘Strong relationships with our European partners complement the Center’s network of partnerships in China’, Professor Liukkunen says.

‘I look forward to working with the Center’s Director, Assistant Professor Piotr Grzebyk, to exchange information and experience about conducting China law-related research and education, and to explore deeper forms of inter-institutional cooperation’.

Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Chair of the Center’s Board, welcomes this initiative. ‘I have noticed rising interest in China in Polish academic circles. I visited the University of Warsaw just few weeks ago on other matters, and I was impressed about the work being done there’.

The collaboration was discussed during a visit to Finland by Maximilian Piekut, Deputy Head of the Polish Research Centre for Law and Economy of China.

Mr Piekut visited the country to discuss China law-related education and research collaboration between Poland and Finland, and to participate in Nordic China Law Week 2018. The Week was organized by the Finnish China Law Center and the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki.

The Polish Research Centre for Law and Economy of China is located within the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw.

The main objective of the Centre is to develop Sino-Polish relations in four fields: research, business, governmental cooperation and student exchange.

The goal of the Center’s activities is to enhance the quality of legal research in Poland and better implement innovative solutions in legal research for the benefit of science, business and society.

The School of Law and Economy of China, established in 2018 under the framework of the Polish Research Centre for Law and Economy of China, offers year-long interdisciplinary courses to students of all faculties, entrepreneurs and senior-level managers as well as representatives of state and local administration in charge of cooperation with their Chinese counter-parties.

The School’s program is designed to build up knowledge and understanding of the Chinese legal system, economy, culture and language. 

Applications for the School’s 2018/19 academic year close on 15 June 2018.

Photo credit: Polish Research Centre for Law and Economy of China, University of Warsaw

Annual China Law Week Bridges Nordic Academic and Social Discussions on the Significance of Law in China and China’s Role in World Affairs

Nordic China Law Week 2018 was held between 17 – 23 April in Helsinki, Finland.

The week-long program included a China Law Research Workshop, seminars on China’s Belt and Road Initiative and people management in China, guest lectures on Chinese constitutional law and Chinese intellectual property law, a Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting and more.

Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, opened the China Law Workshop and also gave a presentation on the topic ‘Taking Account of History When Researching Contemporary Law’

‘The Finnish China Law Center and the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki were pleased to organize and host this annual event’, said Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center.

‘The Center is proud to contribute to an important academic and social discussion within the Nordic region about the role and significance of law in China, and China’s increasing involvement in global affairs’, Professor Liukkunen said.

For Professor Liukkunen, the strength of Nordic China Law Week 2018 lay in the breadth and relevance of themes covered, the wide appeal of events to both the public and private sectors, and the involvement of scholars and participants from China, the Nordic region and other countries.

Professor Cheng Dawei (Renmin University), speaking about trade governance of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative at the opening event of Nordic China Law Week 2018

‘That the events during the Week were so well-attended testifies to the fact that Nordic interest in Chinese law and the Chinese legal system continues to grow’, Professor Liukkunen said.

 

Acting Dean of Beijing Foreign Studies University Law School, Professor Yan Dong, visited Finland to speak during Nordic China Law Week 2018

‘I was particularly pleased at the diversity of participants during the Week. While the focus was primarily scholarly and academic, the organizers were careful to balance law, theory and concrete practice. This was important, including because of the Nordic business community’s deepening engagement with China’.

‘As Nordic China Law Week 2018 was organized to take account of both academic and practical perspectives, its events attracted participants not just from Nordic and Chinese academia, but also from legal practice, the Finnish corporate community – including entrepreneurs from Finland’s thriving startup scene, which is increasingly engaging with China – as well as participants from NGOs, international organizations, the media and the diplomatic community’.

Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center, speaking at the Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting during Nordic China Law Week 2018

‘For example, over 10 nationalities were represented among the more than 80 registered participants in the China Law Research Workshop. Startup founders, ambassadors, students, Finnish government representatives, leading Nordic scholars and representatives of multinational corporations discussed how to research and apply Chinese law, including the practicalities of doing field work and conducting business in China’, Professor Liukkunen said.

Assistant Professor Yan Tian (Peking University Law School) spoke on Chinese constitutional and labour law at events during Nordic China Law Week 2018

The Finnish China Law Center is thankful for the support provided by the University of Helsinki, one of the Center’s 10 member institutions.

‘The Center is grateful to Professor Jukka Kola, Rector of the University of Helsinki, for his support of Nordic China Law Week 2018, including through holding a Rector’s Reception after one of the Week’s flagship events, the China Law Research Workshop, hosted by the Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo’.

Left to right: Professor Carl Fey (Aalto University); Mr Peter Vesterbacka (entrepreneur and business figure); Professor Ulla Liukkunen (Finnish China Law Center / University of Helsinki); and Dr Wei Lu (Aalto University), speaking during a panel session at a seminar on people management China at Aalto University during Nordic China Law Week 2018

Nordic China Law Week was also supported by the Confucius Institute and Chinese Studies of the University of Helsinki.

A representative from online database provider CNKI (Tsinghua University) speaking at the Information Session on Online Chinese Legal Research in the University of Helsinki’s main library during Nordic China Law Week 2018

Summaries of the main events held during Nordic China Law Week 2018 can be found below.

Tuesday 17 April: Trade Governance of the Belt and Road Initiative: Economic Logic and Institutional Arrangements

Wednesday 18 April: Latest Developments in Chinese Intellectual Property Law

Wednesday 18 April: How Important is China’s Constitution in the Chinese Legal System?

Thursday 19 April: China Law Research Workshop

Friday 20 April: Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting

Monday 23 April: Information Session on Online Chinese Legal Research

Monday 23 April: Seminar: What People Management Practices Work Best in China Today? Cultural and Legal Perspectives

More information about the Week, including media inquiries, can be directed to the Coordinator of the Center, Stuart Mooney, on stuart.mooney (at) helsinki.fi.

Details on the research agenda and activities of the Finnish China Law Center can be found in the book, Finnish China Law Center: Its First Four Years (2017).

Message of Congratulations to Peking University on its 120th Anniversary

‘On behalf of the Finnish China Law Center, it is my pleasure to convey to Peking University my sincerest congratulations on the occasion of its 120th anniversary’, said Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center and Board Member of the European China Law Studies Association 欧洲中国法研究协会.

Peking University celebrated its 120th anniversary on 4 May 2018. Congratulations have also been extended to Peking University by the University of Helsinki, one of the 10 member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center, which noted that since 2015 Peking University has been a strategic partner of the University of Helsinki.

‘From the beginning, the Finnish China Law Center has received significant input to developing its core activities from the Peking University Law School, which has worked together on many research projects and co-organized a number of international academic events with the Center and its member institutions’, Professor Liukkunen said.

‘I would like to congratulate in particular my friends and colleagues from Peking University Law School, including Professor Zhang Shouwen, Professor Ye Jingyi, Professor Li Ming, Professor Liang Genlin, Associate Professor Su Jiang, Assistant Professor Yan Tian and many others whose contributions have led to strong Sino-Finnish cooperation across different fields of law’.

‘Assistant Professor Chen Yifeng has also been instrumental in building the strategic relationship in legal research and education between the University of Helsinki and Peking University, and more broadly between legal academia in China and the Nordic countries’, Professor Liukkunen said.

‘It is only fitting that, in honour of its 120th anniversary, the University of Helsinki has awarded a silver medal to Peking University, a special strategic partner of the University of Helsinki’.

Details of the legal education and research relationship between the University of Helsinki and Peking University, which includes a number of Academy of Finland-funded projects, can be found in the Finnish China Law Center: Report on its First Four Years, published in 2017.

 

Nordic China Law Week 2018: Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting

Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, hosted the meeting. Pictured with Professor Ditlev Tamm of the University of Copenhagen (middle) and Professor Xavier Groussot, Pro Dean of the Faculty of Law of Lund University (right).

Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, chaired the meeting, which provided a forum in which scholars shared their China law-related activities and plans.

Forms and possibilities of inter-institutional collaboration at a general level were explored during the two hour-long gathering.

Professor Dag Michalsen, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Oslo, speaking at the Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki on 20 April 2018.

Scholars also discussed Nordic-wide involvement in events being organized by the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki and the Finnish China Law Center, including the 9th Bilateral Seminar on Comparative Law with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) (Beijing, September 2018).

As a result of the meeting, discussions are continuing between Nordic institutions about better coordinating the region’s approach to China law research and education and promoting knowledge and awareness of Nordic legal models and systems in China.

Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center, discussing the Center’s role in promoting legal research and education between China and the Nordic countries.

The meeting was one of many events organized during Nordic China Law Week 2018, with others including:

Tuesday 17 April: Trade Governance of the Belt and Road Initiative: Economic Logic and Institutional Arrangements

Wednesday 18 April: Latest Developments in Chinese Intellectual Property Law

Wednesday 18 April: How Important is China’s Constitution in the Chinese Legal System?

Thursday 19 April: China Law Research Workshop

Monday 23 April: Information Session on Online Chinese Legal Research

Monday 23 April: Seminar: What People Management Practices Work Best in China Today? Cultural and Legal Perspectives

Flags of the Nordic countries. Photo credit: Hansjorn CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons