Sino-Nordic Perspectives on the Belt and Road Initiative, Sustainable Development and Law: Nordic Center, Fudan University 29 – 30 October 2018

On 29 – 30 October 2018, the Nordic Centre at Fudan University will host the conference Belt & Road Initiative, Sustainable Development and Law: Sino-Nordic Perspectives.

The conference will focus on issues related to the so-called ‘Belt and Road Initiative’, a major international development and infrastructure project of the Chinese government and a signature policy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Four themes will be addressed during the conference: (1) The legal and sustainability significance of the BRI (2) National, regional and global dimensions (3) Specific fields of law and sustainability; and (4) Practitioners’ legal perspectives.

The conference is a biannual event initiated by the University of Oslo, which co-organizes the event with Nordic institutions Lund University and the University of Reykjavik, as well as with two Chinese Law Schools (Fudan University and Tsinghua University).

A tentative conference program can be found on the website of the Nordic Center at Fudan University.

Call for papers and key dates

The conference language is English. Selected papers of the conference will be published in English.

The deadline for abstracts (500 words) is 11 June 2018.

The deadline for draft papers (5000 – 10000 words) is 15 September 2018.

Abstracts and draft papers should be sent to Maria Lundberg at the University of Oslo at a.m.c.lundberg (at) nchr.uio.no.

More information

For more information, please contact Maria Lundberg at the University of Oslo on a.m.c.lundberg (at) nchr.uio.no or Magnus Jorem at the Nordic Center, Fudan University on magnus (at) nordiccentre.net.

 

NORDIC CHINA LAW WEEK 2018: SEMINAR ON TRADE GOVERNANCE OF CHINA’S ‘BELT AND ROAD’ INITIATIVE

To mark the start of Nordic China Law Week 2018, on 17 April 2018 the Finnish China Law Center and Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki hosted a seminar on the theme ‘Trade Governance of China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Economic Logic and Institutional Arrangements’.

The keynote address was delivered by Professor Cheng Dawei of the Renmin University School of Economics, which has been consistently ranked by the Chinese Ministry of Education as the best university in China in both theoretical and applied economics.

Professor Cheng is Dean of the International Business Program at the Renmin University School of Economics and the author of seven books, including Belt and Road Initiative China’s Trade Governance and Policy (Routledge, May 2018).

Professor Cheng Dawei (Renmin University), speaking at the opening event of Nordic China Law Week 2018 (17 – 23 April 2018) in the University of Helsinki.

Professor Cheng’s keynote presentation addressed issues including the economic logic of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative, value choices of its trade governance and the OBOR Initiative’s institutional and legal arrangements.

She also discussed what the future holds for this huge infrastructure project, a signature project of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

‘After assuming office, President Xi Jinping emphasized the value of global governance research’, Professor Cheng said.

‘Since the proposal and implementation of OBOR, China has introduced a number of new terms associated with global governance, such as ‘connectivity’ and ‘three communities of common destiny’. Collectively, these terms form China’s unique ideology on global governance’.

Professor Cheng said that OBOR is the largest regional cooperation initiative ever, covering Asia, Europe, and Africa.

‘At one end is the active East Asian economic circle, and at the other is the developed European economic circle, collectively involving over 60 countries, 60% of the global population, and a third of the world’s gross domestic product’.

Professor Cheng said that OBOR ‘respects the existing rules and frameworks of the multilateral system and has not been established to disrupt this system’.

‘On the contrary, China remains one of the strongest supporters of the existing multilateral system’.

Professor Cheng Dawei, author of ‘Belt and Road Initiative: China’s Trade Governance and Policy’ (Routledge, May 2018), presenting the keynote address during the seminar on ‘Trade Governance of China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Economic Logic and Institutional Arrangements’, 17 April 2018.

At the same time, Professor Cheng argued that ‘based on the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), China should establish OBOR trade governance theories that supplement, subdue, and innovate existing multilateral trade governance theories’.

‘The advancement and progress of OBOR should perpetually abide by WTO rules and accept the constraints established by the WTO’, Professor Cheng emphasized.

Professor Cheng concluded by noting that OBOR is a national trade strategy and does not contain mandatory laws.

‘Therefore, the existing rules of the WTO provide institutional support for OBOR’.

In his remarks, seminar moderator Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki thanked Professor Cheng for speaking during the opening of Nordic China Law Week 2018, summarized the core aspects of Professor Cheng’s address and challenged several of the arguments she advanced during her talk.

A lively discussion ensued between Professor Cheng, Dr Vilaça and seminar participants.

Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça, moderator of the opening event of Nordic China Law Week 2018, in discussion with Professor Cheng (Renmin University) following her address on trade governance of China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative.

The event, organized with the support of the University of Helsinki Chinese Studies and Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki, was one of many during Nordic China Law Week 2018. Other events included:

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

Monday 23 April: Information Session on Online Chinese Legal Research

 

NEWDAY – Nansen East-West Dialogue Academy for undergraduate and Masters students: 7 – 17 August 2018, Norway

Between 7 – 17 August 2018, interested students are invited to participate in an inter-disciplinary training summer school training program, NEWDAY–Nansen East-West Dialogue Academy, held at the Nansen Academy in Lillehammer, Norway.

NEWDAY is a training program that addresses current global challenges in a unique social setting. The program emphasizes cultural understanding and cross-cultural communication with classroom teaching, lectures, discussions, socializing, workshops, and excursions, and features lectures by prominent scholars, journalists, and thinkers as well as debates and dialogue between students and teachers on the burning issues of our time.

The main themes of the 2018 include gender and society; media and activism; and climate crisis and environmental degradation.

This year is the second time NEWDAY is being held. In 2017, the Nordic Institute of Asian Studies (NIAS), in collaboration with the Fudan-European Centre for China Studies and Nansen Academy, held the first NEWDAY–Nansen East-West Dialogue Academy.

The organizers welcome applications from students at the BA and MA levels from all disciplines.

The deadline for applications is 22 June 2018.

More information

For more information on this year’s program, how to apply and other practicalities, please visit the official NEWDAY webpage: www.newdaylillehammer.org.

Students are at any time welcome to email contact@newdaylillehammer.org for any questions regarding the summer school.

Photo credit: https://nansenskolen.no/kurs/newday/

Nordic China Law Week 2018: 17 – 23 April

The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki are proudly co-hosting Nordic China Law Week 2018.

‘Nordic China Law Week 2018 will be held 17 – 23 April and will feature an exciting array speakers and contributors from China and the Nordic region’, says Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Center.

‘This reflects ever-deepening interest in Chinese law in the Nordic academic, and broader public, arena’.

‘In addition, Nordic China Law Week 2018 is being held in response to strong and growing interest in Chinese law and the Chinese legal system from the private and non-profit sectors’, Professor Liukkunen says.

‘In light of corporate demand, including from local SMEs and startups, Nordic China Law Week 2018 will include many events on Chinese business and corporate law, including Chinese intellectual property law’.

Professor Liukkunen says the Center is particularly thankful for the contribution and involvement of scholars from across the Center’s 10 member institutions.

Nordic China Law Week 2018 will include a day-long China Law Workshop, the first-ever Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting, a half-day seminar on contemporary people management in China (special guest speaker: Peter Vesterbacka of Angry Birds and Slush fame), a short-form seminar on China’s Belt and Road Initiative, as well as guest lectures on Chinese constitutional and intellectual property law.

The Week is targeted at lawyers, those in business (including entrepreneurs), people working in governments or international organizations, academics, students, those working in NGOs /civil society and anyone with an interest in learning about Chinese law and legal culture.

All events are free and open to the public, with the exception of the Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting (aimed at senior scholars from education and research institutions in the Nordic region, though junior academics, including doctoral candidates, are welcome to join). The host of the Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting will be Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki.

Professor Pia Letto-Vanamo, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, will host the first-ever Nordic China Law Scholars Meeting during Nordic China Law Week 2018.

The Finnish China Law Center and Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, thank University of Helsinki Chinese Studies and the Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki for their support for Nordic China Law Week 2018.

Program of events

Further details of each event in Nordic China Law Week 2018, as well as links to register where relevant, can be found in the following event pages on the website of the Finnish China Law Center:

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

Further questions and media inquiries

Please contact Stuart Mooney, Coordinator of the Finnish China Law Center, at stuart.mooney (at) helsinki.fi.

Trade Governance of China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative: 17 April 2018

As part of Nordic China Law Week 2018, the Finnish China Law Center and Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki cordially extend an invitation to a short-form seminar on:

Trade Governance of China’s Belt and Road Initiative: Economic Logic and Institutional Arrangements

Date and time: 14:15 – 15:45 on Tuesday 17 April 2018

Venue: Meeting Room of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki, Room 545 on the 5th floor of the Porthania Building (Yliopistonkatu 3, Helsinki).

The keynote address will be delivered by Professor Cheng Dawei of the Renmin University School of Economics.

The Renmin University School of Economics has been consistently ranked by the Chinese Ministry of Education as the best university in China in both theoretical and applied economics.

Professor Cheng will cover issues including the economic logic of the ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) Initiative, value choices of its trade governance and the OBOR Initiative’s institutional and legal arrangements. She will also look at what the future holds for this huge infrastructure project, a signature project of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The event will be moderated by Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça of the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki. It is free to attend, open to the public, and no prior registration is required. The event will be in English.

The event is being organized with the support of the University of Helsinki Chinese Studies and Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki.

About the speakers

Professor Cheng is Dean of the International Business Program at the Renmin University School of Economics. She is the author of seven books, including Belt and Road Initiative China’s Trade Governance and Policy (Routledge, forthcoming May 2018), and many articles. Professor Cheng’s teaching and research interests include commercial diplomacy, international trade, China’s foreign economic and trade relations, and E-Business.

Professor Cheng Dawei, Dean of the International Business Program at the Renmin University School of Economics

 

Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça is a Senior Research Fellow in the Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki and holds affiliated memberships at the University of Lisbon and The Collaborative Innovation Centre For Silk Road Economic Belt Studies” (CIC-SREBS), Xi’an Jiaotong University. His previous roles include Lecturer in Law (tenure-track) in China at Xi’an Jiaotong University School of Law.

Dr Guilherme Vasconcelos Vilaça, Faculty of Law, University of Helsinki

Further information and media inquiries

Please direct questions about the event to the Coordinator of the Finnish China Law Center, Stuart Mooney, at stuart.mooney (at) helsinki.fi.

Helsinki Conference on the Chinese Model of Governance

The Confucius Center at the University of Helsinki, one of the 10 member institutions of the Finnish China Law Center, organized the Helsinki Conference on the Chinese Model of Governance on 20 March 2018 at the University of Helsinki, Finland.

Scholars revisited discussions of the Chinese model of governance and articulate the old and new features of Xi Jinping’s model of governance. Most current research on the China model debates whether there is such model, and the characteristics and essences of the model if it exists. This conference discussed, from a variety of perspectives including critical empirical case studies, the various manifestations of the Chinese model of governance, ranging from local governance, local election, civil society to economic policies.

Opening Remarks were given by Professor Julie Yu-Wen Chen of the University of Helsinki. Keynote speakers at the conference were Oscar Almén, Uppsala University, Sweden, and Zhongyuan Wang from Fudan University, China.

Constantin Holzer of University College Cork spoke on ‘The Principal-Agent Dichotomy of Public Goods Provision in China and The Role of Entrepreneurship’ and Natalie Ruvimbo Hodzi (University of Helsinki) discussed Zimbabwean elite opinions of China’s model of governance. Other presentations and remarks were given by Adam Knight (Oxford University), Riccardo Berti and Mariagrazia Semprebon (lawyers from Italy) and Coleman Mahler (UC Berkeley).

Questions and media inquiries

Questions about the conference can be directed to the Director of the Confucius Institute at the University of Helsinki, Professor Julie Chen, at julie.chen (at) helsinki.fi.

Chinese New Year Message from the Finnish China Law Center

The Finnish China Law Center, composed of 10 member institutions and based in the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, would like to convey its sincerest wishes for the Chinese New Year to its friends and partners in China, the Nordic countries, and around the world.

The Center looks forward to another year of promoting research and education in the Nordic region on Chinese law and legal culture, comparative legal research involving China, and China’s engagement with international law and global institutions.

‘At the start of the Year of the Dog’, says Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Center, ‘the Finnish China Law Center would like to reiterate how much we value our friendships and partnerships in China and internationally’.

‘We will continue to widen and deepen our international relationships in the upcoming year, during which we have planned an exciting array of events and activities on Chinese law and legal culture in Finland and China’.

祝你新年快乐!

Questions about the activities of the Center, including the upcoming China Law Research Workshop to be held on 19 April 2018, can be directed to the Coordinator of the Finnish China Law Center, stuart.mooney (at) helsinki.fi.

 

Joel Toivola Foundation Grants

The Joel Toivola Foundation is an independent Finnish foundation supporting Finnish academic studies on China.

The Foundation awards grants for talented young scholars in the fields of humanities and social science research on China, as well as for Finnish students’ Chinese linguistic studies in China.

The last deadline for applying for grants, including Research Fellowship and travel funds, closed on 15 February 2018 at 16:00.

Further information on the grants and detailed application instructions can be found on the Foundation’s website.

For further information on the Joel Toivola Foundation, please contact Foundation’s Executive Director, Mr. Mikko Eskola at saatio@helsinkinet.fi.

About Joel Toivola

According to the website of the Joel Toivola Foundation, Ambassador Joel Toivola (1915-1999) worked for the Finnish Foreign Service in several important posts for more than three decades. He is especially remembered as a great friend of China and throughout his career encouraged relations between Finland and the People’s Republic of China. Mr. Toivola served as the Ambassador of Finland to Beijing from 1961 to 1967.

Working as Visiting Researcher in Leading Chinese University Gives Fresh Perspectives on China-Africa Relations, Global Governance and International Law

Dr Obert Hodzi, a postdoctoral researcher and Sino-Africa relations scholar in the University of Helsinki, recently returned from a six-week stint as a Visiting Scholar in Renmin University, China. Renmin University is a key partner of the Finnish China Law Center. The strong links between the Center’s 10 member institutions, including the University of Helsinki, and Renmin University are detailed in the Report recently published by the Center.

Upon his return, the Finnish China Law Center took the opportunity to discuss with Dr Hodzi his experience as Visiting Scholar at one of China’s best universities, and to learn more about his current research into Chinese politics and law.

Finnish China Law Center: Congratulations on your appointment as a Visiting Scholar at Renmin University. Before we discuss that experience, could you please say a little about your background?

Dr Hodzi: I’m a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Cultures at the University of Helsinki. Before joining the University of Helsinki, I was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies, Ethiopia. I have also worked for various international and regional organizations in my home country of Zimbabwe, as well as Kenya and Germany on projects about democratic governance and transitional justice.

Finnish China Law Center: Can you explain your main research interests?

Dr Hodzi: I’ve long had an interest in China’s international political and legal engagement, including in relation to Africa. I obtained my PhD from a Chinese university, Lingnan University in Hong Kong, where I researched political and legal aspects of China’s military engagement in Africa. My current research focuses on emerging powers and global governance. In particular, I look at China-Africa security relations and politics in Africa, including the domestic and legal implications of China’s engagement.

Finnish China Law Center: How was your research assisted by working as a Visiting Scholar in China?

Dr Hodzi: Having lived and worked and lived in both China and different Africa has given me a more nuanced understanding of the different political and legal cultures and orders at play across China and throughout Africa. I’ve come to appreciate that reading, discussing and researching about China is nothing compared to seeing it in real life! This certainly was my realization during my research in mainland China. Being able to discuss with scholars, practitioners and other relevant actors in China – both Chinese and from other countries – enriched my research and has opened new avenues of future collaboration for which I am very grateful.

Finnish China Law Center: The Finnish China Law Center recently co-organized the annual China Research Day and Asian Studies Days. The theme of both events was US-Sino relations and the consequences for Asian security. How does your own research bear on this issue, including from the perspective of international law?

Dr Hodzi: This theme is timely and important, and it connects directly with my current and future work. Over the next two years my research focus will be on the Chinese model of development and governance in Asia and Africa. As China gets comfortable in its global primacy role, all roads are leading to Beijing. In the jostling for a piece of the China cake, there is obviously bound to be conflict and contractions regarding international law. For instance, this is seen in the case of the South China Sea dispute, as was discussed during the China Research Day and Asian Studies Days events, as well as anti-dumping measures against Chinese companies. I would also say that security issues will become even more important for both China and other countries as Chinese firms and citizens go abroad.

Dr Hodzi, Visiting Scholar at Renmin University, with a friend outside the Forbidden City, Beijing, September 2017

Finnish China Law Center: You are helping organize a Conference on the so-called ‘Chinese model’ of governance next year. What thematic ground will be conference cover, and why is the conference important?

Dr Hodzi: The Confucius Center at the University of Helsinki is organizing the Helsinki Conference on Chinese Model of Governance. It will be held on 20 March 2018. During the conference, scholars from Finland and abroad will re-visit discussions of the Chinese model of governance. The old and new features of President Xi’s model of governance will be discussed at length. The conference is important because the bulk of contemporary scholarship on the ‘China model’ questions whether such a model even exists. And even those who acknowledge the existence of such a model debate its characteristics. In light of this ongoing debate, the conference will discuss the various manifestations of the Chinese model of governance. These manifestations range from local governance, local election, civil society to economic policies. A particular strength of the conference will be its interdisciplinary nature, using a variety of perspectives such as critical empirical case studies. I’m already excited about it! We have great keynote speakers, too: Oscar Almén, Uppsala University, Sweden, and Zhongyuan Wang from Fudan University, China.

Finnish China Law Center: Finally, we understand that your book will be published shortly. Congratulations, and could you please say a little about it?

Dr Hodzi: My book, The End of a Non-intervention Era: China in African Civil Wars, will be published by Palgrave Macmillan (London) next year (fall 2018). I hope that it will help set the research agenda on emerging security issues emanating from China’s going out strategy. China is moving, and taking the world with it!

More on Dr Hodzi’s academic work can be found in his University of Helsinki Tuhat page.

Asian Studies Days and China Research Day 2017

On 9-10 November the University of Helsinki hosted the annual Asian Studies Days, organized by the Finnish University Network for Asian Studies, and the annual China Research Day, organized by the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki, and the Confucius Centre of the University of Helsinki co-organized both events.

The theme of this year’s events was China-US Relations and Asian Security. The theme was timely given the concurrent visit of US President Donald Trump to Asia, which included a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping. The backdrop to the meeting of the two presidents, and to the theme of this year’s China Research Day and Asian Studies Days, is the relative stability of East Asia over the last few decades. Despite historical grievances that have affected intra-regional relations politically, economic inter-dependencies have made the region’s actors seek cooperation rather than conflict.

However, as was highlighted throughout the two-day event, recently there have been indications that the situation may be changing. China’s actions in the East and South China Seas have been regarded by some commentators as increasingly assertive. The Trump presidency has introduced a heightened level of tension in China–US relations. And the bold nuclear and missile tests by North Korea have heightened the risk of a military confrontation in the region.  

These issues were discussed at length in insightful presentations from two prominent Chinese experts on Chinese foreign policy, international relations, and the US/China relationship: Shi Yinhong, Professor of International Relations, Renmin University of China, and Li Mingjiang, Professor, Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.  

Organizers and speakers of China Research Day and Asian Studies Days 2017. From left to right: Silja Keva, Dr Sabine Burghart and Prof Outi Luova (University of Turku), Dr Jyrki Kallio (FIIA), Prof Li Mingjiang (Nanyang Technological University), Prof Ulla Liukkunen (China Law Center / University of Helsinki), Dr Elina Sinkkonen (FIIA), Prof Shi Yinhong (Renmin University of China), Stuart Mooney (China Law Center / University of Helsinki), Prof Lauri Paltemaa (University of Turku) and Matias Salo (FIIA). Absent: Prof Julie Yu-Wen Chen (Confucius Institute), Kukka-Maria Kovsky and Olli Hulkko (FIIA). Pic by Tapio Kovera (University of Helsinki).

Professor Outi Luova of the University of Turku, who is also the Director of Finnish University Network for Asian Studies (Asianet), moderated the morning session and the afternoon session was chaired by Elina Sinkkonen, Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.

During her welcoming words and introduction Julie Chen, Professor of Chinese Studies at the University of Helsinki and Director the Confucius Institute of the University of Helsinki, provided the packed venue with an overview of the broader theoretical and political context in which security tensions in the Asia/Pacific region are being experienced. 

Dr Sabine Burghart, newly arrived University Lecturer in the Center of East Asian Studies, University of Turku, commented on the North Korean aspect of US-China relations, and Jyrki Kallio, Senior Research Fellow of the the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, shared his thoughts on China’s strategy in the South China Sea dispute. 

The calibre of speakers, as well as the timeliness and importance of the main theme, meant that over 130 people participated in the events. Professor Shi was also interviewed by the Finnish television station MTV3.

The organizers and speakers would like to thank Deputy Mayor Pia Pakarinen for generously hosting a City of Helsinki reception to mark these important annual events.

As Professor Ulla Liukkunen, Director of the Finnish China Law Center, said during her speech at the reception, the official City of Helsinki reception not only underscores the importance of bilateral legal education and research cooperation between Finland and China, but highlights the special, long-term relationship that exists between the capital cities of Helsinki and Beijing.

The organizers would also like to acknowledge the generous assistance provided by the Joel Toivola Foundation.

University of Lapland Arctic Center Participation in the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center (中国 – 北欧北极研究中心)

Logo of the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center. Courtesy of https://www.cnarc.info/.

The University of Lapland, a member institution of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, is widely recognized as a leader in education and research on Arctic issues, including Arctic law.

The University’s Arctic Centre, located in the northern Finnish city of located Rovaniemi, is a national and international hub of information and a center of excellence.

The Centre conducts multidisciplinary research into changes in the Arctic region, including on environmental and minority law and Arctic governance. Members of the Arctic Centre staff serve as experts around the world.

The Arctic Centre is a member of the European Polar Board, an independent European Organization of Directors and Managers of the major European National Polar Programmes.

In recognition of its importance and influence on Arctic issues, the Centre is also a member of the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center (中国 – 北欧北极研究中心).

Established in Shanghai on 10 December 2013, the China-Nordic Arctic Research Center (CNARC) is composed of six Chinese and eight Nordic institutions that influence and coordinate Arctic research.

CNARC’s purpose is to provide a platform for academic cooperation to increase awareness, understanding and knowledge of the Arctic and its global impacts, as well as to promote cooperation for sustainable development of the Nordic Arctic and the development of China in a global context.

One of the key research themes for CNARC is Arctic policy-making and legislation. This is an increasingly important issue given the impacts of climate change in the Arctic, questions concerning the use of Arctic resources, and challenges and opportunities associated with economic cooperation and shipping in the Arctic.

 

Northern lights shimmering over the city of Roveniemi, home of the University of Lapland and the Arctic Center. Photo credit http://www.visitrovaniemi.fi

 

CNARC holds annual Symposia on issues of relevance to its mandate. This year’s symposium took place in Dalian, China, from the 24 – 26 May 2017  under the theme ‘Towards the Future: Trans-regional Cooperation in the Arctic Development and Protection’. Thematic sessions included Europe-Asia connectivity, the relationship between the Arctic and non-Arctic regions, and global governance of the Arctic Ocean.

More broadly, the University of Lapland was a pioneer of China-law related education and research in Finland. Its ongoing China law-related education and research activities and achievements can be found in the Finnish China Law Center’s recently published Report on its First Four Years (2013-2016).