The newly-established Sino-Finnish Research Center for Science, Technology and Innovation (Sino-Finnish STI Center), co-founded by Finnish China Law Center member institution the University of Vaasa and the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Strategy and Development, held an International Forum on Energy Transition during Vaasa EnergyWeek (19 – 23 March 2018).
The International Forum on Energy Transition was held from 8:30-15:30 on 20 March 2018 at Vaasa City Hall (8:30-12:30) and Fabriikki F118, University of Vaasa (13:30-15:30). The event was free and open to all.
Full program and list of speakers
The purpose of the International Forum on Energy Transition was to engage policy makers, research experts and industrial practitioners from China and Europe to discuss energy transition activities and related policies policies. By doing so, the organizer’s hoped to promote international cooperation between China and Europe towards green growth.
Speakers at the Forum included Dr Jari Kuusisto (Rector of University of Vaasa), Pan Jiao Feng (President of Chinese Academy of Sciences Institutes of Science and Development), Professor Bai Quan (Vice-Director of the Energy Efficiency Center, Energy Research Institute, National Development and Reform Commission), Joakim Strand (Member of Parliament of Finland), Guo Xiaoguang (Counselor of Chinese Embassy to Finland) and more.
The full program and list of speakers can be found here.
Picture credit: https://www.energyweek.fi/
About the Sino-Finnish STI Center
The aim of the new Sino-Finnish STI Center is develop a think tank supporting policy makers and business in Europe and China. The Center’s mission is to address environmental and societal challenges and promote economic growth by means of conducting policy studies on science technology and innovation.
The Kone Foundation, an independent non-profit organisation with a mission to make the world a better place by advancing initiatives in research and the arts, offered two 4 to 6 month-long scholarships to conduct research in China. The cut-off to apply for those scholarship was 28 March 2018.
The Finnish member universities of the Fudan Nordic Center are the University of Helsinki, the University of Eastern Finland, Hanken School of Economics, the University of Lapland, the University of Tampere and the University of Turku. All of these universities are also member institutions of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law.
The scholarship program is intended to support and expand China-related research conducted in the Finnish universities. The aim is to stimulate researchers to expand their research focus towards research connected with China and to facilitate longer research periods in China. When possible and relevant, doctoral candidates can attend teaching offered by the Fudan Nordic Centre.
Further information and application process
More information about the scholarships, including the full Call for Applications and instructions on how to apply, can be found on Asianet’s website.
Logo of the Nordic Center, Fudan University, China
According to Feedspot.com, the ranking was based on the following criteria:
Google reputation and Google search ranking
Influence and popularity on Facebook, twitter and other social media sites
Quality and consistency of posts; and
Feedspot.com’s editorial team and expert review.
The ranking was released on 21 February 2018 and the rankings list will be updated weekly.
‘I’m pleased at the attention the Finnish China Law Center’s blog is attracting from the Nordic region, China and around the world’, says Stuart Mooney, who manages the blog and is the Coordinator of the China Law Center.
‘The blog is an important forum through which the Center communicates with its stakeholders about the China law-related education and research activities of the Center and its 10 member institutions.’
‘We also use the blog to highlight the important contribution of our international partners, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Peking University, in promoting China law-related education and research in the Nordic region, as well as Nordic collaboration with Chinese scholars and institutions in the fields of comparative and international law’, Stuart says.
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.
Luova’s current research investigates how China’s environmental governance is imbued with local experiments and variation. She has found that enforcement of environmental regulations varies greatly.
‘There are striking differences in enforcement between the bureaucratic North and flexible South, and the wealthy East and less-developed West’, Luova says.
‘The recent re-centralization efforts and stricter environmental policy enforcement have not been effective in diminishing variation because of strong local interests and weak capacities in many cities’.
According to Luova, slack enforcement means that there can be large diversity in implementation even among sub-municipal units in a city.
‘It is therefore very important to pay attention to regional variation when dealing with China’.
‘Mega-city districts are nowadays powerful actors. With sub-municipal variation remaining unexplored, my recent research project has analysed the implementation of environmental policies and regulations in three urban districts in the city of Tianjin’, she says.
Outi Luova, Director of the Finnish University Network for Asian Studies and Vice Director of the Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Turku, guest lecturing in China in October 2017.
In conducting her in-country research, Luova has faced increasing challenges in obtaining official documents and arranging interviews with Chinese civil servants as a result of a ‘tightening political atmosphere’.
‘I have been able to conduct interviews only thanks to my simultaneous participation in official sister-city delegation visits to Tianjin’, Luova says.
‘During my visits to China, I arranged focus-group interviews at city and district level departments of education and environmental protection. I also had a possibility to visit several so called “green schools” in Tianjin and get acquainted with local environmental NGOs’.
In addition to urban governance in China, Luova’s teaching and research interests include regional cooperation in East Asia, domestic migration in China, management of international labour migration in China and East Asia, ethnic issues in China and more generally, regional features and differences in China.
Luova’s research on regional differences in the implementation and enforcement of environmental law and policy in China, ‘Environmental policies enter the educational sector: Different shades of green at district level’, will be published in Greening China’s Urban Governance: Tackling Environmental and Sustainability Challenges (Jørgen Delman, Ren Yuan, Outi Luova, Mattias Burell, Oscar Almén eds) by Springer in 2018. Other related publications are also in the pipeline.
The purpose of the Rector’s visit was to underscore the significance the University of Helsinki attaches to its friends and partners in China.
During his visit, Rector Kola further developed the important relationship between the University of Helsinki and Peking University, a key partner institution in China of the Finnish China Law Center.
Rector of the University of Helsinki Jukka Kola speaking with Professor Chen Yifeng of Peking University at the China Alumni Club event held at the residence of the Finnish Ambassador to China on 14 October 2017 (Photo credit: Helsingin yliopiston alumniyhdistys)
More about Professor Chen’s engagement and research in the University of Helsinki and the Finnish China Law Center can be found in the recently published Report on the First Four Years of the Center.
Sanna Villikka, acting Head of Administration of the Faculty of Medicine, was also part of the Rector Kola’s delegation.
Ms Villikka visited China in her former capacity as Senior Advisor in Research Funding Services at the University of Helsinki’s City Centre Campus. The purpose of her trip was to develop staff exchange between the University of Helsinki and Peking University, to further enhance the University of Helsinki’s relationship with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and to emphasize the high esteem with which the University of Helsinki views its relationship with the Faculty of Law of Peking University.
Another important visit to China was by then Dean of the Faculty of Law, Professor Kimmo Nuotio.
Professor Kimmo Nuotio of the University of Helsinki speaking at the CASS Rule of Law Forum, Beijing, November 2017 (Photo credit: Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Professor Nuotio joined the Annual Meeting of the Silk Road Law Schools Alliance hosted by Wuhan University.
Professor Kimmo Nuotio and Doctoral Candidate Zhang Kangle of the University of Helsinki with representatives from other institutions involved in the Silk Road Law Schools Alliance, at the Alliance’s annual meeting in November 2017 (Photo credit: Wuhan University)
Professor Nuotio was invited to give public lectures at universities across the country, including Peking University, the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Wuhan University, Shandong University, and Wuhan University of Technology.
Professor Nuotio also gave a presentation at the Chinese Academy of Social Science’s annual international Rule of Law conference in Beijing.
Professor Sakari Melander of the University of Helsinki speaking at the CASS Rule of Law Forum, Beijing, November 2017 (photo credit: Institute of Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences).
In addition to her many academic and professional responsibilities, including serving as a Commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, Professor Petman also visits and lectures at the prestigious Peking University Law School on a regular basis.
Senior Lecturer (att. to the duties of Professor) of the University of Helsinki / University of Turku and Sanna Villikka (University of Helsinki) in Beijing, October 2017 (Photo credit: Sanna Villikka)
The CIMO project, the result of an application made by Kangle Zhang, was jointly managed by several staff of the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki prior to its conclusion at the end of 2017.
During its two years of operation, the project facilitated a range of successful activities that deepened collaboration between the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki and Peking University Law School.
The end of 2017 also saw a flurry of visits from China to Finland.
These inbound visits included two delegations in November alone.
These include a China Law Workshop (Helsinki, April – tbc), the 9th Bilateral Comparative Law Seminar (Beijng, August – tbc) with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the 6th China-Europe Legal Forum with the China Law Society (Helsinki, November – tbc).
Follow the Finnish China Law Center on Twitter (@ChinaLawCenter) and Facebook (@ChinaLawCenter) to keep up-to-date with the latest news, events, publications and other activities of the Center and its member institutions.
The signing paves the way for cooperation on legal research and education between the two institutions, and opens the door to collaboration between Beihang University and the other nine members of the Finnish China Law Center.
A six-person delegation from Beihang University, headed by Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Law School, visited Helsinki to sign the MOU and discuss future collaboration.
Given the Center’s role in supporting China law-related initiatives across the Nordic countries, the establishment of relations with Beihang University Law School and creation of the Nordic Law Center opens up new avenues across the region for China law and comparative law activities.
Professor Kimmo Nuotio, Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Helsinki, and Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the Beihang University Law School, signing an MOU at the University of Helsinki on 29 November 2017.
Beihang University Law School houses a number of specialty units concerning areas of potential Sino-Nordic collaboration, including:
Internet Information Security & Rule of Law Research Center
Law and Technology Development Center
IP Law and Law of Science and Technology Institute
Space Law Institute
Aviation Law Institute
Spectrum Law and Standard Research Center
Insurance Law Institute
Scientific Evidence Law & Experiments Research Center
Another institution of the Law School is the Research Base of Beijing Technology Innovation Center (Beijing Social Science Base).
Within the course application courses were listed in two categories.
1. Asian Programme and Mini Minor
You can study BASIC COURSES offered in the Asian Programme such as Business in East and Southeast Asia or Contemporary East Asia. In the Asian Programme you have the possibility to do a 25 ECTS minor subject. These BASIC COURSES are also used as the foundation for the Mini Minor (10 ECTS to complete the minor), which lets you concentrate in more depth on one thematic aspect such as business or society.
If you want to take individual courses you can apply for the various Master’s Level Courses offered by Asianet. This includes courses such as Introduction to Mongolian Politics and Society or Business Environment in Japan and South Korea. This spring we have two brand new courses: China-US relations – Asian Security and Chinese Working Places Cultures.
Students from Asianet member universities may take these courses for free. This includes Aalto University, the universities of Helsinki, Jyväskylä, Tampere, Turku, and Vaasa, and Åbo Akademi.
A student from a University of Applied Sciences may also apply if their university agrees to cover the course fees, or if the student is willing to cover the course fees themself.
Other individuals including students from non-member universities can apply to Asianet courses as independent self-paying students.
Read more about applying to Asianet courses from each relevant programme page.
Further information
If you have any questions about these studies, please contact Ulla Morelli, University of Turku (e-mail: ulla.morelli@utu.fi).
The Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture is pleased to announce an upcoming guest lecture by Professor LONG Weiqiu of Beihang University, China.
Professor Long, a Fulbright Scholar and Dean of the Law School of Beihang University, will give a lecture on ‘Codification of Civil Law in China: Recent Developments and Future Prospects’.
Dean Long’s lecture will introduce the motivations, conditions and bases of the current codification of civil law in China. It will discuss and analyze the controversies regarding the framework and other crucial matters, and also comment on the relationship between the new civil code and the existing civil law system in China. Finally, Dean Long will share his thoughts on the prospects for future codification.
Professor Long Weiqiu, Dean of the School of Law, University of Beihang
The lecture will be held on Wednesday, 29 November 2017 at 10:15 in the Meeting Room of the Law Faculty, University of Helsinki (Room 545, 5th floor, Porthania Building, Yliospistonkatu 3, Helsinki).
The presentation will be followed by a discussion, and the event is expected to finish at 11:30.
The lecture is free and open to the public. No registration is required.
If you have any questions about the event, please contact Stuart Mooney, Coordinator of the Finnish China Law Center, via email at stuart.mooney (at) helsinki.fi.
Logo of the University of Tampere. Credit: http://www2.uta.fi/en
The University of Tampere, a member institution of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, has established a knowledge hub focusing on Chinese and Russian media: the Tampere Research Centre for Russian and Chinese Media (TaRC).
TaRC’s opening seminar was held in the University of Tampere (Pinni B Building) in November 2017.
TaRC draws on knowledge and experience from different professional fields and pursues a multidisciplinary approach in the areas of media and cultural studies. TaRC aims to:
• advance new areas of research;
• develop international projects;
• provide education in a multilingual environment;
• facilitate understanding and knowledge exchange between East and West.
Logo of the University of Tampere. Credit: http://www2.uta.fi/en
The University of Tampere, a member institution of the Finnish Center of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture, has established a knowledge hub focusing on Chinese and Russian media: the Tampere Research Centre for Russian and Chinese Media (TaRC).
TaRC’s opening seminar will be held in the University of Tampere (Pinni B Building) on 2–3 November 2017.
Please register electronically through this link: https://elomake3.uta.fi/lomakkeet/1986
The event is free of charge.
About TaRC
TaRC draws on knowledge and experience from different professional fields and pursues a multidisciplinary approach in the areas of media and cultural studies. TaRC aims to:
• advance new areas of research;
• develop international projects;
• provide education in a multilingual environment;
• facilitate understanding and knowledge exchange between East and West.
University of Helsinki
