There is an increasing number of high-tech and innovation companies incorporating in a dual-class share structure globally. In the past two years, jurisdictions such as Singapore and Hong Kong have allowed the structure. This discussion briefly considers whether it is time to adopt dual-class structures in capital markets in Australia. Permitting dual-class companies to access public financial...

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on investment arbitration are significant and still emerging. State measures to curb the spread of the virus and to mitigate domestic economic crisis, albeit for legitimate public interest and in line with the call for action by the WHO, have resulted in negative impacts on foreign investment and could potentially be challenged by investors through the investor...

Australia’s relationship with China is on the verge of a historic low after senior government ministers criticised China for lack of transparency in handling the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and pushed for investigations into the origin of the pandemic in Wuhan, China. Australia’s economic recovery after COVID-19, however, requires the broadening and deepening of economic cooperation...

In addition to the serious implications for people’s health and public healthcare services, COVID-19 is having and will continue to have a significant social and economic impact, which also imposes challenges for the administration of justice. 

Businesses may need to focus on rebuilding their business relationship, re-negotiating the contract, or finding alternative paths to resolve their...

The COVID 19 pandemic presents a clash of humanitarian and economic goals and costs. The extent of the resultant loss and damage to lives and communities is huge. Competition law and policy will be critical to ensuring that markets remain vibrant both globally and in individual jurisdictions. 

Competition law raises questions about the acceptable extent of collaboration to ensure supply chains...

COVID-19 is a global health crisis and a global trade crisis. It is a pressure test for governments, businesses and the public, changing the world economy more than most expected and in ways never seen before. “The Great Lockdown”, as it has been called by the IMF, disrupts trade both in supply and demand. Many governments are turning inward. 

What should trade rely upon in extreme situations...

The recent U.S. Supreme Court case, Animal Science Products, Inc. v. Hebei Welcome Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, concerns what weight should be given to the Chinese government’s submission of Chinese law. On Page 58 of the trial transcript, Justice Kagan and Ginsburg asked how about other countries dealing with formal submissions from the Chinese government. There are two examples. 

 

One is Hong Kong...

ANZ Bank, Shanghai Branch v. Ningbo Haitian International Trade Co.,(the ANZ case) decided by the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China[1], involved  a contract for LC financing instead of the trade of goods. The beneficiary was paid by the nominated bank and the issuing bank undertook to reimburse the nominated negotiating bank 90 days later. It was determined by the court to...

Bill Shorten’s proposal to triple anti-dumping penalties demonstrates a misunderstanding of dumping and its impact on the economy. It also misunderstands when anti-dumping measures may be lawfully applied and to what extent. https://theconversation.com/shortens-plan-to-triple-anti-dumping-penalti...

China has imposed retaliatory duties on US food imports including pork, fruit, nuts, and wine of up to 25 per cent as a response to President Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports under Section 232. This is a real trade war between the United States and China in forty years of China's opening-up and the first time that both nations have taken measures. Is the 2018 trade war similar to...

The presentation was conducted half on Professor Deng’s recent research on the Common and Symmetry Responsibility in Climate Change, and half on “Conducting Research on Chinese Law” as the first topic of the CIBEL Ph.D. Seminar. Each section was followed by a short Q&A session.

Common and Symmetry Responsibility

Professor Deng gave a stimulating presentation on the principle of common and...

Background

In December 2001, China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) after 14 years of negotiations. One of the keenly debated issues during the accession negotiations was the treatment of China as a non-market economy (NME) – an economy where costs and prices are not dependent on market forces of demand and supply. This classification has resulted in WTO Members resorting to a...

Background

In its unique geopolitical and economic circumstances, Israel has traditionally viewed the US and the EU as its chief international economic partners. After the establishment of One Belt, One Road project (OBOR), how should Israel -one of the OECD's smallest members - reconsider its global economic strategies as centers of economic and political gravity are shifting to the east? Prof...

On 30 June 2017, for the first time in history, Chinese court recognized and enforced a U.S. commercial monetary judgment. The case is Liu Li v. Tao Li and Tong Wu[1] decided by the Intermediate People’s Court of Wuhan City.

In this case, Liu Li (‘Liu’) concluded a Share Transfer Agreement with Tao Li (‘Tao’) on 22 September 2013 in the U.S., providing that Tao shall transfer 50% share of Jia...

Official statements and public opinions in Australia and China have been overwhelmingly positive on the impact of the China – Australia Free Trade Agreement (“ChAFTA”) on Chinese investment in Australia. This is an overstatement of the impact. Australia’s ChAFTA commitments on investment liberalisation and investor protection are limited and may not create sufficient incentives for or boost the...

In a few industries, privately-owned Chinese enterprises have actively advocated their voice in international rule-making. E-commerce is one example. Jack Ma, Alibaba Group Executive Chairman and United Nations Assistant Secretary-General, is calling for the establishment of an Electronic World Trade Platform (‘eWTP’) to help small to medium-sized enterprises (‘SMEs’), developing countries and...

Professor Xinquan Tu discussed the new feature of Trump’s trade policy to China and analyzed the potential US – China trade relations in the near future.

Background

US trade policy towards China has experienced four stages of priority from the second year of the “Reform and Opening-up Policy until now. At the very start, from 1979 to 1989, national security was the major concern of the US...

Dr Weihuan Zhou presented a recent research on “Chinese Investment in Australia after the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA)” at UNSW Law Staff Seminar on 25 July 2017. The presentation reviewed Chinese outbound investment policies and the investment complementarity between China and Australia, which have been the major drivers for Chinese investment in Australia in the past decade...

Dr. Hassan Qaqaya’s presentation covered a broad range of issues in the context of Competition and Trade Policies relating to China.

Background

Generally speaking, if we assume China as a closed economy or in a state of autarky, it would be self-sufficient, with production for domestic consumption only. With no distortions and an efficient market there perhaps would not be a need for government...

While it is a matter of ongoing debate whether it is China that will shake the world or the world that will shake China, there is little doubt that China has been skilfully riding the wave of, and taking benefits from, globalisation. (Armstrong 2015; Summers 2015) It is equally true that China’s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) 15 years ago provided a golden opportunity for it to...

Background

The US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has created political and economic uncertainty in Asia and beyond. China’s role in the context of international economic law may nevertheless be enhanced, given the potential for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to step in and fill in the gap where the TPP has failed. Given ongoing negotiating difficulties...

Wechat is a popular instant communication app in China. Its use in the context of international commercial arbitration and its impacts in the validity of arbitral awards are discussed in the following case.

In September 2016, the Federal Court of Australia rejected the claim raised by Sino Dragon Trading Ltd(‘Sino Dragon’) to set aside an arbitral award rendered by an Australia tribunal. [1] One...

Professor Lo broadly provided an oversight into the development of direct selling and the prohibition of pyramid selling in China, especially after the accession to the WTO in 2001.

The Background of the Issues

Upon its accession to the WTO in 2001, China made a commitment to opening its market to firms engaged in the direct, person-to-person sale of goods to consumers without the involvement of...

China’s FTAs reveal malleability as the most striking feature. The paper analyzes the following questions: what is the trend of China’s FTA approach to investment concerning malleability? Is China a rule follower, shaker or maker? How may China approach the RCEP regarding investment? It argues first that the malleability will probably expand from investment protection to investment liberalization...

On 15th December 2016, CIBEL team visited Tsinghua University School of Law and met Dean and Professor Weixing Shen. Both sides exchanged ideas about student programs and joint research in the field of international economic law.

On 16th December 2016, CIBEL team visited China University of Political Science and Law and met with Dean and Professor Qingjiang Kong. Both schools decide to extend the current cooperation scheme.

On 15th Dec 2016, CIBEL team met Dean and Professor Dr. Shouwen Zhang and had a fruitful discussion about student programs.

On 16th December 2016, CIBEL team met Associate Dean and Professor Huanfang Du and Professor Liyu Han and discussed possible research cooperation between UNSW Law and Renmin Law.

On 13th December, 2016, CIBEL team visited East China University of Political Science and Law and had a productive meeting on student recruitment and joint programs with Dean Professor Dr. Fei XIA of International Cultural Exchange School and Vice Dean Dr. Zhang YONG of Graduate School.

On 13th December 2016, CIBEL team visited China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong China and discussed possibilities of joint training and research with Deputy Director General and Associate Professor Genfa LIU, Associate Professor Danne WANG, and Mr. GuoXing XU.

On 9th December 2016, Associate Dean (International) Professor Colin Picker, Associate Professor Heng Wang, and Dr. Weihuan Zhou visited Southwest University of Political Science and Law (SWUPL) in Chongqing China. They discussed possibilities of cooperations with Vice President Yongxin YUAN of SWUPL.

Associate Dean (International) Professor Colin Picker and the CIBEL delegation met with Dean Weidong Ji of Koguan Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong Unveristy.

Associate Dean (International) Professor Colin Picker and the CIBEL delegation met with Associate Dean Wei Wang of Fudan University School of Law.

On 12th December 2016, the CIBEL has embarked on a two-day “Roadshow" in Shanghai. Led by Associate Dean (International) Professor Colin Picker, the delegation includes Associate Dean (Education) Associate Professor Lisa Toohey, Associate Professor Heng Wang, Associate Professor Xiao-chuan Weng, Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang, Dr. Weihuan Zhou and Dr. Shu Zhang.

They visited Fudan University School of...

Professor Ren’s presentation reviewed investment related commitments in ChAFTA, and explored prospects of bilateral investment between China and Australia after the signature of ChAFTA. At the discussion session, Professor Ren commented broadly on China’s ongoing Market liberalization process.

Investment Related Commitments in ChAFTA

Bilateral investment between China and Australia are mostly...

On 29 September 2016, the Court of Appeal (the ‘CA’) of Singapore published its final judgment on Sanum Investment Ltd v Government of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic [2016] SGCA 157, overturning the Court of First Instance’s decision and confirming the jurisdiction of the tribunal in dealing with an investor-state disputes on the basis of the China-Laos BIT (1993).

In 2012, Sanum, an...

Dr. Colin Hawes’ speech focused on the issue of the ambiguity in Chinese Corporate Law. His talk first introduced the current Chinese legal structure, then interpreted the ambiguity in Chinese Corporate Law, and last stated the problems with current guiding cases system and proposed the suggestions for the improvement of such cases system.

China: A Socialist Civil Law System and the Ambiguity in...

A clear understanding of the key differences and similarities between the Chinese and the Western financial system is essential when it comes to designing and implementing financial regulatory reforms in China. It not only helps policymakers discern whether the problems presented during the Global Financial Crisis were just “Western syndromes” or unavoidable diseases that China will catch sooner...

Recently, the Taizhou Intermediate People's Court applied the public policy ground in denying the recognition and enforcement of an ICC award in Wicor Holdings AG v Taizhou Haopu Investment Co Ltd ( (2015)Tai Zhong Shang Zhong Shen Zi No.00004, 2 June 2016). It became the second case in which the Chinese courts reject the enforcement of a foreign award on the ground of public policy, following the...

Among China’s FTAs, the China-Korea FTA deserves attention. It is one of the deepest China’s FTAs, although it is not comparable with larger trade pacts. Korea is also one of the major trading partners of China. Moreover, the China-Korea FTA is one of the two most recent FTAs of China that were concluded in 2015 (the other one is the China-Australia FTA).

The China–Korea FTA presents two...

Nicholas’ presentation introduced the history and the current status of China’s Silk Road initiative. Based on this introduction, Nicolas proposed more research to be done in the future for the smooth operation of the Silk Road.

Silk Road in Ancient Times

The Silk Road started from the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 22 CE) when China set up the trade link with the Roman Empire. At that time, China...

All are welcome to submit a short essay to CIBEL Blog. The blog should be about law. Its style is flexible. It can include a few sentences or several paragraphs. It must have a title. If you like, you can add footnotes. All submissions should be sent to jeanne.huang@unsw.edu.au. Thank you.

Lord Kelvin once indicated “When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meagre and unsatisfactory kind.”

In the field of economic law, economic impact assessment is a popular tool to quantify the success of an international agreement, to convince states to adopt this...

Dr. Hassan Qaqaya’s presentation addressed the issue of paradigm shift in trade governance as a result of Global Value Chain (GVC) revolution. It has three focuses: the necessity of having in place vertical governance of GVC in the food industry, the need of responding to buyer power concern in relation to competition issues, and the way GVC shapes competition provisions in Trans-Pacific...

According to the recently released data from the Planning and National Land Resources Committee of Shenzhen Municipal government, the average closing price of residential properties in Shenzhen has cooled down to RMB5,6720 (approx.. AUD11,350 per square meter) per square meter. It is said that the price has reduced by RMB5,000 on the year to year basis. Other cities in China also show the same...

China’s 6^th WTO Trade Policy Review (TPR) was conducted on 20 and 22 July 2016. As mandated by the WTO’s Trade Policy Review Mechanism (TPRM), Member countries are required to undertake reviews of their trade and related policies periodically. The TPRM is one of the basic functions of the WTO aiming at the surveillance and the enhancement of the transparency of WTO Members’ trade policies and...