China and International Economic Law Series – serie

Amid the ongoing crisis surrounding the WTO, China’s role and behaviour in the multilateral trading system has attracted overwhelming attention. This timely monograph provides the first comprehensive and systemic analysis of China’s compliance with the rulings of the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). It covers all the disputes in which China has been a respondent during its 17-year WTO membership and offers a detailed discussion of China’s implementation of adverse WTO rulings, its approaches to settling WTO disputes, the possible explanations for such approaches, and post-compliance issues. The book shows how China has utilised the limitations and flexibilities of WTO rulings to ensure that its implementation of the rulings not only delivers adequate compliance but also maintains its own interests.Overall, this book argues that the issues relating to the quality of China’s compliance and post-compliance practices concern the loopholes within the DSM itself which may be utilised by all WTO Members. However, despite the loopholes, China’s record of compliance suggests that the DSM has been largely effective in inducing compliance and influencing domestic policy-making. It is therefore in the interest of all WTO Members and other stakeholders to protect the DSM as the ‘crown jewel’ of the multilateral trading system.

Amid the ongoing crisis surrounding the WTO, China''s role and behaviour in the multilateral trading system has attracted overwhelming attention. This timely monograph provides the first comprehensive and systemic analysis of China''s compliance with the rulings of the WTO''s dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). It covers all the disputes in which China has been a respondent during its 17-year WTO membership and offers a detailed discussion of China''s implementation of adverse WTO rulings, its approaches to settling WTO disputes, the possible explanations for such approaches, and post-compliance issues. The book shows how China has utilised the limitations and flexibilities of WTO rulings to ensure that its implementation of the rulings not only delivers adequate compliance but also maintains its own interests.Overall, this book argues that the issues relating to the quality of China''s compliance and post-compliance practices concern the loopholes within the DSM itself which may be utilised by all WTO Members. However, despite the loopholes, China''s record of compliance suggests that the DSM has been largely effective in inducing compliance and influencing domestic policy-making. It is therefore in the interest of all WTO Members and other stakeholders to protect the DSM as the ''crown jewel'' of the multilateral trading system.

Amid the ongoing crisis surrounding the WTO, China''s role and behaviour in the multilateral trading system has attracted overwhelming attention. This timely monograph provides the first comprehensive and systemic analysis of China''s compliance with the rulings of the WTO''s dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). It covers all the disputes in which China has been a respondent during its 17-year WTO membership and offers a detailed discussion of China''s implementation of adverse WTO rulings, its approaches to settling WTO disputes, the possible explanations for such approaches, and post-compliance issues. The book shows how China has utilised the limitations and flexibilities of WTO rulings to ensure that its implementation of the rulings not only delivers adequate compliance but also maintains its own interests.Overall, this book argues that the issues relating to the quality of China''s compliance and post-compliance practices concern the loopholes within the DSM itself which may be utilised by all WTO Members. However, despite the loopholes, China''s record of compliance suggests that the DSM has been largely effective in inducing compliance and influencing domestic policy-making. It is therefore in the interest of all WTO Members and other stakeholders to protect the DSM as the ''crown jewel'' of the multilateral trading system.

Amid the ongoing crisis surrounding the WTO, China’s role and behaviour in the multilateral trading system has attracted overwhelming attention. This timely monograph provides the first comprehensive and systemic analysis of China’s compliance with the rulings of the WTO’s dispute settlement mechanism (DSM). It covers all the disputes in which China has been a respondent during its 17-year WTO membership and offers a detailed discussion of China’s implementation of adverse WTO rulings, its approaches to settling WTO disputes, the possible explanations for such approaches, and post-compliance issues. The book shows how China has utilised the limitations and flexibilities of WTO rulings to ensure that its implementation of the rulings not only delivers adequate compliance but also maintains its own interests.Overall, this book argues that the issues relating to the quality of China’s compliance and post-compliance practices concern the loopholes within the DSM itself which may be utilised by all WTO Members. However, despite the loopholes, China’s record of compliance suggests that the DSM has been largely effective in inducing compliance and influencing domestic policy-making. It is therefore in the interest of all WTO Members and other stakeholders to protect the DSM as the ‘crown jewel’ of the multilateral trading system.

In the context of harmonisation of arbitration law and practice worldwide, to what extent do local legal traditions still influence local arbitration practices, especially at a time when non-Western countries are playing an increasingly important role in international commercial and financial markets? How are the new economic powers reacting to the trend towards harmonisation? China provides a good case study, with its historic tradition of non-confrontational means of dispute resolution now confronting current trends in transnational arbitration. Is China showing signs of adapting to the current trend of transnational arbitration? On the other hand, will Chinese legal culture influence the practice of arbitration in the rest of the world? To address these challenging questions it is necessary to examine the development of arbitration in the context of China''s changing cultural and legal structures. Written for international business people, lawyers, academics and students, this book gives the reader a unique insight into arbitration practice in China, based on a combination of theoretical analysis and practical insights. It explains contemporary arbitration in China from an interdisciplinary perspective and with a comparative approach, setting Chinese arbitration in its wider social context to aid understanding of its history, contemporary practice, the legal obstacles to modern arbitration and possible future trends. In 2011 the thesis on which this book was based was named ''Best Thesis in International Studies'' by the Swiss Network for International Studies.“What distinguishes this work from other books on international arbitration is its interdisciplinary perspective and comparative approach...this book makes a remarkable contribution to the understanding of arbitration in China and transnational arbitration in general. Academics, scholars and students of international arbitration, comparative studies and globalisation may all find this book stimulating. It also provides useful guidance for practitioners involved or interested in arbitration in China.” From the Foreword by Gabrielle Kaufmann-KohlerThis title is included in Bloomsbury Professional''s International Arbitration online service.

EU investment in China has increased dramatically since the early 1990s and is poised to increase further in light of Chinas recent accession to the World Trade Organisation. This book explores and critically appraises the existing legal framework governing EU-China investment relations,particularly EU investment in China. The current legal framework is composed of Chinese law, EU law and applicable international law, but the Chinese law is unsystematic and hard to discover and the EU has acquired only shared external investment competence which is vaguely defined. The applicable international treaties are incomplete, incoherent, or either too general or too specialised. Besides this, the international fora to settle investment disputes are still not readily available. Furthermore while law has played a very important role in decision-making by EU investors, the Chinese legal system is generally perceived as ineffective and lacking in effective enforcement of court and arbitration decisions.What the book demonstrates is that the time is ripe for a new international legal framework for foreign investment in China, and that as EU-China economic and political relations continue to improve, construction of such a framework is not only necessary, but also possible.

Although business people often regard licensing requirements as a major obstacle to investment and new ventures, the development of a well-designed regulatory licensing system is also widely believed to promote social welfare. This book explores the existing regulatory licensing systems in China, particularly those typically affected by the rising of the sharing economy, and critically appraises them using a law-and-economics approach. The first part presents a general description of Chinese regulatory licensing systems. Secondly, the book discusses the design and evaluation of regulatory licensing systems by applying law-and-economics theories to three major issues: the use of licensing as a means of regulation and as opposed to other means of regulation; the setting up of standards imposed through regulatory licensing systems; and the arrangement of procedures adopted for regulatory licensing systems. Thirdly, on the basis of the above theoretical framework, this book develops a critical evaluation of current Chinese regulatory licensing systems from the aforementioned three issues. In particular, it looks at licensing regimes for three sectors: lawyers, taxis and pharmaceutical products in China. The book will be of great interest to scholars, practitioners and policymakers.

This book presents a comprehensive survey of Chinese legal and regulatory systems governing international trade following China's accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the coming into force of the revised PRC Foreign Trade Law. It provides a systematic and in-depth analysis on the text of applicable Chinese laws and rules,with a particular focus on their practical application. It also critically explores whether international trade regulation in China complies with the WTO Agreement both in the text and in spirit and identifies areas where improvements by Chinese trade regulators would be desirable.The book starts with an analysis of basic issues of international trade regulation in China. Part II, covers foreign trading rights, trade restrictions and prohibitions, licensing and quotas, customs regulation, health, safety and technical standards, and trade in technology. Part III discusses trade protection and remedies available under PRC law, in the form of anti-dumping law, anti-subsidy law, safeguarding measures and trade retaliation.Part IV explores new regulatory issues, including trade promotion, trade and competition, trade and IP rights protection, and resolution of trade disputes. The book combines analysis with detailed practical advice and will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policy makers.

This book consists of a series of integrated studies of sites of governance, global legal pluralism and the regulation of international trade. It focuses on the EU, the WTO and China and is divided into three parts. Part one surveys the literature on law and globalisation and introduces the theory of sites of governance and the concept of global legal pluralism. It shows that each site of governance has a structural dimension consisting of institutions, norms and dispute resolution processes and a relational dimension which refers to relations between that site and other sites of governance. The totality of sites of governance constitute a new form of global legal pluralism. Part two then focuses on the EU, the WTO and China as three distinct but interrelated sites of governance.Concentrating in particular on the example of antidumping the chapters in this part deal with international legislation, the translation of rules in domestic law, the judicial construction of multi-site governance, the types of rules which are used to regulate international trade and relations between sites, the ways in which relations between sites can create new concepts of international trade law, the transformation of norms from soft law to hard law, and the role of strategic actors, notably national administrations and international companies, in the creation and regulation of contested markets in international trade. Part three develops the main themes further by analysing two specific instances of international trade regulation: the governance of global economic networks, and the governance of global institutions. The final chapter considers ways in which global legal pluralism can enrich and possibly reform the WTO, today the predominant institution in the regulation of international trade, including trade between the EU and China.

This book is a comprehensive reference book and commentary on basic documents about relations between the EU and the People's Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It contains all significant official and unofficial documents in English and Chinese about EU-China relations since the founding of the PRC in 1949. Since the opening-up of China in 1979, and especially after the establishment of the EU in 1992, relations between the EU and China have developed apace. Today the EU and China are 'strategic partners', with a very broad-based relationship, extending far beyond trade to encompass a growing number of important economic, political, social and cultural domains. The relationship is certain to gain in importance with increasing globalisation, EU expansion, Chinese membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the renewal and development of China, and changes in the international trading system and international politics. This book provides an indispensable foundation for teaching, research, policy-making and advising on EU-China relations.It includes both documents originally published in English and English translations of documents previously available only in Chinese, French or Portuguese. Essential to every library, it will also be required reading for students, teachers, researchers, policy-makers, legal practitioners and government officials in the EU, China, the United States and elsewhere.

EU investment in China has increased dramatically since the early 1990s and is poised to increase further in light of Chinas recent accession to the World Trade Organisation. This book explores and critically appraises the existing legal framework governing EU-China investment relations,particularly EU investment in China.The current legal framework is composed of Chinese law, EU law and applicable international law, but the Chinese law is unsystematic and hard to discover and the EU has acquired only shared external investment competence which is vaguely defined. The applicable international treaties are incomplete, incoherent, or either too general or too specialised. Besides this, the international fora to settle investment disputes are still not readily available. Furthermore while law has played a very important role in decision-making by EU investors, the Chinese legal system is generally perceived as ineffective and lacking in effective enforcement of court and arbitration decisions. What the book demonstrates is that the time is ripe for a new international legal framework for foreign investment in China, and that as EU-China economic and political relations continue to improve, construction of such a framework is not only necessary, but also possible.

This book presents a comprehensive survey of Chinese legal and regulatory systems governing international trade following China''s accession to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the coming into force of the revised PRC Foreign Trade Law. It provides a systematic and in-depth analysis on the text of applicable Chinese laws and rules,with a particular focus on their practical application. It also critically explores whether international trade regulation in China complies with the WTO Agreement both in the text and in spirit and identifies areas where improvements by Chinese trade regulators would be desirable.The book starts with an analysis of basic issues of international trade regulation in China. Part II, covers foreign trading rights, trade restrictions and prohibitions, licensing and quotas, customs regulation, health, safety and technical standards, and trade in technology. Part III discusses trade protection and remedies available under PRC law, in the form of anti-dumping law, anti-subsidy law, safeguarding measures and trade retaliation. Part IV explores new regulatory issues, including trade promotion, trade and competition, trade and IP rights protection, and resolution of trade disputes. The book combines analysis with detailed practical advice and will be of interest to academics, practitioners and policy makers.

This book is a comprehensive reference book and commentary on basic documents about relations between the EU and the People''s Republic of China from 1949 to the present. It contains all significant official and unofficial documents in English and Chinese about EU-China relations since the founding of the PRC in 1949. Since the opening-up of China in 1979, and especially after the establishment of the EU in 1992, relations between the EU and China have developed apace. Today the EU and China are ''strategic partners'', with a very broad-based relationship, extending far beyond trade to encompass a growing number of important economic, political, social and cultural domains. The relationship is certain to gain in importance with increasing globalisation, EU expansion, Chinese membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the renewal and development of China, and changes in the international trading system and international politics. This book provides an indispensable foundation for teaching, research, policy-making and advising on EU-China relations. It includes both documents originally published in English and English translations of documents previously available only in Chinese, French or Portuguese. Essential to every library, it will also be required reading for students, teachers, researchers, policy-makers, legal practitioners and government officials in the EU, China, the United States and elsewhere.

This book presents a new theoretical framework for understanding the regulation of international trade. For this purpose, it analyses a series of integrated studies of relations between the EU, the WTO and China. It consists of three main parts. Part I introduces the basic concepts. It surveys the literature on law and globalisation, introduces the concept of sites of governance and the theory of global legal pluralism and sketches the foundations of global legal pluralism. It shows that each site of governance has both a structural dimension, consisting of institutions, norms and dispute resolution processes, and a relational dimension, comprising its relations with other sites of governance. The totality of sites of governance constitutes a new form of global legal pluralism. Part II analyses global legal pluralism in action in relations between the EU, the WTO and China. It examines the construction of relations between sites, ways in which relations between sites give rise to new legal concepts or transform the character of rules, the tension between regionalism and international integration and the governance of international production networks. It emphasises the reciprocal interaction between the structural features and the relational features of sites. Part III explores new directions in global legal pluralism. It first analyses regional trade agreements as a way of creating new sites of governance, focusing on agreements involving China. Then it considers how to enhance ethical values in international trade regulation. Based on an institutional analysis of relations between the WTO and other sites of governance, it proposes ways in which global legal pluralism can be used to reform the WTO, today the predominant institution in the regulation of international trade, including trade between the EU and China.