Weekly News Collection

LAW

Commercial arbitration reveals domestic environment

Arbitration has become the optimum option for resolving international commercial disputes, said Wang Xiaochuan, a professor of law from the University of International Business and Economics at a recent symposium. Arbitration can resolve international disputes more professionally, rapidly, conveniently, confidentially and peacefully, he said. A ruling on a civil or business case involving foreign factors provides an important way for the international community to observe the domestic judicial environment of a nation, said Song Lianbin, a professor of law from the China University of Political Science and Law. Such cases involve not only the application of laws of the state where the case is tried, but also the choice between Chinese laws and foreign laws as well as the application of foreign laws, and international treaties and norms, which requires more complicated legal technologies and methodologies, Song said.

INTERNATIONAL RELATION 

Chinese in int’l organizations help explain China
Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) established a School of International Organizations recently. China’s position and influence in global governance has been widely recognized in recent years, so Chinese should be more active in decision-making and coordination on the international stage, said He Changchui, former deputy director-general of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. China should contribute to the world with global awareness, elevating the voice of international organizations by joining in the construction of multiple mechanisms and rules, said Zhang Zhizhou, a professor of international relations from BFSU. Only by participating in the making and amending of rules can China’s position be better explained and understood, he said, adding it is the requirement of China’s interaction with the world as well as an important way of forming China’s proposed solutions to global issues. 

ECONOMY
Southern bay area helps China go global
The development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area, which includes nine cities in Guangdong Province as well as Hong Kong and Macao, was first mentioned in China’s 2017 central government work report. Commenting on the bay area development, Chen En, executive director of the Center of Studies on the Regional Cooperation of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, said the establishment of this new bay area has two goals: One is to build a world-class bay area economy; the other is to establish a base and platform for enterprises in inland China, Hong Kong and Macao to go global. This new bay area is not only a city cluster with multiple systems, institutions, paths, cultures and centers but also a system of mutually complementary industries, Chen suggested.   

Report: ODI faces both opportunity, challenge
The 2017 Annual Report on China’s Outbound Direct Investment and Host Country Risks was released by the Institute of World Economy and Politics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences on April 10. The report suggests China’s outbound direct investment (ODI) grew rapidly in the past two years, making China the second-largest source country for ODI. However, the three intertwined problems of ethnic and religious factors, changes in geopolitical landscapes and the weak growth and imbalance of global economy have caused increasing risks for all countries, posing great challenge for China’s ODI, according to the report. The report showed confidence in China’s ODI in the mid and long term, indicating there is great potential in regions along the proposed routes of the “Belt and Road” initiative and Latin America.