The Lecture on “the Global Vision of the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative: An Analysis Based on Private International Law”Held at CASS Law Institute

On July 10, 2018, Professor Zang Dongsheng, Director of the Asian Law Center and the Leader of the Research Team on of the “Belt and Road” Initiative at the Law School of Washington University, gave a lecture entitled “the Global Vision of ‘the Belt and Road’ Initiative: An Analysis Based on Private International Law” at CASS Law Institute. The lecture was presided over by Professor Hu Shuijun, a research fellow at CASS Law Institute. Professor Zhu Jingwen from the Law School of Renmin University of China and Professor Wu Yuzhang, a research fellow at CASS Law Institute, served as the two commentators at the lecture.

In the lecture, Professor Zang Dongsheng pointed out that China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative, which involves over 60 countries, is faced with many legal issues, such as the jurisdiction of courts and the application of legal rules in the practice, and thus created a certain tension between public international law order and private international law order. This tension is embodied in a concentrated way in the issue of immunity of commercial acts, which involves national sovereignty. Professor Zang analyzed these issues in light of some concrete law cases in China and abroad. He pointed out that China’s “Belt and Road” Initiative focuses on international trade and has no intention of changing the local systems in countries involved. At the practical level, however, the local rule of law environment, including transparency, will affect international investment risk. This is a practical legal issue currently faced by the “Belt and Road” Initiative, just as it had been faced by some big powers before in history.