Chinese SOEs in global trade

Webinar Series on State-owned enterprises in global trade:

Time for refreshing studies?

“Chinese SOEs in global trade”

Chinese State-owned enterprises (SOEs) are one of the liveliest debated topics in international trade law. The key role played by SOEs in China’s economy and their increasing presence in international markets has posed a number of challenges to the multilateral trading system as conceived in the context of the WTO legal framework. Against this background the following questions arise: do SOEs indeed represent a challenge for WTO law? Does the multilateral trade legal framework have the tools needed to tackle the issues brought about by Chinese SOEs in global trade? Or has the time come for a fresh regulation of these entities? If yes, should this framework be established within the WTO multilateral context? Would/does the regional dimension provide more efficient legal solutions instead? This webinar wishes to discuss these questions.

Speakers:

Prof. Petros C. Mavroidis, Edwin B. Parker Professor of Foreign and Comparative Law at Columbia Law School, and Prof. André Sapir, economist, Professor at the Université Libre the Bruxelles and Senior Fellow at Bruegel, on the basis of their recently published book on China and WTO: Why Multilateralism Still Matters, will discuss whether it is time for a multilateral intergovernmental discussion on SOEs.

Prof. Weihuan Zhou, Associate Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), in the light of his academic works, will intervene on existing WTO rules and recent developments in China’s SOEs reforms. The discussion will also cover the CPTPP SOE Chapter and its weaknesses when dealing with Chinese SOEs, with specific reference to China’s WTO-plus obligations.

Prof. Claudio Dordi, Associate Professor of International law at Bocconi University, will provide further perspectives based on its experience as Technical Assistance Team Leader of the EU-Vietnam Multilateral Trade Assistance Project.

Prof. Julia Y. Qin, Professor of Law at the Wayne State University, based on her extensive academic expertise, will provide insights in the overall discussion.

Moderator:

Prof. Lorenza Mola, Associate Professor of International law at the University of Turin.

Info:
Anna Panarella, PhD Candidate, University of Turin
anna.panarella@unito.it

The event is free, but registration is required.