国际商法概论 International Business Law

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Applicability of international business law in China
• If an international treaty/agreement concluded or acceded to by China contains provisions different from those found in this Chinese law, the provisions of the international treaty/agreement shall prevail. • Unless the provisions are the ones on which China has openly announced reservations.
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Case Law
• Case law can also be a source of international business law. • A lot of countries recognize the courts’ decisions as law made by the judge. • China accepts that international treaties or international conventions constitute a source of international law. • China respects the relevance of case law to international treaties or international conventions.
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Major sources of international business law
• Bilateral/regional/multilateral treaties • International conventions/agreements • International model laws • European Union law • Trade customs and usages • Domestic/national legislation/statutes/rules
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Principles embodied in international business law
These principles are normally known as • economic sovereignty • equality and mutual benefits • international cooperation • adherence to pacts and contractual obligations
International Business Law
Lecture 1 (re-cap) Commerce on a global scale – understanding international business law
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Our focus – international trade related issues • WTO principles • Bilateral/regional/multilateral agreements/free trade zones (areas) • Trade remedies – antidumping/countervailing duty • Trade barriers - tariff/non-tariff barriers • Intellectual property protection • Contract law principles and rules • Using different business vehicles • Foreign investment rional business law • Today’s international business law has a much wider scope of applicability. • It is not only applicable to merchants, but equally to national governments, to global/international/regional organizations, to private individuals, to legal persons (multinational corporations, public/private limited liability companies), and to many other forms of associations (partnerships, sole traders, charities, etc.)
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A Relatively Complete Legal Regime • In today’s time, a relatively complete legal system is in place in China. • Such a law regime is based on civil law systems (particularly the German legal framework). • Such a system has also incorporated certain common law elements and doctrines (especially in commercial law fields) aimed towards dovetailing with international best practices.
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China’s Opening-up • Starting reform and opening-up in the late 1970s • Attracting foreign investment from matured economies • Foreign investment law regime established in China, in parallel with a separate legal framework for governing domestic businesses and indigenous corporate operations
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A definition of ‘international business law’? • There is no universally accepted definition of international business law.
• International business law may simply be understood as some norms and principles, legally binding or not legally binding, applicable for doing business on a global scale.
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The Lex Mercatoria • Cross-border trade customs and practices were known to derive from the medieval lex mercatoria, the Latin for ‘merchant law’. • In English, it is termed as ‘the law merchant’. • The law merchant formed the basis for modern commercial law.
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China’s Socialist Market Economy and Accession into WTO
• In the early 1990s, a socialist market economy was officially launched in China. • The old planned economy model was abandoned. • China’s economic ascendance boosted the development of China’s legal system. • A change in China’s legal development landscape appeared far more conspicuous with China’s accession to the World Trade Organization in 2001.