From international to China-centred transnational approaches
WTO litigation, ICJ participation, arbitration, mediation, Chinese courts, and forum design.
China's dispute-settlement practice is not simply pro- or anti-adjudication. It is forum-specific: active in WTO litigation, cautious toward compulsory maritime adjudication, increasingly interested in mediation, and attentive to China-centred transnational mechanisms.
关于菲律宾所提南海仲裁案管辖权问题的立场文件
PRC position rejecting jurisdiction in the arbitration initiated by the Philippines.
Central text for China's consent-based approach to international adjudication in maritime disputes.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 'Position Paper on the Matter of Jurisdiction in the South China Sea Arbitration' (7 December 2014).
UNCLOS Annex VII award in the Philippines-China arbitration.
A central reference for China's rejection of compulsory adjudication in a major maritime dispute.
South China Sea Arbitration (Philippines v China), Award (12 July 2016).
WTO dispute settlement page for a China-related trade dispute or comparator dispute in China's trade-law practice.
Useful for mapping China's use of rules-based economic dispute settlement over time.
WTO, 'DS413: dispute settlement case page'.
Example of China presenting itself as a mediator in regional dispute settlement.
Example of China presenting itself as a mediator in regional dispute settlement.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 'China facilitates Saudi-Iran rapprochement' (2023-03-10).
Advisory proceedings on climate obligations under international law.
A live site for China's legal arguments about development, responsibility, and multilateral treaty regimes.
Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change, ICJ advisory proceedings.
Maritime legal order becomes central to later Chinese practice.
One country, two systems becomes a major sovereignty and legal-order issue.
Macau becomes the second SAR governed under one country, two systems.
China enters the multilateral trade law system.
The State Council presents an official interpretation of central authority and Hong Kong autonomy.
China sets out objections to arbitral jurisdiction.
Cai Congyan, 'The Rise of China and International Law' (2019).
Launch bibliography item for scholarly review and expansion.Gregory Shaffer and Henry Gao, 'China's Rise: How It Took on the U.S. at the WTO' (2018).
Launch bibliography item for scholarly review and expansion.Tom Ginsburg, 'Authoritarian International Law?' (2020).
Launch bibliography item for scholarly review and expansion.