Guest Lecture Prof. Gong, Fudan University -The positions of China and the EU on WTO reform: comparison and cooperation

With the Doha Development Round negotiations blocked, the WTO dispute settlement mechanism missing lawyers to decide cases and general discontent about commercial flows and trade law rising, most WTO members agree that reform of this organization is long overdue. However the suggestions and priorities for reform vary substantially, and therefore concrete progress on WTO reform has remained elusive.

To get a better understanding of the challenges and possibilities ahead, Prof. Gong proposes a closer look at China and the EU, two major forces in the international trading system, their respective preferences, and what this entails in terms of future Sino-European cooperation in the governance of international commercial relations. This is also of considerable relevance for bilateral relations, as China and the EU are top trading partners, and cooperation in this field forms the backbone of their partnership.

The speaker:
Prof Gong Baihua has a distinguished career as trade law expert, combining prestigious academic positions with successful practice as a lawyer and arbitrator. He is Professor of International Law at the Law School of Fudan University, Shanghai, and Associate Dean of the Shanghai Advanced Institute for Lawyers at the same university. He is also a part-time lawyer with a law firm in Shanghai and arbitrator with the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Center. Prof. Gong holds degrees from the Law Center of Georgetown University in the US, and from the Law School of Fudan University. He has published widely on WTO dispute settlement, international economic disputes, and international finance law.