Decoding China's Foreign-Related Rule of Law

More than four dozen scholars from around the world gathered at NYU School of Law and online for a two-day workshop on November 21-22, 2025, to explore the meaning, impact, and future direction of China’s foreign-related rule of law” (FRROL) initiative. “Foreign-related rule of law” is one of the Chinese leadership’s pithy phrases for a big governance idea. Like the more famous Global Security Initiative and Global Development Initiative, FRROL is not a single project or program but a policy signal. It is shorthand for the leadership’s ambition to reexamine and update the rules and processes that undergird China’s legal relationships with foreign actors in both the private and public spheres, and build its capacities to manage those relationships in the national interest. It is sweeping, ambitious, vague, and potentially impactful, depending on how the Chinese legal community – and perhaps the world – responds to the call. Hundreds of academic articles citing FRROL have been published in Chinese but relatively few in English. The workshop, organized by the U.S.-Asia Law Institute and Mapping Global China, showed that the shortage of English-language scholarship is about to change. Most of the nineteen presenters are in the process of writing articles (and one book) or have just published articles that include analysis of FRROL. # AGENDA Friday 9 am – 12:15 pm 9:00 - 9:10 Welcome remarks 9:10 - 9:45 Kong Qingjiang, professor of law at China University of Political Science and Law [online from China]: Towards a Treaty Implementation Law Commentator: Shen Wei, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Law School 9:45 - 10:20 Cong Gao, senior solicitor at Gherson Solicitors LLP, [online from London]: China’s New Regime in International Law: Advancing Cooperation Amid Global Instability Commentator: Ngozi Nwoko, assistant professor at Lakehead University [online] 10:20 - 10:35 am Break 10:35 - 11:10 Chen Zhen, researcher in the Private International Law Department of the Law faculty at Groningen University [online from Netherlands]: legal standing in cultural property claims Commentator: Katherine Wilhelm, executive director of USALI at NYU Law 11:10 - 11:45 Malcolm Jorgensen, senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law: China’s Foreign-Related Rule of Law and Hegemonic Legitimacy Commentator: Zeming Liu, lawyer at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP 11:45 - 12:15 Xuan W. Tay, doctoral candidate at Adelaide Law School & Justin Li, senior student at NYU Stern School of Business: An Overview of the Foreign-Related Rule of Law Scholarship Commentator: Malcolm Jorgensen, senior research fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law 12:15 - 1:15 pm Lunch break Friday 1:15--4:20 pm 1:15- 1:50 Jeanne Huang, associate professor at the University of Sydney: China’s 2025 Arbitration Law and Data Governance: A Change in Direction? Commentator: Keith Hand, professor of law at University of California, San Francisco 1:50 - 2:25 Susan Finder, distinguished scholar in residence at Peking University School of Transnational Law: Role of Supreme Peoples’ Court in FRROL Commentator: Junhao Chen, JSD student at NYU Law 2:25 - 2:35 pm Break 2:35 - 3:10 Benjamin Liebman, professor of law at Columbia Law School & Zeming Liu, lawyer at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP: Redefining Law in China Commentator: Clement Yongxi Chen, senior lecturer at the ANU College of Law 3:10 - 3:45 Jacques deLisle, professor of law and political science at University of Pennsylvania: Foreign-Related Rule of Law: Its Place in China’s Xi Jinping-Era Legal Engagement with the Outside World Commentator: Xuan W. Tay, doctoral candidate at Adelaide Law School 3:45 - 4:20 Fabio Morosini, professor of law at UFRGS Law School: International Economic Law by Other Means: Chinese Investments in Brazil's Agribusiness Commentator: Ignacio Tornero, founder & CEO of East Consulting Saturday 9 am--12:00 pm 9:00 - 9:40 Wang Heng, professor of law at SMU school of law [online from Singapore] & You Chuanmen, senior lecturer at Singapore University of Social Science [in person]: China’s AI regulation Commentator: Shen Wei, professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Law School 9:40 - 10:20 Ka Lok Yip, assistant professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University [online from Qatar]: China and the third nomos of the earth Commentator: Maria Adele Carrai, assistant professor at NYU Shanghai 10:20 - 10:30 am Break 10:30 - 11:10 Junhao Chen, JSD student at NYU Law: China’s Emerging Jurisdictional Maximalism Commentator: William Dodge, professor of comparative law and jurisprudence at George Washington Law School 11:10 - 11:50 Keith Hand, professor of law at University of California, San Francisco: China’s External Legal Struggle: Capacity and Constraints Commentator: Chu Shuyu, postdoctoral global fellow at NYU Law School 12:00 - 1:00 pm Lunch break Saturday 1:00 - 4:30 pm 1:00 - 1:40 Zhang Kangle, assistant professor of international law at Peking University Law School: Beyond Coherence-China’s evolving international law posture Commentator: Jacques deLisle, professor of law and political science at University of Pennsylvania 1:40 - 2:20 Sophia Tang, professor of law at Wuhan University: From Policy to Law: The Institutionalization of China's Foreign Relations Commentator: Jie (Jeanne) Huang, associate professor at the University of Sydney 2:20 - 2:30 pm Break 2:30 - 3:10 Samuli Seppanen, associate professor of law at China University of Hong Kong Law School: Foreign-Related Rule of Law and the Construction of Chinese Legal Soft Power Commentator: Kangle Zhang, assistant professor of international law at Peking University Law School 3:10 - 3:50 Bulelani Jili, assistant professor at Georgetown University School of Foreign Service: China’s legal influence in African lawmaking in the ICT space Commentator: Obert Bore, program manager of Zimbabwe Environmental Law Organisation 3:50 - 4: 30 Ignacio Tornero, founder & CEO of East Consulting: Chinese State-Owned Enterprises in Latin America: SASAC and State Grid’s Acquisition of Chilquinta in Chile Commentator: Jiajun Luo, Hauser postdoctoral global fellow at NYU Law 4:30 Closing remarks