On the morning of November 18^th, James Bacchus, former chairman of the WTO Appellate Body (twice) and professor of the University of Central Florida, was invited to Fudan Law School to deliver a lecture on topic of “the Necessity of Cooperation: China and the United States in the Twenty First Century”. The lecture was presided over by Vice Dean Chen Li. Prof. Zhang Naigen, Associate Research Fellow Chen Li and some graduate students of our institute attended the meeting.

At the start, Vice Dean Chen Li expressed warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to Prof. James Bacchus for his arrival, and introduced his main experience and the outstanding contributions to the establishment and development of the WTO Appellate Body. Prof. James Bacchus is one of the founding members and has served twice as the chairman of the Appellate Body. He wrote numerous landmark legal opinions along with six colleagues during the first decade of the WTO. Prof. James Bacchus has also worked as a member of the Congress of the United States, journalist and a lawyer, and is currently a professor at the University of Central Florida.

Prof. James Bacchus delivering his speech

In the lecture, Prof. James Bacchus firstly put forward the idea that “Sino-US cooperation is not only beneficial, but also necessary” in combination with his own experience as the chairman of the WTO Appellate Body. Subsequently, he elaborated on the necessity of Sino-US cooperation in the two legal fields of trade and environmental protection (especially climate change), emphasizing that only with the cooperation of China and the United States can many international issues be solved.

 Prof. James Bacchus together with Prof. Zhang Naigen, Vice Dean Chen Li, Prof. Ma Zhongfa and Associate Research Fellow Chen Li of our insitute

In the discussion session, Prof. Zhang Naigen gave a brief summary of Prof. James Bacchus's speech, and discussed with him on the prospects of Sino-US cooperation in the context of Sino-US trade war. Associate Research Fellow Chen Li and some graduate students also exchanged opinions with Prof. James Bacchus on the problems now faced by the WTO Appellate Body, the possible reforms of WTO Appellate Body, and how should WTO rules apply to China. The lecture ended successfully in an atmosphere of heated discussion.

Correspondent: YANG Yuhan, LLM Student of International law, Class 2021