On the night of March 12^th, 2021, the keynote speech titled “Extraterritorial Application of Labor Law and Due Diligence Cases of Chinese TNCs” marked the inauguration of Fudan University Law School’s “Fudan Transnational Corporations and Law Forum.” This Forum aims at providing an inclusive and academically stimulating platform for students, scholars and practitioners who are interested in legal issues and implications of transnational corporations, the activities of which have transcended the spheres of domestic law, comparative law, and international law, covered a wide range of fields of law, and offered a unique angle to unfold the international order in which people used to conceive and perceive from the perspective of sovereign states and international institutions.

At the beginning, Professor CHEN Li, Vice Dean of Fudan University Law School, and Professor GONG Baihua, Chair of the Shanghai Law Society International Law Research Association, jointly addressed the audience by briefly overviewing the history of Fudan University Law School’s development in the discipline of international law and the education of foreign-related legal professionals. Associate Professor LIANG Yong, Deputy Secretary of the China International Investment Arbitration Forum and key initiator of the Forum, hosted this event. 

This first speech was delivered by Mr. LI Libin, Equity Partner of Zhonglun Law Firm, a renowned expert of transnational employment law and labor law litigation. Mr. LI categorized Chinese TNCs’ foreign-related labor relations based on their features that are susceptible to generate transnational litigations and analyzed the applicable law in foreign-related employment and labor dispatch relations, as well as the uncertainties of existing Chinese law that would likely give rise to disputes.

On March 19^th, 2021, the second keynote speech titled “Business and Human Rights: Theories and Practice of International Law” was delivered by YU Liang, Associate Professor of Tianjian University Law School and Ph.D in Law of Maastricht University. In light of the origin and progress of the law-making at the United Nations Human Rights Council on Business and Human Rights, Professor YU revisited the inadequacies of soft law, customer movements, and industries’ self-discipline in addressing human rights problems in transnational business activities. He further illustrated how to divide the responsibilities of host states and home states of TNCs and paid special attention to their due diligence obligation.

The third keynote speech titled “TNCs’ Social Responsibility from the Perspective of International Investment Arbitration” kicked off the special series of “TNCs and International Investment Agreements.” This speech was delivered by Associate Professor LIANG Danni from Sun Yat-Sen University School of Law. Professor LIANG’s speech concentrated on how the principle of contributory fault could assist international tribunals in addressing the responsibilities of foreign investors, whose willful or negligent conduct has materially contributed to the injury caused by an internationally wrongful act of state, and also in determining the amount of compensation accordingly. Professor LIANG illustrated in detail the specified forms of contributory fault and “unclean hands” of foreign investors and their roles in determining and allocating the responsibilities of the host state and foreign investor. Professor ZHANG Naigen, who was invited as the commentator, thanked Professor LIANG for her impressive speech and further elaborated on some issues.

All of the three keynote speeches sparked heated discussions between the speakers and the audience and was highly appreciated by the participants. Although the Forum is scheduled on every Friday night, there were more than 100 students, academia and practitioners having attended each event. In the following weeks of this semester, “Fudan Transnational Corporations and Law Forum” would continue to serve the intelligence feasts on three consecutive series, namely “TNCs and International Investment Agreements,” “TNCs and Tax Law,” and “TNCs and Intellectual Property Rights.” Please follow Fudan Law School’s website and wechat account for event information and updates.