China's Influence on Non-Trade Concerns in International Economic Law

This volume examines the range of Non-Trade Concerns (NTCs) that may conflict with international economic rules and proposes ways to protect them within international law and international economic law. Globalization without local concerns can endanger relevant issues such as good governance, human rights, right to water, right to food, social, economic, cultural and environmental rights, labor rights, access to knowledge, public health, social welfare, consumer interests and animal welfare, climate change, energy, environmental protection and sustainable development, product safety, food safety and security. Focusing on China, the book shows the current trends of Chinese law and policy towards international standards. The authors argue that China can play a leading role in this context: not only has China adopted several reforms and new regulations to address NTCs; but it has started to play a very relevant role in international negotiations on NTCs such as climate change, energy, and culture, among others. While China is still considered a developing country, in particular from the NTCs' point of view, it promises to be a key actor in international law in general and, more specifically, in international economic law in this respect. This volume assesses, taking into consideration its special context, China's behavior internally and externally to understand its role and influence in shaping NTCs in the context of international economic law.

Paolo Davide Farah teaches climate change, trade, energy, and environmental law and policy at West Virginia University, USA. He has variously taught classes on public international law, international economic law and WTO law, European law, Comparative law, and Chinese law in Italy, United Kingdom, USA, China, and other countries. He was a Visiting Scholar for the academic year 2011-2012 at Harvard Law School, East Asian Legal Studies Program and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of International Economic Law (IIEL), Georgetown University Law Center, Washington DC, USA. He is Director of Research of gLAWcal - Global Law Initiatives for Sustainable Development (www.glawcal.org.uk) and is Principal Investigator for EU Commission research projects in collaboration with European, Chinese, Russian, and Japanese universities. He is an expert in the interaction between trade, economic globalization, and NTCs, such as sustainable development, energy, environment, and human rights, with a special focus on China and other Asian countries. He has previously worked as an intern at the Legal Affairs Division of the World Trade Organization in Geneva and was an Associate Lawyer of Baker and McKenzie Law Firm, Milan, Italy. He graduated with a Maitrise in International and European Law from Paris Ouest La Defense Nanterre University (France), LLM in European Legal Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium), and a Dual PhD in international law from Aix-Marseille University (France) and University of Milan (Italy). Elena Cima, PhD candidate in international law at the Graduate Institute of International Law and Development Studies in Geneva, where she also works for the LLM Program in International Law. Her research interests include public international law, international trade law, international environmental law, energy law, and Chinese law. She is a member of the American branch of the International Law Association (ILA), for which she served as reporter. Her publications have focused on international trade law, energy law, and Chinese law and policy. She holds an LLB, honored summa cum laude, from the University of Milan and an LLM degree from Yale Law School.

Forewords by: Professor Gianmaria Ajani, H. E. the Minister Gian Luca Galletti, Professor Gabrielle Marceau, H. E. the Minister Maurizio Martina 1. Introduction and Overview of the Book - Paolo Davide Farah 2. The Development of Global Justice and Sustainable Development Principles in the WTO Multilateral Trading System through the Lens of Non-Trade Concerns: An Appraisal on China's Progress - Paolo Davide Farah Part I: Public Policy, International Trade & Foreign Direct Investment: The Role of States & Non State Actors in Economic Globalization 3. Economic Globalization and Social Rights: the Role of the International Labor Organization and the WTO - Claudio Di Turi 4. Multinational Corporations and Corporate Social Responsibility in a Chinese Context: An International Law Perspective - Angelica Bonfanti 5. Rights Interest Litigation, Socio-Economic Rights and Chinese Labor Law Reform - Leïla Choukroune 6. Law, Culture, and the Politics of Chinese Outward Foreign Investment - Valentina Sara Vadi 7. Chinese Investment in Africa: Strengthening the Balance Sheet - Mark Klaver and Michael Trebilcock Part II: Sustainable Development, Environmental Protection and Climate Change 8. Soft, Complex and Fragmented International Climate Change Practice: What Implications for International Trade Law? - Francesco Sindico, Julie Gibson 9. The Principle of Common but Differentiated Responsibilities in the International Regime of Climate Change - Imad Ibrahim, Thomas Deleuil, Paolo Davide Farah 10. The Kyoto Protocol: Carbon Pricing and Trade Prospects. The Clean Development Mechanism from the Perspective of the Developing Countries - Marion Lemoine 11. The Role of Domestic Policies in Fostering Technology Transfer: Evidence from China - Elena Cima 12. China's Environmental Legislation and Its Trend Towards Scientific Development - He Weidong 13. Research on the Reform of the Judicial Relief System for Environmental Disputes in China - Luo Li 14. The Impact of the Kyoto Protocol and UNFCCC on Chinese Law and the Consequential Reforms to Fight Climate Change - Carla Peng 15. The Development of NGOs in China: A Case Study on Their Involvement with Climate Change - Zhixiong Huang 16. A Comparison Between Shale Gas in China and Unconventional Fuel Development in the United States: Health, Water and Environmental Risks - Paolo Farah, Riccardo Tremolada Part III: Fundamental Rights and Cultural Diversity 17. Understanding Non-Trade Concerns through Comparative Chinese and European Philosophy of Law - Jean Yves Heurtebise 18. The Right to Food in International Law and WTO Law: An Appraisal - Flavia Zorzi Giustiniani 19. The Right to Food in China: Cultural Foundation, Present and Future - Ning Libiao 20. Projections of China's Food Security to 2030: Obligations as an Agricultural Superpower - James R. Simpson 21. China and the Recognition and Protection of the Human Right to Water - Roberto Soprano 22. China Meets Hollywood at WTO: Janus' Faces of Freedom. Standards of Right and Wrong between National and International Moralities - Christophe Germann 23. Cultural Products and the WTO: China's Domestic Censorship and Media Control Policies - Rogier Creemers 24. Trade in Audiovisuals - The Case of China - Anselm Kamperman Sanders 25. Rise and Demise of US Social Media in China. A Touchstone of WTO and BIT Regulations - Danny Friedmann 26. Can Trade Restrictions Be Justified by Moral Values? Revisiting The Seals Disputes Through a Law and Economics Analysis - Julien Chaisse & Xinjie Luan Part IV: Public Health, Product and Food Safety, Consumers Protection 27. Health Protection Measures as Barriers to EU Exports to China in the Framework of the WTO Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures - Denise Prévost 28. SPS, Public Health and Environmental Provisions in East Asia RTAs: ASEAN and China - Lorenzo Di Masi 29. Product Safety in the Framework of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade - Lukasz Gruszczynski, Tivadar Otvoes, Paolo Davide Farah 30. Non-Trade Concerns and Consumer Protection in China: Surrounding Issues - Piercarlo Rossi 31. Legal Protection of Consumers in Developing Countries: An Asian Perspective - A. Rajendra Prasad 32. From Remedy of Damage to Risk Prevention. An Analysis of the New Legislative Implications of the Chapter on "Product Liability" in China's Tort Liability Law from the Perspective of Consumer Protection - Hu Junhong 33. Tort Liability for the Compensation of Damages Caused by Dangerous Substances in China - Nadia Coggiola 34. The Protection of Biotechnological Innovation by Patent in the United States, Europe, France, and China. A Comparative Study from the Perspective of the TRIPs Agreement - Shujie Feng, Xin Shu & Ningning Zhang 35. Public Health, Intellectual Property Rights, and Developing Countries' Access to Medicines - Jayashree Watal 36. The Relationship between the TRIPs Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources, Traditional Knowledge and Folk Protection from a Chinese Perspective - Jianqiang Nie 37. Grasping Knowledge in Emerging Markets: is this the case of Western Pharmaceutical Companies in China? - Francesca Spigarelli, Andrea Filippetti Index