With its rising economic clout, China has become a magnet for firms from around the world. While the ever-expanding Chinese market provides endless opportunities, many businesses find that the Chinese legal system present a big challenge to their investment in or trade with China. Deeply influenced by a unique legal tradition spanning over two thousand years, the Chinese legal system that exists today also bears heavy marks left by the Civil Law system, the Socialist ideology, as well as the Common Law system in its commercial law. Thus, the Chinese legal system appears unique and complicated. This course aims to help the students to gain an insider’s perspective of one of the most important nations in the world today, with a special emphasis on its legal systems. In addition to the doctrinal studies on key areas in the Chinese legal system, the course, under the SMU-XO model, will also expose the students to its practical operations through project-based consultancy with our Chinese partners and a week-long field trip in China. Through this course, the students will not only grasp the basic contours of the Chinese legal system, but also gain hands-on experience by working with Chinese legal practitioners to solve real-world legal issues. Due to Covid, we expect to have field trips conducted in Singapore for this semester.
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