State of STL (2023)
Peking University School of Transnational Law
Shenzhen, China
Mark Feldman
December 15, 2023
Students, alumni, faculty and administrative colleagues, invited guests, welcome to our first “State of STL” event, which we plan to hold every December going forward.
One year ago, zero covid measures remained in place, with limited opportunities for in-person international engagement. December 2022 seems like quite a long time ago.
In December 2023, we have a lot to celebrate. STL is now 15 years old, transitioning to a more mature phase. For years, when recruiting international faculty, we would highlight our extraordinary students. Now, we highlight our extraordinary studentsandour extraordinary alumni, many of whom are here tonight.
Before turning to alumni and student accomplishments, I would first like to recognize the incredible turnout from dozens of employers this evening, indeed with very senior level representation. In addition to the private firms that are listed on the slide, we also have many senior government officials joining us this evening. It is so encouraging for all of us to see this level of commitment from employers. Welcome.
Regarding our alumni, there are so many recent accomplishments. I have time today to highlight a few of them.
Zhang Cunyuan, who serves as Chief Representative of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre’s (SIAC) Shanghai office, is also serving as a member of the SIAC’s delegation at ongoing UNCITRAL Working Group II discussions on international dispute resolution.
Liu Xiaoping, who is based at King & Wood Mallesons, has been recognized as a “Rising Star” of China Corporate M&A by Legal 500.
Liu Wenyuan, who is based at OPPO, has been named Compliance Director and Executive Secretary of the company’s Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Compliance Committee.
Zhao Yuxian, who is based at Han Kun Law Offices, has been named to the Legal 500’s Arbitration Powerlist for China.
Zhang Kaixiang, who is based at Taihetai Law Firm, is a Listed Lawyer by Chambers Greater China for Corporate and Commercial practice.
Guo Fan, who practices IP Law at King & Wood Mallesons, has been promoted to partner.
Zhu Yixuan, who focuses on commercial litigation and international commercial arbitration at Quinn Emanuel, has been promoted to partner.
Zhao Feng, who is based at Jingtian & Gongcheng, has been named to the Legal 500’s China List in the Compliance practice area.
Kelly Chen, who is based at CMS in Beijing, has been awarded “Rising Star of the Year” in the area of data protection as part of Legal 500’s China Awards.
The contributions of our alumni at Huawei are particularly noteworthy. Globally, the company has seven regional general counsel positions; STL graduates serve in three of those seven positions. Cai Bowen serves as General Counsel for the Middle East and Central Asia; Zhang Wenguang serves as General Counsel for the Asia-Pacific; and Chen Chi serves as General Counsel for Latin America.
Our alumni also have demonstrated exceptional commitment to STL through generous gifts. Members of STL’s first graduating class – the Class of 2012 – have established the “Peking University STL Professor Gray Student Development Fund Program.” A member of STL’s Class of 2016, Zhou Qing, has established the “Shouzheng Justice Legal Development Fund.” STL now has more than 1,000 alumni; we look forward to many similar alumni-driven initiatives in the coming years.
One final, and quite encouraging, point on alumni. Our most recent group of alumni – the Class of 2023 – has performed exceptionally well on the job market, with an overall employment rate of nearly 98%, notwithstanding challenging market conditions.
Congratulations to our Class of 2023 as well as, of course, our Career Services Office: Assistant Dean Zhang Chenli and Assistant Director Wang Qian.
As our alumni contribute to the development of STL’s global profile, so do our students. The success of our students in global moot competitions is striking. In 2023, our students advanced to the international rounds of several leading moot competitions: the Jessup moot, the International Criminal Court moot, the Price Media Law moot, the FDI moot, and the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition.
STL’s Stetson Moot team were champions of the East Asian Regional Rounds.
Given STL’s success in moot competitions, it is not surprising that nine STL students received Best Oral Advocate recognition in six competitions.
Three STL students received Best Oralist honors at different stages of the FDI Moot competition, with Xing Jiabao awarded honors at the national rounds held in Shenzhen and Li Mengchao and Xu Yuefangzhou awarded honors in the global rounds of the competition. STL’s FDI Moot team ultimately ranked 17thin the world and 2ndamong the Chinese teams in the competition.
Regarding Best Oralist honors in other competitions, Wei Xiaoqiao received the Neil Kaplan Award at the Vis East Moot in Hong Kong, Xiao Nan was awarded honors at the Price Media Law competition, Li Jieran was awarded honors at the Beijing Foreign Studies University-Wanhuida IP Moot, An Chenglong was awarded honors at the Stetson International Environmental Moot, and, at the CIETAC Cup competition, both Liu Wenjia and Sun Fanshu were awarded honors.
For all of these STL achievements at global moot competitions, congratulations to STL’s Director of Moot Court Competitions, Qiu Xiaoya, and with respect to the Jessup team in particular, Assistant Dean Christian Pangilinan.
Regarding student publications, I would highlight a very impressive forthcoming publication by Liu Yishu in the Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law.
The article is entitled “Treating Evidence from Negotiations: The So-Called Exclusionary Practice”.
Before turning to STL’s faculty, I would first mention the important work of our Law Library team: Consulting Director Kara Phillips, Associate Director Tian He, and Senior Officer Lin Lin.
STL’s Law Library now includes more than 40 global legal databases and thousands of books. The Law Library launched a new website this year, significantly enhancing the user experience.
With respect to STL’s faculty, our multinational faculty continue to influence the development of law and policy in China and throughout the world.
Professor Sang Yop Kang was invited by the National Assembly of Korea to present at a policy seminar held in Seoul in November.
Professor Philip McConnaughay and Professor Ray Campbell each have articles forthcoming in the Journal of Legal Education.
Associate Dean Mao Shaowei presented alongside Peking University Law School Professor Ge Yunsong and Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management Professor Jiang Peng on the future of legal education at the Beijing Hongfan Institute of Law and Economics in May.
Professor Stephen Minas presented in, among other locations, Malaysia, Finland, Serbia and Australia.
Professor Nitzan Shilon presented on the opening up of China’s securities markets at the Lujiazui Forum held in Shanghai in June.
Professor Norman Ho’s article on Ending the Exceptionalism of Conservation Easements is forthcoming in the Virginia Environmental Law Journal.
Professor Joy Xiang’s article,“Intellectual Property, Antitrust, and Access to Essential Technologies,” was published in the Lewis & Clark Law Review.
Professor Francis Snyder’s chapter,“Food and Beverage Industry and Regional Trade Agreements”, was included in the edited volume,The International Law of Economic Integration, published by Oxford University Press.
Professor Cao Fei presented on the 2ndNational Legal Education Teacher Training Class at Peking University Law School in September.
Professor Wu Yifeng presented on property rights issues under China’s Civil Code at Dalian Maritime University in October.
Professor Gilad Abiri has placed articles in the Stanford Law and Technology Journal, the Harvard Journal of Law and Technology Digest, and the Yale Journal of Law and Technology.
Professor Andrew Kerr presented on “Exploring the Relationship of Law to Culture” at Thammasat University in Thailand in September.
Professor Emanuel Towfigh presented a report, “Discrimination through Algorithms,” to the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency in Berlin.
Professor Susan Finder presented on the modernization of China’s mediation law at the 2023 China Arbitration Summit in Beijing.
Professor Thomas Man delivered the keynote address on proof and reasoning in international arbitration at the South China Enterprise Legal Forum seminar on cross-border investment and dispute resolution in May.
Professor Bryan Hong’s article on causation and damages issues under China’s Personal Information Protection Law was published in the Journal of Law Application.
Postdoctoral Researcher Huang Xinyu published an article on “Censorial Impeachments under the Qing” in the Qinghai Social Science journal.
Professor Huang Hui and Professor Danny Friedmann, as well as STL graduate Ma Ji, have contributed to Professor Asif Qureshi’s edited volume, “Law Reforms Around the World,” which has just been published by Routledge.
As you can see from the cover, the book also features contributions from current STL students Li Manyun, Li Zhuangxu and Hu Minghao.
Hu Minghao. It has been quite a year for Hu Minghao. Whether at STL or on Offer Season 5, Hu Minghao’s performance has been far, far greater than “mid-level”. Off the charts KPI. Incredibly well done, Hu Minghao.
With all of these achievements, it is perhaps not surprising that the number of STL applicants continues to increase every year. That trend, importantly, is due in significant part to the great work of our admissions team, Associate Dean Chen Keru, Assistant Dean Kim Zhong, and Assistant Director Tan Peihua.
Student interest in STL’s program extends far beyond China, of course.
For the 2023-2024 academic year, applicants from 22 countries applied for admission to STL’s LLM program, due in significant part to the great work of our Office of Graduate and International Programs: Director Cole Agar and Senior Officer Du Yating.
Our Communications team, of course, plays a central role in the development of STL’s global profile.STL’s WeChat and Bilibili accounts, for example, now each have more than 38,000 followers; STL’s LinkedIn account now has more than 6,000 followers. Congratulations to STL’s Communications team, Dean Zhong and Senior Officer Zhang Weiqian.
With respect to our student and faculty achievements generally, it is important to highlight the additional support STL students and faculty receive from our Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Faculty Support teams.
From Academic Affairs, I would mention in particular Shen Yinan and Wang Yangyang. From Student Affairs, Zeng Kelu and Xu Xiaoqi. From Faculty Support, Wang Wei, Zhu Xiaoli, Yang Wenbo and Zheng Jianan.
I had mentioned how much has changed since December 2022. A few months ago, at our 15thAnniversary “Birthday” event, STL’s Founders, Hai Wen and Jeffrey Lehman, discussed how there had been a particular moment of opportunity for STL in the months leading up to STL’s Dedication Ceremony in 2008.
Given the rapid pace of change over the past 12 months, it appears that we may be fortunate enough to be experiencing another significant moment of opportunity.
China has announced a goal of hosting 50,000 American students over the next five years. China and the US have announced that the number of direct flights between the two countries will soon be increased. China has announced that nationals of several European countries will soon be able to enter China visa-free. Dozens of law schools in China have launched transnational JM programs.
The environment in December 2023 feels a bit like 2008. Much like 2008, this is an exciting time. And just as STL’s Founders did in 2008, we should take full advantage of this moment.
In January and February, I plan to visit several top law schools in the US, primarily for faculty recruitment but also – to the extent there is interest – to explore potential collaboration opportunities. This is exactly the right moment to visit those schools.
In a recent interview, I offered some thoughts on internationalization in China and Shenzhen. I discussed several key China-based institutions that are advancing internationalization, including the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, the China International Commercial Court, and the International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization.
With respect to those organizations, I discussed what I see as a two-step process for internationalization. Step one is assembling world class talent. Many institutions in China have been quite good at step one, assembling incredibly talented individuals in the context of arbitrator rosters and expert committees.
Step two, for internationalization, is making full use of that world class talent. It is step two, in my view, where there remains a lot of work to be done in China and Shenzhen.
International arbitrators, mediators and experts need to be appointed in live disputes.
Significantly, this step two of internationalization – making full use of world class talent – is where STL has been so uniquely successful. Regarding internationalization at STL, we have achieved step one and step two simultaneously, and from the very beginning, in 2008.
There are echoes of 2008 in December 2023. Celebrate this moment. We are implementing – indeed, living – internationalization every day. As STL students, that is an experience you share with more than 1,000 STL alumni.
