‘Mutual understanding is necessary’

Belt and Road Initiative contributes to international legal cooperation, say experts

The Belt and Road Initiative means more exchanges among countries along the routes and mutual understanding is necessary as it creates more business opportunities .

Huang Jin

WUHAN: The Belt and Road Initiative increases the need and provides an opportunity for international legal cooperation, according to experts.

“The Belt and Road Initiative means more exchanges among countries along the routes and mutual understanding is necessary,” Huang Jin, president of China Society of Private International Law, said at the Global Forum on Private International Law in Wuhan, capital of central China’s Hubei Province.

“But understanding each other’s legal systems is also an important part.”

As investment, trade and cultural exchanges increase, many problems will arise, so legal cooperation is needed, said Huang, who doubles as president of the China University of Political Science and Law.

Mathijs Huibert ten Wolde, professor of civil law and private international law at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, agreed.

He said there will be legal disputes when the initiative increases economic and business cooperation among different countries.

“We need legal cooperation to solve the disputes,” he said.

“The initiative will create opportunities for businesses,” said Tiong Min Yeo, a law professor at Singapore Management University on Sunday.

“The countries involved in the initiative will be able to see more clearly the need for legal infrastructure.”

“The Belt and Road Initiative is a tremendous initiative in terms of the opportunities it raises for international legal cooperation,” said Alex Mills, a law expert at the University College London.

Mills also praised China for its active role in developing international law on cooperation and international transactions which also included the Belt and Road Initiative.

“Legal cooperation enhanced by the initiative extends not only to countries involved in the Belt and Road, but beyond,” he said.

“It’s an exciting era to China’s role in international law and international relations.”

The Global Forum on Private International Law was hosted by China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the China Society of Private International Law.

It attracted about 400 participants from 18 countries and regions. — Xinhua