Faculty Profile

• J.D., Vanderbilt, 2002
• Certificate of Law and Business, Law School, Owen Graduate School of Management, Vanderbilt University, 2002
• LL.M., University College London, 1999
• Certificate in Law Teachers Program, University College London, 1999
• LL.B. (summa cum laude), China Youth Politics Institute, 1998

Academic Positions Held

Current Appointment:

• Professor of Law, Singapore Management University, Jul 2022-Present

Previous Appointments:

• Associate Professor of Law (Tenured), Singapore Management University, Jan 2010-Jun 2022
• Associate Professor of Law (tenure-track), Singapore Management University, Dec 2007-Dec 2009
• Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), 2005-2007
• Lecturer, School of Law, City University of Hong Kong, 2003-2004

Other Positions

• Member, Executive Council, American Society of International Law, 2024-Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Law & Geoeconomics, 2024-Present
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of International Economic Law, 2021-Present
• Member, Advisory Board, WTO Chairs Programme, WTO Secretariat, 2009-Present
• Member, the E15 Initiative, International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), 2012-present
• Advisor, Asia-Pacific Research and Training Network (ARTNeT), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), 2014-present
• Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Financial Regulation (Oxford University Press), 2013-present
• Member, Editorial Board, Indonesian Journal of International Law, 2014-present
• Consultant, The World Bank, Feb-June 2009 & April-December 2007
• Lecturer, Training Course on Trade and Investment Integration, The Asian Development Bank, 2009-present
• Associate, South East Asia Trade Policy Training Network (SEATRANET), 2009-Present
• Visiting Professor, LLM in International Economic Law and Policy (IELPO) Program, Barcelona, Spain, 2008-Present
• Lecturer, Temasek Foundation Centre for Trade & Negotiations (TFCTN) Executive Programme, 2008-Present
• Member, Asian WTO Research Network, 2006-Present
• Expert Adviser, The Government of Vietnam, 2007-2008
• Member, Review Body on Bid Challenges (Under the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement), Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2007-Present
• Member, International Committee on International Trade Law, International Law Association (ILA), 2006-Present
• Rapporteur, Project on Capacity Building  for the New International Architecture in Trade and Investment, APEC, 2006-2007
• Visiting Professor, Academy of International Trade Law, Institute of European Studies of Macau, 2006-Present
• Member, Board of Directors, WTO Study Association of the China Law Society, 2005-Present
• Lecturer, WTO-HKU Regional Trade Policy Course for Asia Pacific, 2004-Present
• Adjunct Professor, Poon Kam Kai Institute of Management, The University of Hong Kong, 2004-2007
• Legal Expert, Beijing WTO Affairs Center, 2002-Present
• Visiting Professor, International Studies Centre, Queen's University (Canada), 2007
• Deputy Director, East Asia International Economic Law and Policy (EAIEL) Program, The University of Hong Kong, 2005-2007
• External Examiner, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2006
• Visiting Professor, Faculty of Law, Bond University, 2006
• Visiting Professor, Asia-American Institute in Transnational Law, Duke University and The University of Hong Kong, 2006
• Academic Coordinator, WTO-HKU Regional Trade Policy Course for Asia Pacific, 2005-2006
• Expert Witness, Hong Kong Police Force, 2005
• Visiting Professor, China Business Centre, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2003-2005
• Visiting Professor, China Youth Politics Institute, 2004
• Short-term Consultant, Trade in Services Division, Secretariat of the World Trade Organization, 2003
• Legal Intern, Appellate Body Secretariat, WTO, 2002

Honors and Awards

• Raymonde I. Paul Scholarship in Transnational Law, Vanderbilt University, 2002
• Dean’s Scholarship, Vanderbilt University, 1999-2002
• UCL/China Vinson Chu Scholarship, 1998
• Grand Prize of the National Jianhao (Genius Power) Scholarship (renamed May 4th Scholarship after 1999), China Youth League, All-China Students Federation, 1997

Courses Taught in SMU

• WTO: Law and Policy
• Chinese Law
• Torts

Research Areas

• WTO, International Trade Law
• Chinese Law
• Law and Economics

Areas of Specialisation

• WTO
• Free Trade Agreements
• International Trade Law
• International Law
• Chinese Law
• Law and Economics

Current Projects

• China and WTO, especially China’s Free Trade Agreements Strategy and China’s Participation in WTO Dispute Settlement
• Institutional Reform of the WTO
• Blog: http://wtoandchina.blogspot.com/

Selected Publications

SSRN: http://ssrn.com/author=491253

Books:

• Between Market Economy and State Capitalism China's State-Owned Enterprises and the World Trading System (co-authored with Weihuan Zhou), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge International Trade and Economic Law Series, 2022
• Paradigm Shift in International Economic Law Rule-Making: TPP as a New Model for Trade Agreements? (co-edited with Julien Chaisse and Chang-fa Lo), Springer, 2017

Book Chapters:

• Across the Great Wall: E-commerce Joint Statement Initiative Negotiation and China, in Shin-yi Peng, Ching-Fu Lin, & Thomas Streinz (eds.), Artificial Intelligence and International Economic Law, Cambridge University Press, 2021, 295-318, doi:10.1017/9781108954006.016.
• Data Regulation with Chinese Characteristics, in Mira Burri ed., Big Data and Global Trade Law, Cambridge University Press, 2021, 245-267, doi:10.1017/9781108919234.017.
• China’s Ascent in Global Trade Governance: From Rule Taker to Rule Shaker, and Maybe Rule Maker?, in Carolyn Deere-Birkbeck (ed.), Making Global Trade Governance Work for Development, Cambridge University Press, 2011, 153-180. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511996221.007.

Journal papers:

• China’s Changing Perspective on the WTO: From Aspiration, Assimilation to Alienation, World Trade Review, 21(3), 342-358.
• Finding a Rule-Based Solution to the Appellate Body Crisis: Looking Beyond the Multiparty Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement, Journal of International Economic Law, 2021, Volume 24, Issue 3, 534-50.
• WTO Reform and China: Defining or Defiling the Multilateral Trading System?, Harvard International Law Journal, Vol 62, 2021, 1-39.
• A New Chinese Economic Order? (co-authored with Greg Shaffer), Journal of International Economic Law, 2020, Vol 23, Issue 3, 607-635.
• US–China Trade War: A Way Out? (co-authored with Weihuan Zhou), World Trade Review, 2020, Vol 19, Issue 4, 605 – 617.
• Building A Market Economy Through WTO-Inspired Reform Of State-Owned Enterprises in China (co-authored with Weihuan Zhou & Xue Bai), International and Comparative Law Quarterly, 2019, Vol 68, Issue 4, pp. 977-1022.
• ‘Overreaching’ or ‘Overreacting’? Reflections on the Judicial Function and Approaches of WTO Appellate Body (co-authored with Weihuan Zhou), (2019) 53(6) Journal of World Trade, pp. 951–978.
• Dictum on Dicta: Obiter Dicta in WTO Disputes, 17 World Trade Review 509–533 (2018) 
• Digital or Trade? The Contrasting Approaches of China and US to Digital Trade, Journal of International Economic Law, Volume 21, Issue 2, 2018, pp. 297-321.
• The WTO Transparency Obligations and China, Journal of Comparative Law, 12:2 (2018), 111-137.
• China's Rise: How It Took on the U.S. at the WTO (co-authored with Greg Shaffer), University of Illinois Law Review, 2018 (1), 115-184.
• Regulation of Digital Trade in US Free Trade Agreements: From Trade Regulation to Digital Regulation, Legal Issues Of Economic Integration 45, no. 1 (2018), 47-70.
• Public-Private Partnership: The Chinese Dilemma, Journal of World Trade, 48:5, Oct 2014, 983–1005.
• Google’s China Problem: A Case Study on Trade, Technology and Human Rights under the GATS, Asian Journal of WTO and International Health Law and Policy, Vol. 6, pp. 347-385, 2011.
• Taking Justice into Your Own Hand: The Trade Barrier Investigation Mechanism in China, Journal of World Trade, 2010, Volume 44, pp. 633-659.
• Saving the WTO From the Risk of Irrelevance: The WTO Dispute Settlement Mechanism as A “Common Good” for RTA Disputes (co-authored with Chin Leng Lim), Journal of International Economic Law, 2008, Volume 11, Issue 4, pp. 899-925.
• China’s Participation in the WTO: A Lawyer’s Perspective, Singapore Year Book of International Law, 2007, pp. 41-74.