Li Shuo, 27, grew up in Shijiazhuang, a 10-million-people city in northern China, and earned a double master’s degree in law at the China-EU School of Law in Beijing in 2015. Today, she’s a PhD student in Maastricht, a Dutch town with only 120,000 inhabitants but a growing international student population.

Why did you decide to pursue a PhD in law?

I decided to do so in the last year of my master’s studies. I had just learned about China’s first Anti-Monopoly Law that was enacted in 2008 with massive support from the US and the EU, and I really wanted to continue research on this topic. Competition law is still at an early stage in China. Chinese authorities are not that experienced with it. However, if you take a closer look at China, the EU, the US and Japan – these are the jurisdictions I’m examining – you also recognise that these regions have very different legal systems and in particular, very different ideas on competition law. As a result, there are conflicts that can even escalate to trade war. So now, when I’m examining “Conflicts and Compromise: Internationalisation of Competition Law and Chinese participation”, I am also hoping to point out future solutions to some of these conflicts. As China’s economy has been growing stronger since 2008, Chinese foreign trade and investment will become even more important.

How did your studies at the China-EU School of Law prepare you for your PhD studies?

Without the experiences at the China-EU School of Law, I would not have decided to go to Europe for my PhD. I was really glad that CESL offered me the chance to get in touch with European professors and lecturers such as Prof. Niels Philipsen, who taught competition law in the Master in Beijing and is now my co-supervisor here in Maastricht. That acquaintance also helped me find my topic. Moreover, my six-week visit to Central European University in Budapest during my elective courses at CESL also helped prepare me. I got a taste of what it feels like to study abroad. Without these experiences, I would have probably pursued my PhD in China.

Are the Netherlands a good place for a PhD candidate in law?

I am so happy to conduct research here. Since there are so many PhD students at Maastricht University, almost 300 graduate each year, there are many ways to connect on a professional and social level. The university organises PhD lunches and PhD walks, where I can meet PhD students from all over the world, and where we discuss our work and give each other useful advice. I meet up with my supervisor approximately every six weeks, and I can e-mail whenever I encounter a problem. Since I receive a full scholarship from the Chinese Scholarship Council, I do not have to worry about the tuition fees either. Maastricht is such a quiet, beautiful town. I feel very free here, and I like that you can easily travel to everywhere in Europe. I also appreciate that Maastricht has such an international study body. A full 49 % of students come from abroad. And when I miss my family home in Shijuiazhuang, it helps to talk to one of the other 15 Chinese PhD students here at the university.

Found her way to Maastricht University via the China-EU School of Law: PhD candidate Li Shuo.