On 20 and 21 June 2016, the University of Strasbourg and the China-EU School of Law at the China University of Political Science and Law co-organisied the “International Sale of Goods” symposium. Legal experts from Europe and China gathered in Beijing to discuss private international law issues arising within the international sale of goods between China and Europe, such as jurisdiction, applicable law, arbitration and other alternative ways of dispute resolution.

The first day of the symposium was divided into two parts. The first part was dedicated to the issues of conflictual mechanisms in law and among the speakers were Ms Cheng Mingzhu, Judge at the Fourth Civil Chamber of the Supreme People‘s Court in China, Prof. Emeritus Danièle Alexandre from the University of Strasbourg and Prof. Xi Zhiguo from the China University of Political Science and Law. The second part dealt with dispute resolution methods available in international sale of goods. Prof. Jochen Bauerreis from the University of Strasbourg and Ms Dong Jingjing, PhD student from the University of Strasbourg, looked at the most relevant issues of dispute resolution in the Sino-foreign context from respectively European and Chinese perspective.

During the second day of the symposium, Prof. Laura García Gutiérrez from the Autonomous University of Madrid discussed the variety of topics arising out of the application of the Vienna United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. Her speech was followed by Prof. Gustavo Cerqueira from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne, who spoke about the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts in the Sino-European relations. Prof. Markus Petsche from Central European University discussed the questions pertaining to the conflict of jurisdictions and of authorities pointing to the classical and alternative ways of resolution.

The symposium was chaired by Prof. Nicolas Nord from the University of Strasbourg, who additionally spoke about the identification of the applicable law in international sale of goods, including law applicable to the consumercontracts.

Text and photos by Monika Prusinowska