Julian Patz is a Phd candidate from the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg in Germany. He participated in the CESL Chinese Law International Summer School 2025. In this article, Julian Patz shares his experiences in summer school.

When I heard about the China EU School of Law (CESL) Chinese Law International Summer School, I quickly decided to apply. During COVID-19, my planned semester abroad as part of the Chinese Law Taught in English (CLTE) program at China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL) was canceled, so I was really delighted that the international summer school had worked out and I still got the chance to gain an insight into the Chinese legal system at university.

I had already been to China as a tourist before, including Beijing, but a trip to China meant that I had to adapt again, WeChat and Alipay are very important local apps and these are simply not used in Europe. You can quickly feel lost in China due to the language barrier alone, even if many interactions such as restaurant orders can be made via smartphone in conjunction with WeChat or Alipay. However, the local people, both on and off campus, have always been really helpful.

Thanks to the very good organization by MA Anna, both before arrival and on-site, I felt very secure with regard to travel planning. A reasonably priced flight to China was also quickly found. On the Changping campus of the CUPL, where we were accommodated in the modern International Exchange Center, there were many opportunities for leisure activities, I particularly liked the tennis court. But the opportunity to go to the hairdresser, a laundry store or the very large selection in the canteens was also very practical.

We had a really exciting program put together on-site, but it still left enough freedom for the group to visit other attractions individually. Of course, the visit to a major Chinese law firm and another to the technology company Xiaomi were particularly exciting.

Each of the participants was assigned a student ambassador. These Chinese students were very helpful in answering all kinds of questions. I also took the opportunity to meet up with some of the student ambassadors for coffee or lunch to have even more interaction with them. I also visited the second campus of the CUPL in the Haidian district with one of the students. The exchange was also of interest to the Chinese students, as many of them will soon be traveling to Hamburg to study abroad for some time and there was a great demand for an exchange of experiences and tips. I am pleased to be able to help with this, even beyond the Summer School.

The lectures at the Law Summer School gave us a good overview of the Chinese legal system. Many participants at the Summer School were amazed at how many provisions of the German Civil Code can be found in the Chinese Civil Code. Personally, I was most interested in Prof. Zhang Qing's lecture on China's market regulation through licensing. He also made his lecture very clear and asked a lot of questions, which I would not have expected beforehand.

I can really advise anyone who is thinking about taking part in a summer school here or the CLTE program to apply, I had a great and exciting time here!

Photo and text: Julian Patz

Assistant Editor: Wu Xiaochen

Responsible Editor: MA Anna

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