On 1 November, the Delegation of the European Union to China, with the support of the China University of Political Science and Law (CUPL), organised a seminar to celebrate 16 years since the establishment of the China-EU School of Law (CESL) and its handover to the China University of Political Science and Law. Launched by the European Union in 2008 and co-financed by the EU until December 2022, CESL has succeeded in becoming a self-sufficient project since 2023 and currently operates in partnership with a consortium of EU universities led by the University of Hamburg. The event took place at the Haidian campus of CUPL in Beijing.

EU Ambassador to China, Jorge Toledo, opened the event, in the presence of Mr Ma Huaide, President of CUPL, and Mr Zhang Fusen, former Minister of the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China. Ambassador Toledo underlined the role of the China-EU School of Law in providing a window into Chinese and European legal systems, helping to increase mutual understanding. He also commended the Chinese and European academics for their dedication to the development of CESL and highlighted their instrumental role in this project.

Looking at the future of EU-China relations, Ambassador Toledo stressed the urgency of facilitating people-to-people exchanges between with EU and China. He said: “One of the greatest losses of the years of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the severance in people-to-people exchanges between China and Europe. I hope that in the years to come, the severe imbalance of student exchange between Europe and China will be addressed. In order to resolve that issue, we, diplomats, also need to have an unrestricted access to Chinese academia – which is not the case these days.”

This seminar hosted a number of relevant figures in the history of CESL, including Mr Bengt Lundell, European Co-Dean of CESL, Professor of Lund University, Sweden, Mr Li Juqian, Director of the Office of International Cooperation and Exchange of CUPL, Mr Clemens Richter, former European Executive Co-Dean of CESL, Associate Dean of the University of Waikato Joint Institute at Zhejiang University City College; Mr Liu Fei, Chinese Co-Dean of CESL; and Mr Mo Fengjiao, CESL Double Master 2010 Intake, Consultant of IFC Climate Finance.

European Union, 2024

Background information:

The China-EU School of Law (CESL) is the sole Sino-European law school in China and the first to offer courses on European law in the country. It started operating in 2008 and was officially opened by the President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and China’s Premier Li Keqiang on 23 October of the same year, with the objective of contributing to the advancement of rule of law in China and to improve the expertise of Chinese legal practitioners and law makers in relation to European and international law and legal systems with regard to their legal knowledge, skills and practical competences.

CESL offers a double Master’s programme combining a Chinese Master’s programme with the one-year Master’s in European and International Law (MEIL), as well as a one-semester Chinese Law programme Taught in English (CLTE) for non-Chinese students. As from the academic year 2019/2020 CESL also offers a two-year International Master of Chinese Law (IMCL). 1348 students have graduated from CESL in the past 16 years and more than 4000 lawyers and civil servants in China and Europe have received training from the School.

At present, CESL is located at the China University of Political Science and Law and runs in partnership with a consortium of EU universities led by the University of Hamburg.

Website: http://en.cesl.edu.cn/