Overview of the Symposium Module II of The Ninth East Lake International Law Forum

The Symposium Module II, Topic “ESG Legal Issues of International Supply Chain” of invited a number of foreign law experts from universities, dispute resolution institutions, law firms and enterprises to share and exchange views, and XU Guojian, Senior Partner of SGLA Law Firm, moderating this module.

QIN Tianbao, Dean of Wuhan University Law School, pointed out China's policies and regulations in the ESG field are currently based on soft law and industry self-regulatory documents, and mainly target listed companies. Professor Qin suggested that Chinese companies should establish a comprehensive due diligence management system, strengthen supply chain data collection and risk assessment, and take the initiative to adapt to high-standard rules.

LI Wen, Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of ZTE Corporation, stated that with the digital transformation of the supply chain, and  in the ESG assessment framework, data security and customer privacy protection are increasingly becoming the core areas that must be considered for companies to fulfil their social responsibility, and that data security and privacy protection will face higher requirements driven by artificial intelligence and blockchain technology.

XU Duoqi, Director of the Rule of Law Research Centre for Digital Economy, Fudan University, pointed out that China's current legal framework for Cross-border data flow is centred on the Network Security Law, the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law, and cross-border data flow should adhere to the multi-pronged approach of legal rules, administrative supervision and corporate governance, carry out early and pilot implementation of cross-border data flow, construct regulatory sandboxes, and promote the construction of two-tier fault-tolerant mechanisms.

FU Wei, Head of Compliance of Contemporary Amperex Technology Co.,limited pointed out the difficulty of dealing with the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG) without standardised operating rules, companies need to have a deep understanding of the industry characteristics and supply chain in order to formulate process guidelines that fit the risk profile.

ZHANG Cunyuan, Director & Head, of China at Singapore International Arbitration Centre, stated that the ESG field is changing rapidly and involves a wide range of aspects, and that company legal counsel, lawyers and other professionals should always pay attention to the legal progress, and arbitration and “arbitration + ADR” remain the mainstream means of dispute resolution in cross-border transactions currently.

ZHU Hongwen, Senior Partner and Head of International Business of Sunshine Law Firm, believed that for enterprises involved in Europe face challenges such as strict market entry barriers, complex supply chain management, and increased risk of legal compliance, etc but, China has its own dual-carbon targets and related initiatives, which can be used by enterprises to unleash their green production capacity.

LI Zhi, Dean of School of Law, Fuzhou University, as the guest reviewer pointed out that there are two trends in ESG development, namely, the gradual expansion of the boundaries of the institutional construction of ESG, and the other is the ESG related system is becoming more and more mandatory.

MA Tianyu, international legal advisor of RAJAH & TANN SINGAPORE LLP, as the guest reviewer, expressed that Chinese enterprises face challenges in the international arbitration session, and the lack of enterprises' knowledge of ESG clauses causes losses, so they can try to conduct risk and liability transfer in the supply chain.