The International Symposium on Legal Challenges and Responses in the Digital Age, hosted by the College Comparative Law and co-organised by the Institute of European Law of the College and the Centre for China-European/EU Legal Studies of CUPL, was held on Xueyuanlu Campus on the afternoon of 16 Sept, 2023.
Seven foreign scholars from German Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Humboldt University of Berlin, University of Jena, University of Münster and Radbud University in the Netherlands, nearly 40 Chinese scholars from CUPL, Peking University, Tsinghua University, Renmin University of China, Beijing Normal University, Beijing University of International Business and Economics, the China Institute of Labor Relations, Capital University of Economics and Business and Southwest University of Political Science and Law were invited to attend the conference.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Prof. Zhang Tong, EU Jean Monnet Chair Professor & Director of the Centre for China-European/EU Legal Studies of CUPL. Vice President of CUPL Chang Baoguo presented the opening remarks.
Chang introduced the characteristics and advantages of subjects provided by CUPL, in particular, the College’s outstanding contributions in the study of basic theory of comparative law, laws of different countries and regional laws, as well as in China's comparative law personnel training and foreign exchange. He also paid tribute to Prof. Mi Jian for his contributions to the establishment and development of the Institute of Sino-German Law and the implementation of the large-scale translation project of the Masterpieces of Contemporary German Law.
Focusing on the theme of this conference, he pointed out that the rapid development of digital technology has driven the prosperity of the digital economy, and that at the same time, the digital technology, represented by big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, also brings many new challenges to the existing legal system, such as the protection of digital ownership and virtual property, the supervision of platform economy and digital security. He said that the conference provided the participants with a good exchange opportunity.
Prof. Thomas Möllers, Dean of International Affairs at the Faculty of Law of the University of Augsburg, Director of its EU-China Centre for Legal Research and Innovation & Tenure Professor of the EU Jean Monnet Programme, addressed the meeting on behalf of the foreign scholars present.
According to Möllers, since the beginning of the 21st century, he has established a long-term and close academic partnership with Prof. Mi Jian and Prof. Zhang Tong. He admired for the role of the China University of Political Science and Law in Chinese higher law education and the achievements of the College of Comparative Law in personnel training and academic exchanges with foreign countries in the field of German law and European Union law. He was particularly pleased to say that CUPL had organised a high-level academic conference on cutting-edge topics, which omitted translation and used German and English as the language of the conference, so that Chinese and foreign scholars could carry on smooth academic expression and exchange, which was rare compared to other conferences. He also looked forward to holding academic exchanges with Chinese scholars in Germany after the pandemic.
Dean of the College Prof. Xie Zhiyong, on behalf of the organisers of this symposium, extended a warm welcome to the participating Chinese, German and Dutch scholars. He expressed that the age of digital civilization has arrived, changing the way people work, live and think at an unprecedented rate and on an unprecedented scale. According to him, how to turn digitisation into effective political, economic, cultural and social dynamics and effective resources, how to protect citizens' digital rights, security and dignity, and how to govern the digital realm and digital relations of production more effectively are important and urgent issues that people must confront.In the digital age, the corresponding legal framework and legal system need to keep pace with the times, so he expected that through the discussion of Chinese and foreign scholars at this conference, they could share theoretical views and practical experiences, and put forward innovative ideas and suggestions, providing valuable reference for the development of digital economy in the future.
The conference was divided into six sessions, including legal methodology in the digital age, legal regulation of artificial intelligence, regulation of large digital platforms, data protection and data use, worker protection in the digital age and new development of contract law and consumer protection.
The conference was funded by the College and the EU's Jean Monnet Chair Programme, which Zhang Tong heads. More than 20 doctoral and master's students also participated in the conference, and conducted extensive and in-depth discussion on the topics of the above six units.
