On 13 December 2017, 71 Members of the World Trade Organization (“WTO”) led by the US, EU and Japan issued a “Joint Statement on Electronic Commerce” at the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the Joint Statement, the Members announced that they would...

While the GATS, in its current form, is not well suited to the regulation of Internet, it has the potential to keep up with the regulatory task. However, to make this happen, we will need new approaches in dealing with Internet services, especially on key issues such as classifications,...

China is incrementally developing a new, decentralized model of trade governance through a web of finance, trade, and investment initiatives involving memorandum of understanding, contracts, and trade and investment treaties, supported by an indigenous innovation policy that is transnational in...

Being a small country with one of the highest trade-to-GDP ratios in the world, Singapore faced seemingly insurmountable challenges at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As countries around the world scrambled to fight the pandemic, they imposed restrictions on exports and imports, suspended...

Starting with the signing of the CEPA with Hong Kong, China, on 30 June 2003, China has jumped on the RTA bandwagon. As of 1 September 2006, China has signed or is negotiating RTAs with trade partners such as Hong Kong, China; Macau, China; Chile; Pakistan; Australia; New Zealand; ASEAN; Iceland;...

On 29 June 2003, the Central Government of the People's Republic of China (the Mainland) and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) signed the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA). As the first Regional Trade Agreement (RTA) for both sides, the CEPA...

China's rise in the international trade and investment system is one of the most important events of the 21st century. Many non-Chinese observers regard China's rapid ascent with surprise or even suspicion, but most Chinese believe that China was simply restoring its rightful place in the world,...

As one of the busiest trade and travel hubs in the world, Singapore quickly became the worst affected of all countries by COVID-19 in the very early stages of the pandemic. For example, on 5 February 2020, two weeks after the unprecedented lockdown in Wuhan by the Central Government of China,...

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the China-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement. It starts with the negotiating history, then discusses the major substantive obligations, and concludes with some thoughts on its economic impacts and future prospects

Trade and human rights have long had a troubled relationship. The advent of new technologies such as internet further complicates the relationship. This article reviews the relationship between trade, technology and human rights in light of the recent dispute between Google and China from both...