Skip to main content

Heng Wang

Singapore Management University, Yong Pung How School of Law, Faculty Member

Followers

162

Following

4

Mentions

4

Public Views

Professor of Law, Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University; Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Law & Justice, University of New South Wales (UNSW Law & Justice), Sydney; formerly Professor & Co-Director, Herbert Smith Freehills China International Business and Economic Law (CIBEL) Centre, UNSW Law & Justice; formerly Co-Director, Tsinghua-UNSW Joint Research Centre for International Commercial and Economic Law (JCICEL). https://law.smu.edu.sg/faculty/profile/7161/wang-heng

less

Uploads

Papers by Heng Wang

Addressing governance challenges of digitalisation and sustainability: The case of central bank digital currency

Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 2024

Digitalisation and environmental sustainability are widely discussed topics. However, their nexus... more Digitalisation and environmental sustainability are widely discussed topics. However, their nexus remains underexplored and can pose significant challenges for governments and industries alike. The environmental implications of digitalisation are becoming increasingly pertinent with the advent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and their inherent energy consumption and production of e-waste. On the other hand, digitalisation could potentially support sustainability efforts. This begs the question of how systems of governance, such as regulatory frameworks and internal organisational governance, should harmonise digitalisation and sustainability goals. Such harmonisation entails ensuring that digitalisation processes are environmentally responsible while exploring how the application and features of digitalisation can help achieve environmental goals. By drawing insights from the case study of CBDCs, this article will utilise the paradigm of adaptive governance to seek potential solutions to the environmental implications of digitalisation.

The Future of the BRI: A New Context and New Issues

Journal of International Economic Law, 2021

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is unprecedented in terms of its scale and carries profound im... more The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is unprecedented in terms of its scale and carries profound implications for the world order. The BRI involves not only "hardware" (e.g., new infrastructure crucial for the digital economy) but also "software" (e.g., rules and institutional development). It affects the landscape of the world economy, and involves many regions, including the ASEAN region as a top trade partner of China. This timely book, edited by Basil C. Bitas, offers valuable insights into major legal and commercial issues involved in doing business related to the BRI. It often takes an ASEANbased perspective, and focuses on the needed skill set for BRI-related projects. In the first chapter, Bitas argues that the ASEAN should "take care to sift through the commercial opportunities of the BRI without losing either its identity or policy flexibility" (p. 11). He further argues that the ASEAN could leverage "its core tenets of neutrality and regional centrality" and navigate the BRI (pp. 311-312). The book's chapters explore several closely interconnected key areas in BRI practice: trade and investment, finance, dispute settlement, and governance. In an early chapter on trade and investment under the BRI (chapter 2), Locknie Hsu analyses, among others, various developments and trends ranging from the digital yuan to US-China economic tensions. She argues that besides the important role of judiciaries and academia, it is crucial to understand economic agreements, dispute settlement choices, and the broader politicaleconomic context. Several chapters are devoted to finance understood in a broad sense. In chapter 3, Shen Yiming explores risk management and insurance along the BRI, including core risks (e.g., environmental risks), lessons learnt (e.g., an absence of adequate pre-project feasibility study or thorough due diligence, the misalignment of initial project designs with implemented designs), and risk management (e.g., risk allocation, identification and assessment). James Harris, Mark Hu, Bruce Schulberg, et al look in depth at project finance and public-private partnerships (PPP) along the BRI in chapter 6, including typical BRI project structuring (e.g., PPP projects with sovereign loans), challenges (e.g., the tension between private element in PPP project funding and sovereign loans), and the future (e.g., the application of Chinese law and dispute settlement arrangement). Jasper Wong examines the bankability and viability of the BRI, including the main source of BRI projects (Chinese banks, the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)), financial instruments available to BRI states, and practices (chapter 9). Wong suggests ways to close

Chinese Views on Modern Marco Polos: New Foreign Trade Amendments after WTO Accession

The author is grateful to all these presentation invitations, and the insightful comments receive... more

Addressing Governance Challenges of Digitalisation and Sustainability: A Perspective of Central Bank Digital Currency

While digitalization such as central bank digital currency (CBDC) would carry environmental impli... more While digitalization such as central bank digital currency (CBDC) would carry environmental implications, it also has the potential to contribute to sustainable development. CBDC and sustainable development are both crucial but underexplored issues that pose significant challenges for governments and industry alike. What are the major issues faced by the governance system of digitalization in addressing the challenges of sustainable development? How should we manage sustainable development and digitalisation?

The Interpretation of GATS Disciplines on Economic Integration: GATS Commitments as a Threshold?

Journal of World Trade

The interpretation of GATS Article V, which deals with economic integration, is of crucial import... more The interpretation of GATS Article V, which deals with economic integration, is of crucial importance to the growing number of economic integration agreements (EIAs) in services, in terms of dispute settlement, services negotiations, the WTO review of EIAs, the coordination between multilateralism and EIAs, and best practices in drawing up EIAs. However, the Article has received insufficient study and remains vague. This paper takes China's eight EIAs as test cases for interpreting GATS Article V and argues that GATS commitments may be an appropriate threshold for interpreting the Article, in particular the substantial sectoral coverage and elimination of discrimination requirements, which are probably among the major challenges.

China’s Bilateral Investment Treaties

Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy, 2021

This chapter focuses on the changes and trends in Chinese bilateral investment treaties and relat... more This chapter focuses on the changes and trends in Chinese bilateral investment treaties and relatedly investment rules of China's free trade agreements. It analyzes a number of questions: what is the changing context of China's bilateral investment rulemaking? How to understand the evolution of China's bilateral investment treaties? What are the major features in China's recent practice? What are the shifts on investment dispute settlement?

The Agreement on Trade Facilitation and Its Implications: An Interpretative Perspective

As a highly compromising and flexible agreement, the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (hereinafter... more As a highly compromising and flexible agreement, the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (hereinafter "TFA" or "the agreement") may shed light on the future direction of the world trade regime. Going beyond the tariffs and border, the agreement is featured with good governance requirements. Its delicate relationship with free trade agreements (hereinafter "FTAs"), the domestic law, and existing World Trade Organization (hereinafter "WTO") agreements deserves attention and carries important implications. What is the relationship between of the TFA and non-WTO rules? How do existing WTO agreements apply to the TFA explicitly or implicitly? What is the interpretative challenge? In addressing these issues, the holistic approach is needed. It remains to be seen how the TFA fits to the world trade regime in the future.

China, Free Trade Agreements and WTO Law: A Perspective on the Trade in Services

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012

China's free trade agreements in services are developing at a fast pace. This paper examines the ... more China's free trade agreements in services are developing at a fast pace. This paper examines the major differences between these agreements and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and their relationship with the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although they are modeled on the GATS, amongst other things these agreements differ in their scope and coverage, origin rules, transparency and good governance.

China's Regulatory Approach to the Sharing Economy: A Perspective on Ride-Hailing

Chinese Law eJournal, 2020

While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory c... more While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory challenges that are novel and unpredictable. How should regulators handle these challenges? This paper offers fresh insights into the regulatory approach to the ride-hailing industry, the most comprehensively regulated sharing industry in China. A historical review identifies three regulatory approaches deployed to date: self-regulation, market-based regulation and government regulation. Self-regulation relies on the platforms with incentive to provide better service for greater profit, and to deal with sharing-specific challenges. Market-based regulation invites rivals to keep a watchful eye on other players, in order to enhance their market position by outperforming the competition. Both approaches are capable of delivering quick, and often innovative, responses to new challenges. Government regulation, on the other hand, came late and plays a neutral role. The rules there are mostly of...

How May China Respond to the U.S. Trade Approach? Retaliatory, Inclusive and Regulatory Responses

Columbia Journal of Asian Law, 2018

This paper endeavours to conceptualize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response t... more This paper endeavours to conceptualize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response to U.S. trade policy. It analyses the following questions: what is the new U.S. trade approach? How might China respond to the United States’ trade approach? What are the trend and implications of China’s response to the U.S. trade approach? It argues, first, that the U.S. trade approach has not changed regarding most of the U.S.-style regulatory disciplines. However, it has changed in terms of the shift toward managed trade, unilateralism and trade enforcement. Second, China will likely adopt a three-track approach: consisting of retaliatory, inclusive and regulatory responses. Third, these responses exist on a political-legal spectrum that spans from a more political retaliatory response through to an inclusive one, or a more legalized approach (regulatory response). The inclusive response is likely to be given primacy by China over the other two responses, and China’s responses carry p...

International Dimension of CBDC: A Network Analysis

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), with its dramatic differences from paper currency in terms ... more Central bank digital currency (CBDC), with its dramatic differences from paper currency in terms of both currency and data, is likely to be a game changer in the international financial system. CBDC would lead to new payment infrastructures and arrangements, and a CBDC network. However, the crucial international dimension of new payment infrastructures and arrangements is under-researched. This article examines what kind of CBDC network is likely to emerge in the future, and the impact it would have on regulation and the global financial network (GFN). It argues first that the CBDC network is likely to be a decentralized network and overall adopt an uncoordinated network-as-structure approach. Second, the CBDC network could bring policy diffusion effects but may not necessarily lead to convergence in regulation, as states would behave largely instrumentally. Third, a CBDC network would affect the GFN and particularly the power balance between different actors, possibly leading to a ...

The Belt and Road Initiative Agreements: Characteristics, Rationale, and Challenges

World Trade Review, 2021

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has brought with it an unprecedented number of agreements. BRI... more The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has brought with it an unprecedented number of agreements. BRI agreements consist of primary agreements (particularly MOUs) and secondary agreements (like performance agreements). They are a distinct, landmark feature of the BRI. Focusing on primary agreements and their close link with secondary agreements, this paper explores the following questions: What are the legal status and characteristics of primary agreements? Why are they adopted by China? What challenges do they face? BRI primary agreements can be regarded as a form of soft law, but that repurposes soft law characteristics for project development rather than rule development. BRI primary agreements have the following unique characteristics: (i) minimal legalization, (ii) a coordinated, project-based nature, and (iii) a hub-and-spoke network structure. While BRI primary agreements benefit from the advantages of soft law (e.g., reduced contracting costs, flexibility), they face challenges ...

An Assessment of the ChAFTA and Its Implications: A Work-in-Progress Type FTA with Selective Innovations?

International Economic Law eJournal, 2017

This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approac... more This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approach of the ChAFTA? What are the challenges to the ChAFTA? It argues first that the ChAFTA adopts a problem-solving approach to harvest “low-hanging fruit” (e.g. tariff cuts). Containing WTO-based and WTO-friendly rules, it focuses on trade and investment facilitation through market liberalization and carefully written good governance norms. In spite of its short form investment chapter, the agreement is not as shallow as one may first think. It stimulates development concerning, among other things, regulatory issues (e.g. regulatory transparency and cooperation in financial services, regulatory autonomy in investment), the negative list approach for services and investment, investor-state dispute settlement, and the investment facilitation arrangement. The development appears to be often affected by the position of Australia. Second, the ChAFTA will meet challenges in implementation and fu...

Selective Engagement? Future Path for US-China Economic Relations and Its Implications

Journal of World Trade, Vol. 55, Iss. 2 (Apr 2021, forthcoming), 2020

The US-China economic interactions will have profound ramifications for the world. The article ex... more The US-China economic interactions will have profound ramifications for the world. The article explores the following questions: what is the path forward for US-China economic interactions? What are its implications? It argues that selective engagement is the possible future path for US-China economic interactions. Selective engagement involves selective focuses, which currently are an unprecedented emphasis on market access, and delegalized implementation. Selective engagement contrasts sharply with deep free trade agreements that focus on regulatory disciplines and legalized dispute settlement. Selective engagement carries profound implications, ranging from rule vacuum and inconsistency, increased protection and economic disintegration, to the marginalization of multilateralism. Essentially, selective engagement is a "different animal" from previous trade practices, and could be a game changer in international economic order. The US-China interaction is highly mutable, and selective engagement may change over time.

Selective Reshaping: China’s Paradigm Shift in International Economic Governance

Journal of International Economic Law, Volume 23, Issue 3 (Sept 2020, forthcoming), 2020

Differing from a selective adaptation approach towards external norms in its accession to the Wor... more Differing from a selective adaptation approach towards external norms in its accession to the World Trade Organization, China plays an increasingly proactive role on the international stage, with the Belt and Road Initiative at the center of these activities. How can we understand this new approach by China towards international economic governance? What is responsible for China’s shifting approach, and what are the implications of this shift? The paper presents selective reshaping as a new theoretical framework, and argues first that China is shifting towards the selective reshaping of institutions and rules within the global economic order. Second, perception and conception, complementarity and legitimacy are influencing components that affect selective reshaping, and which manifest substantially differently in this context, when compared with selective adaptation. Third, selective reshaping is likely to transform the institutions and rules within the international economic order, which has profound implications.

China's Regulatory Approach to the Sharing Economy: A Perspective on Ride-hailing

(Published at Journal of Law, Technology & Policy, Vol. 2020, Iss. 1, 2020), 2020

While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory c... more While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory challenges that are novel and unpredictable. How should regulators handle these challenges? This paper offers fresh insights into the regulatory approach to the ride-hailing industry, the most comprehensively regulated sharing industry in China. A historical review identifies three regulatory approaches deployed to date: self-regulation, market-based regulation and government regulation. Self-regulation relies on the platforms with incentive to provide better service for greater profit, and to deal with sharing-specific challenges. Market-based regulation invites rivals to keep a watchful eye on other players, in order to enhance their market position by outperforming the competition. Both approaches are capable of delivering quick, and often innovative, responses to new challenges. Government regulation, on the other hand, came late and plays a neutral role. The rules there are mostly of the "old wine in a new bottle" kind; in other words, applying existing (old) rules to the new sharing economy. Those rules could contribute to a level playing field for traditional and sharing-market players if managed properly. This article argues that government regulations are inadequate for solving sharing-specific challenges such as the legal status of the participants, the challenges of uncertain externalities, and new forms of competition. Instead, regulators should in the future give more affirmative value to self-regulation and † Associate Professor,

An Assessment of the ChAFTA and Its Implications: A Work-in-Progress Type FTA with Selective Innovations

This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approac... more This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approach of the ChAFTA? What are the challenges to the ChAFTA? It argues first that the ChAFTA adopts a problem-solving approach to harvest " low-hanging fruit " (e.g. tariff cuts). Containing WTO-based and WTO-friendly rules, it focuses on trade and investment facilitation through market liberalization and carefully written good governance norms. In spite of its short form investment chapter, the agreement is not as shallow as one may first think. It stimulates development concerning, among other things, regulatory issues (e.g. regulatory transparency and cooperation in financial services, regulatory autonomy in investment), the negative list approach for services and investment, investor-state dispute settlement, and the investment facilitation arrangement. The development appears to be often affected by the position of Australia. Second, the ChAFTA will meet challenges in implementation and future negotiations. The former includes vague rules, soft obligations, the considerable need for wide-ranging cooperation, and the usage rate. The latter is probably the complexity of legal issues, as well as internal (including sensitive issues such as labor mobility and review of investment by Chinese SOEs) and external uncertainties (including the WTO law, the US-China investment treaty negotiations). Finally, the future of the ChAFTA depends on bilateral cooperation in FTA implementation, and the political willingness to develop a rule-based system. The ChAFTA could bring an incremental paradigm shift of China's FTAs, which will carry vast implications for China's participation in international economic legal order.

How May China Respond to the U.S. Trade Approach? Retaliatory, Inclusive and Regulatory Responses, Columbia Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Forthcoming)

The paper endeavours to conceputalize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response to... more The paper endeavours to conceputalize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response to U.S. trade policy. It analyses the following questions: what is the new U.S. trade approach? How might China respond to the United States’ trade approach? What are the trend and implications of China’s response to the U.S. trade approach? It argues, first, that the U.S. trade approach has not changed regarding most of the U.S.-style regulatory disciplines. However, it has changed in terms of the shift toward managed trade, unilateralism and trade enforcement. Second, China will likely adopt a three-track approach: consisting of retaliatory, inclusive and regulatory responses. Third, these responses exist on a political-legal spectrum that spans from a more political retaliatory response through to an inclusive one, or a more legalized approach (regulatory response). The inclusive response is likely to be given primacy by China over the other two responses, and China’s responses carry profound implications.

Design and Effect Analysis of Auto Air Pressure Balance System for Fire Control

2011 Third International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation, 2011

An LMI-based Approach to Fault Detection for Uncertain State Feedback Control Systems

2007 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, 2007

The paper studies the problem of fault detection for a class of uncertain state feedback tracking... more The paper studies the problem of fault detection for a class of uncertain state feedback tracking control systems with constant reference inputs. The considered systems are modeled via multiple modes, namely, nominal case and faulty case. The actuator stuck faults are considered. With the aid of the finite frequency positive-realness approach, a new LMIbased fault detection method for the control systems is obtained, and applied to the fault detection for flight control systems.

Addressing governance challenges of digitalisation and sustainability: The case of central bank digital currency

Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law, 2024

Digitalisation and environmental sustainability are widely discussed topics. However, their nexus... more Digitalisation and environmental sustainability are widely discussed topics. However, their nexus remains underexplored and can pose significant challenges for governments and industries alike. The environmental implications of digitalisation are becoming increasingly pertinent with the advent of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and their inherent energy consumption and production of e-waste. On the other hand, digitalisation could potentially support sustainability efforts. This begs the question of how systems of governance, such as regulatory frameworks and internal organisational governance, should harmonise digitalisation and sustainability goals. Such harmonisation entails ensuring that digitalisation processes are environmentally responsible while exploring how the application and features of digitalisation can help achieve environmental goals. By drawing insights from the case study of CBDCs, this article will utilise the paradigm of adaptive governance to seek potential solutions to the environmental implications of digitalisation.

The Future of the BRI: A New Context and New Issues

Journal of International Economic Law, 2021

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is unprecedented in terms of its scale and carries profound im... more The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is unprecedented in terms of its scale and carries profound implications for the world order. The BRI involves not only "hardware" (e.g., new infrastructure crucial for the digital economy) but also "software" (e.g., rules and institutional development). It affects the landscape of the world economy, and involves many regions, including the ASEAN region as a top trade partner of China. This timely book, edited by Basil C. Bitas, offers valuable insights into major legal and commercial issues involved in doing business related to the BRI. It often takes an ASEANbased perspective, and focuses on the needed skill set for BRI-related projects. In the first chapter, Bitas argues that the ASEAN should "take care to sift through the commercial opportunities of the BRI without losing either its identity or policy flexibility" (p. 11). He further argues that the ASEAN could leverage "its core tenets of neutrality and regional centrality" and navigate the BRI (pp. 311-312). The book's chapters explore several closely interconnected key areas in BRI practice: trade and investment, finance, dispute settlement, and governance. In an early chapter on trade and investment under the BRI (chapter 2), Locknie Hsu analyses, among others, various developments and trends ranging from the digital yuan to US-China economic tensions. She argues that besides the important role of judiciaries and academia, it is crucial to understand economic agreements, dispute settlement choices, and the broader politicaleconomic context. Several chapters are devoted to finance understood in a broad sense. In chapter 3, Shen Yiming explores risk management and insurance along the BRI, including core risks (e.g., environmental risks), lessons learnt (e.g., an absence of adequate pre-project feasibility study or thorough due diligence, the misalignment of initial project designs with implemented designs), and risk management (e.g., risk allocation, identification and assessment). James Harris, Mark Hu, Bruce Schulberg, et al look in depth at project finance and public-private partnerships (PPP) along the BRI in chapter 6, including typical BRI project structuring (e.g., PPP projects with sovereign loans), challenges (e.g., the tension between private element in PPP project funding and sovereign loans), and the future (e.g., the application of Chinese law and dispute settlement arrangement). Jasper Wong examines the bankability and viability of the BRI, including the main source of BRI projects (Chinese banks, the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)), financial instruments available to BRI states, and practices (chapter 9). Wong suggests ways to close

Chinese Views on Modern Marco Polos: New Foreign Trade Amendments after WTO Accession

The author is grateful to all these presentation invitations, and the insightful comments receive... more

Addressing Governance Challenges of Digitalisation and Sustainability: A Perspective of Central Bank Digital Currency

While digitalization such as central bank digital currency (CBDC) would carry environmental impli... more While digitalization such as central bank digital currency (CBDC) would carry environmental implications, it also has the potential to contribute to sustainable development. CBDC and sustainable development are both crucial but underexplored issues that pose significant challenges for governments and industry alike. What are the major issues faced by the governance system of digitalization in addressing the challenges of sustainable development? How should we manage sustainable development and digitalisation?

The Interpretation of GATS Disciplines on Economic Integration: GATS Commitments as a Threshold?

Journal of World Trade

The interpretation of GATS Article V, which deals with economic integration, is of crucial import... more The interpretation of GATS Article V, which deals with economic integration, is of crucial importance to the growing number of economic integration agreements (EIAs) in services, in terms of dispute settlement, services negotiations, the WTO review of EIAs, the coordination between multilateralism and EIAs, and best practices in drawing up EIAs. However, the Article has received insufficient study and remains vague. This paper takes China's eight EIAs as test cases for interpreting GATS Article V and argues that GATS commitments may be an appropriate threshold for interpreting the Article, in particular the substantial sectoral coverage and elimination of discrimination requirements, which are probably among the major challenges.

China’s Bilateral Investment Treaties

Handbook of International Investment Law and Policy, 2021

This chapter focuses on the changes and trends in Chinese bilateral investment treaties and relat... more This chapter focuses on the changes and trends in Chinese bilateral investment treaties and relatedly investment rules of China's free trade agreements. It analyzes a number of questions: what is the changing context of China's bilateral investment rulemaking? How to understand the evolution of China's bilateral investment treaties? What are the major features in China's recent practice? What are the shifts on investment dispute settlement?

The Agreement on Trade Facilitation and Its Implications: An Interpretative Perspective

As a highly compromising and flexible agreement, the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (hereinafter... more As a highly compromising and flexible agreement, the Agreement on Trade Facilitation (hereinafter "TFA" or "the agreement") may shed light on the future direction of the world trade regime. Going beyond the tariffs and border, the agreement is featured with good governance requirements. Its delicate relationship with free trade agreements (hereinafter "FTAs"), the domestic law, and existing World Trade Organization (hereinafter "WTO") agreements deserves attention and carries important implications. What is the relationship between of the TFA and non-WTO rules? How do existing WTO agreements apply to the TFA explicitly or implicitly? What is the interpretative challenge? In addressing these issues, the holistic approach is needed. It remains to be seen how the TFA fits to the world trade regime in the future.

China, Free Trade Agreements and WTO Law: A Perspective on the Trade in Services

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2012

China's free trade agreements in services are developing at a fast pace. This paper examines the ... more China's free trade agreements in services are developing at a fast pace. This paper examines the major differences between these agreements and the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and their relationship with the law of the World Trade Organization (WTO). Although they are modeled on the GATS, amongst other things these agreements differ in their scope and coverage, origin rules, transparency and good governance.

China's Regulatory Approach to the Sharing Economy: A Perspective on Ride-Hailing

Chinese Law eJournal, 2020

While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory c... more While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory challenges that are novel and unpredictable. How should regulators handle these challenges? This paper offers fresh insights into the regulatory approach to the ride-hailing industry, the most comprehensively regulated sharing industry in China. A historical review identifies three regulatory approaches deployed to date: self-regulation, market-based regulation and government regulation. Self-regulation relies on the platforms with incentive to provide better service for greater profit, and to deal with sharing-specific challenges. Market-based regulation invites rivals to keep a watchful eye on other players, in order to enhance their market position by outperforming the competition. Both approaches are capable of delivering quick, and often innovative, responses to new challenges. Government regulation, on the other hand, came late and plays a neutral role. The rules there are mostly of...

How May China Respond to the U.S. Trade Approach? Retaliatory, Inclusive and Regulatory Responses

Columbia Journal of Asian Law, 2018

This paper endeavours to conceptualize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response t... more This paper endeavours to conceptualize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response to U.S. trade policy. It analyses the following questions: what is the new U.S. trade approach? How might China respond to the United States’ trade approach? What are the trend and implications of China’s response to the U.S. trade approach? It argues, first, that the U.S. trade approach has not changed regarding most of the U.S.-style regulatory disciplines. However, it has changed in terms of the shift toward managed trade, unilateralism and trade enforcement. Second, China will likely adopt a three-track approach: consisting of retaliatory, inclusive and regulatory responses. Third, these responses exist on a political-legal spectrum that spans from a more political retaliatory response through to an inclusive one, or a more legalized approach (regulatory response). The inclusive response is likely to be given primacy by China over the other two responses, and China’s responses carry p...

International Dimension of CBDC: A Network Analysis

Central bank digital currency (CBDC), with its dramatic differences from paper currency in terms ... more Central bank digital currency (CBDC), with its dramatic differences from paper currency in terms of both currency and data, is likely to be a game changer in the international financial system. CBDC would lead to new payment infrastructures and arrangements, and a CBDC network. However, the crucial international dimension of new payment infrastructures and arrangements is under-researched. This article examines what kind of CBDC network is likely to emerge in the future, and the impact it would have on regulation and the global financial network (GFN). It argues first that the CBDC network is likely to be a decentralized network and overall adopt an uncoordinated network-as-structure approach. Second, the CBDC network could bring policy diffusion effects but may not necessarily lead to convergence in regulation, as states would behave largely instrumentally. Third, a CBDC network would affect the GFN and particularly the power balance between different actors, possibly leading to a ...

The Belt and Road Initiative Agreements: Characteristics, Rationale, and Challenges

World Trade Review, 2021

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has brought with it an unprecedented number of agreements. BRI... more The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has brought with it an unprecedented number of agreements. BRI agreements consist of primary agreements (particularly MOUs) and secondary agreements (like performance agreements). They are a distinct, landmark feature of the BRI. Focusing on primary agreements and their close link with secondary agreements, this paper explores the following questions: What are the legal status and characteristics of primary agreements? Why are they adopted by China? What challenges do they face? BRI primary agreements can be regarded as a form of soft law, but that repurposes soft law characteristics for project development rather than rule development. BRI primary agreements have the following unique characteristics: (i) minimal legalization, (ii) a coordinated, project-based nature, and (iii) a hub-and-spoke network structure. While BRI primary agreements benefit from the advantages of soft law (e.g., reduced contracting costs, flexibility), they face challenges ...

An Assessment of the ChAFTA and Its Implications: A Work-in-Progress Type FTA with Selective Innovations?

International Economic Law eJournal, 2017

This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approac... more This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approach of the ChAFTA? What are the challenges to the ChAFTA? It argues first that the ChAFTA adopts a problem-solving approach to harvest “low-hanging fruit” (e.g. tariff cuts). Containing WTO-based and WTO-friendly rules, it focuses on trade and investment facilitation through market liberalization and carefully written good governance norms. In spite of its short form investment chapter, the agreement is not as shallow as one may first think. It stimulates development concerning, among other things, regulatory issues (e.g. regulatory transparency and cooperation in financial services, regulatory autonomy in investment), the negative list approach for services and investment, investor-state dispute settlement, and the investment facilitation arrangement. The development appears to be often affected by the position of Australia. Second, the ChAFTA will meet challenges in implementation and fu...

Selective Engagement? Future Path for US-China Economic Relations and Its Implications

Journal of World Trade, Vol. 55, Iss. 2 (Apr 2021, forthcoming), 2020

The US-China economic interactions will have profound ramifications for the world. The article ex... more The US-China economic interactions will have profound ramifications for the world. The article explores the following questions: what is the path forward for US-China economic interactions? What are its implications? It argues that selective engagement is the possible future path for US-China economic interactions. Selective engagement involves selective focuses, which currently are an unprecedented emphasis on market access, and delegalized implementation. Selective engagement contrasts sharply with deep free trade agreements that focus on regulatory disciplines and legalized dispute settlement. Selective engagement carries profound implications, ranging from rule vacuum and inconsistency, increased protection and economic disintegration, to the marginalization of multilateralism. Essentially, selective engagement is a "different animal" from previous trade practices, and could be a game changer in international economic order. The US-China interaction is highly mutable, and selective engagement may change over time.

Selective Reshaping: China’s Paradigm Shift in International Economic Governance

Journal of International Economic Law, Volume 23, Issue 3 (Sept 2020, forthcoming), 2020

Differing from a selective adaptation approach towards external norms in its accession to the Wor... more Differing from a selective adaptation approach towards external norms in its accession to the World Trade Organization, China plays an increasingly proactive role on the international stage, with the Belt and Road Initiative at the center of these activities. How can we understand this new approach by China towards international economic governance? What is responsible for China’s shifting approach, and what are the implications of this shift? The paper presents selective reshaping as a new theoretical framework, and argues first that China is shifting towards the selective reshaping of institutions and rules within the global economic order. Second, perception and conception, complementarity and legitimacy are influencing components that affect selective reshaping, and which manifest substantially differently in this context, when compared with selective adaptation. Third, selective reshaping is likely to transform the institutions and rules within the international economic order, which has profound implications.

China's Regulatory Approach to the Sharing Economy: A Perspective on Ride-hailing

(Published at Journal of Law, Technology & Policy, Vol. 2020, Iss. 1, 2020), 2020

While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory c... more While the sharing economy brings significant social benefits in China, it comes with regulatory challenges that are novel and unpredictable. How should regulators handle these challenges? This paper offers fresh insights into the regulatory approach to the ride-hailing industry, the most comprehensively regulated sharing industry in China. A historical review identifies three regulatory approaches deployed to date: self-regulation, market-based regulation and government regulation. Self-regulation relies on the platforms with incentive to provide better service for greater profit, and to deal with sharing-specific challenges. Market-based regulation invites rivals to keep a watchful eye on other players, in order to enhance their market position by outperforming the competition. Both approaches are capable of delivering quick, and often innovative, responses to new challenges. Government regulation, on the other hand, came late and plays a neutral role. The rules there are mostly of the "old wine in a new bottle" kind; in other words, applying existing (old) rules to the new sharing economy. Those rules could contribute to a level playing field for traditional and sharing-market players if managed properly. This article argues that government regulations are inadequate for solving sharing-specific challenges such as the legal status of the participants, the challenges of uncertain externalities, and new forms of competition. Instead, regulators should in the future give more affirmative value to self-regulation and † Associate Professor,

An Assessment of the ChAFTA and Its Implications: A Work-in-Progress Type FTA with Selective Innovations

This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approac... more This paper explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approach of the ChAFTA? What are the challenges to the ChAFTA? It argues first that the ChAFTA adopts a problem-solving approach to harvest " low-hanging fruit " (e.g. tariff cuts). Containing WTO-based and WTO-friendly rules, it focuses on trade and investment facilitation through market liberalization and carefully written good governance norms. In spite of its short form investment chapter, the agreement is not as shallow as one may first think. It stimulates development concerning, among other things, regulatory issues (e.g. regulatory transparency and cooperation in financial services, regulatory autonomy in investment), the negative list approach for services and investment, investor-state dispute settlement, and the investment facilitation arrangement. The development appears to be often affected by the position of Australia. Second, the ChAFTA will meet challenges in implementation and future negotiations. The former includes vague rules, soft obligations, the considerable need for wide-ranging cooperation, and the usage rate. The latter is probably the complexity of legal issues, as well as internal (including sensitive issues such as labor mobility and review of investment by Chinese SOEs) and external uncertainties (including the WTO law, the US-China investment treaty negotiations). Finally, the future of the ChAFTA depends on bilateral cooperation in FTA implementation, and the political willingness to develop a rule-based system. The ChAFTA could bring an incremental paradigm shift of China's FTAs, which will carry vast implications for China's participation in international economic legal order.

How May China Respond to the U.S. Trade Approach? Retaliatory, Inclusive and Regulatory Responses, Columbia Journal of Asian Law, Vol. 31, No. 2 (Forthcoming)

The paper endeavours to conceputalize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response to... more The paper endeavours to conceputalize and provide an analytical framework for China’s response to U.S. trade policy. It analyses the following questions: what is the new U.S. trade approach? How might China respond to the United States’ trade approach? What are the trend and implications of China’s response to the U.S. trade approach? It argues, first, that the U.S. trade approach has not changed regarding most of the U.S.-style regulatory disciplines. However, it has changed in terms of the shift toward managed trade, unilateralism and trade enforcement. Second, China will likely adopt a three-track approach: consisting of retaliatory, inclusive and regulatory responses. Third, these responses exist on a political-legal spectrum that spans from a more political retaliatory response through to an inclusive one, or a more legalized approach (regulatory response). The inclusive response is likely to be given primacy by China over the other two responses, and China’s responses carry profound implications.

Design and Effect Analysis of Auto Air Pressure Balance System for Fire Control

2011 Third International Conference on Measuring Technology and Mechatronics Automation, 2011

An LMI-based Approach to Fault Detection for Uncertain State Feedback Control Systems

2007 IEEE International Conference on Control Applications, 2007

The paper studies the problem of fault detection for a class of uncertain state feedback tracking... more The paper studies the problem of fault detection for a class of uncertain state feedback tracking control systems with constant reference inputs. The considered systems are modeled via multiple modes, namely, nominal case and faulty case. The actuator stuck faults are considered. With the aid of the finite frequency positive-realness approach, a new LMIbased fault detection method for the control systems is obtained, and applied to the fault detection for flight control systems.

How to Understand China’s Approach to Central Bank Digital Currency?

China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), digital yuan or e-CNY, is likely to profoundly affe... more China’s central bank digital currency (CBDC), digital yuan or e-CNY, is likely to profoundly affect the international financial system. China’s CBDC is fast evolving. Understanding the influencing factors of China’s CBDC will likely be crucial to explore its future direction. Major influencing factors include (i) China’s perception and conception of regulation and technology, (ii) complementarity between China’s preferences and CBDC development, (iii) domestic and international legitimacy, and (iv) institutional development. This paper argues that these influencing factors contribute to China’s likely approach of selectively reshaping the international financial system. Given the potential wide-ranging implications of the introduction of CBDC globally, China’s approach may be significant in the next evolution of money.

The Future of the International Financial System: The Emerging CBDC Network and Its Impact on Regulation

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digital form of fiat currency. CBDC is expected to be a... more Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is a digital form of fiat currency. CBDC is expected to be a game changer in the international financial system, bringing increased complexities arising from technology and regulatory considerations, as well as generating greater currency competition. As more states begin exploring CBDC, the interactions between actors will lead to the emergence of a new CBDC network. What shape would the emerging CBDC network take? What would its network effects be? What would be the impact of the CBDC network on international financial system,or the global financial network? This article explores these questions by examining the emerging CBDC network and its regulatory implications. It argues that the CBDC network would likely be both decentralized and uncoordinated, making it unlikely to lead to convergence in CBDC regulation. The CBDC network would probably bring policy diffusion effects, with states behaving instrumentally, while shaking up the power balance between different actors, generating both cooperation and conflict. The CBDC network also has the potential to push international financial system towards becoming more decentralized.

Characterization of antibody responses to the Sj23 antigen of Schistosoma japonicum after infection and immunization

Acta Tropica, 2010

Sj23, a member of the tetraspanin protein family, is a 23-kDa surface-exposed protein of Schistos... more Sj23, a member of the tetraspanin protein family, is a 23-kDa surface-exposed protein of Schistosoma japonicum and expressed in all infective parasite stages, which has been regarded as a potential candidate in vaccine development for schistosomiasis. In this study, we found that, in the BALB/c mouse model, Sj23 elicited rapid humoral responses after parasite infection and the dominant antibodies were of IgG2a subclass. Immunization with Sj23 by priming with recombinant SFV RNA virus particles followed by a boost with recombinant protein also generated strong IgG2a responses which did not provide protection against challenge with cercariae. Our data indicated that one of the functions of Sj23 of S. japonicum is to facilitate parasite immune regulation. Sj23 antigen-based vaccine may require strong adjuvant that can drive IgG1 responses which are more critical in resistance to helminth infection.

Speech translation on Internet CEST-CAS2.0

Proceedings of 2001 International Symposium on Intelligent Multimedia, Video and Speech Processing. ISIMP 2001 (IEEE Cat. No.01EX489), 2001

Abstract We present CEST-CAS2. 0, a large-scale system aimed at speech translation on the Interne... more Abstract We present CEST-CAS2. 0, a large-scale system aimed at speech translation on the Internet. CEST-CAS2. 0 now accepts conversational speech in a limited domain in Chinese, and produces output in English. It allows other modules of spoken language recognition and translation plugged into the platform to form a multilingual translation center and accepts users&amp;amp;amp;#x27; spoken input via telephone or mobile phone calls. Beyond our continuing efforts to improve accuracy and robustness of Chinese-to-English, we have begun, on one ...

A New Routing Protocol of Structured Peer-to-Peer Overlay Networks

2008 Fifth IEEE International Symposium on Embedded Computing, 2008

The routing protocol of structured peer-to-peer overlay networks influences the p2p network perfo... more The routing protocol of structured peer-to-peer overlay networks influences the p2p network performances in route table maintenance, routing hops, and network churning. Current protocols we used usually maintain a O(logN) route table and O(logN) routing hops. To get better routing speed with less scale routing table, using O(1) node finger to get O(N) route path, a new protocol named CSSP

Corrigendum to “Immunoaffinity purification of polyepitope proteins against Plasmodium falciparum with chicken IgY specific to their C-terminal epitope tag” [Protein Expr. Purif. 75 (2011) 225–229]

Protein Expression and Purification, 2011

A Peer-to-Peer Overlay Network Routing Protocol Based on Bidirectional Circle Topology

2008 4th International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Mobile Computing, 2008

Performance of structured peer-to-peer overlay networks depends on the routing protocols. To get ... more Performance of structured peer-to-peer overlay networks depends on the routing protocols. To get better routing speed with less scale routing table, using O (1) node finger to get O (N) route path, a new routing protocol named BCPP was presented. Structured by a bidirectional circle topology, this p2p network has a short routing table to record one super node, one

An RFID indoor positioning system by using weighted path loss and extreme learning machine

2013 IEEE 1st International Conference on Cyber-Physical Systems, Networks, and Applications (CPSNA), 2013

ABSTRACT Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been widely used in many applicatio... more ABSTRACT Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology has been widely used in many application domains. How to apply RFID technology to develop an Indoor Positioning System (IPS) has become a hot research topic in recent years. LANDMARC approach is one of the first IPSs by using active RFID tags and readers to provide location based service in indoor environment. However, major drawbacks of the LANDMARC approach are that its localization accuracy largely depends on the density of reference tags and the high cost of RFID readers. In order to overcome these drawbacks, two localization algorithms, namely weighted path loss (WPL) and extreme learning machine (ELM), are proposed in this paper. These two approaches are tested on a novel cost-efficient active RFID IPS. Based on our experimental results, both WPL and ELM can provide higher localization accuracy and robustness than existing ones.

Data fusion of multi-fidelity model and its application in low speed reflexed airfoil shape optimization

2011 2nd International Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Management Science and Electronic Commerce (AIMSEC), 2011

Abstract In this paper, a data fusion method was presented to combine multi Computational Fluid D... more

Bibliometric analysis of English-language academic journals of China and their internationalization

Scientometrics, 2007

The internationalization of ten of China’s English-language scientific journals is analyzed based... more The internationalization of ten of China’s English-language scientific journals is analyzed based on their Impact Factor, Total Citation, JCR list rank, international paper proportion and international citation proportion. Six of these journals were financed three times by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSF) between 2001–2006 and four journals maintained a higher impact factor (&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;1.0) in 2003–2005. The data

Concentration-dependent up-converted luminescence of Ho3+–Yb3+ co-doped yttrium-stabilized zirconia phosphors

Journal of Luminescence, 2015

Fabrication, formation mechanism and the application in lithium-ion battery of porous Fe2O3 nanotubes via single-spinneret electrospinning

Electrochimica Acta, 2015

A B S T R A C T Porous Fe 2 O 3 nanotubes have been fabricated by annealing the electrospun precu... more A B S T R A C T Porous Fe 2 O 3 nanotubes have been fabricated by annealing the electrospun precursor nanofibers. Moreover, the mechanism for the formation of the controllable Fe 2 O 3 nanostructures is investigated through manipulating the concentration of the electrospun precursor solution and also discussed based on their morphological evolution processes. When evaluated as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, the porous Fe 2 O 3 nanotubes exhibit good lithium storage performance with high specific capacity of 1407.9 mA h g À1 and good cycling stability (stable up to 250 cycles), which is attributed to the unique morphology of the porous, hollow and continuous one dimensional (1D) nanostructures. These results demonstrate that further improvement or optimization of electrochemical performance in metal oxide-based electrode materials could be realized by the design of 1D nanostructures with unique morphologies.

Cell reprogramming for the creation of patient-specific pluripotent stem cells by defined factors

Frontiers of Agriculture in China, 2009

Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), characterized by being able to differentiate into various types of... more Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs), characterized by being able to differentiate into various types of cells, are generally regarded as the most promising sources for cell replacement therapies. However, as typical PSCs, embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are still far away from human clinics so far due to ethical issues and immune rejection response. One way to avoid such problems is to

A higher-order prediction method of spatial cues based on Bayesian Gradient model

2010 IEEE International Conference on Wireless Communications, Networking and Information Security, 2010

The derivation of spatial cues representing source localization information is a typical componen... more The derivation of spatial cues representing source localization information is a typical component of multichannel spatial audio coders such as EAAC+ and MPEG Surround. Efficient compression of spatial cues based on the inter-frame difference distribution of spatial cues is investigated. Using a Bayesian Gradient model, the inter-frame correlations can be predicted more accurately. Results show that the proposed higher-order prediction method for spatial cue compression achieves about 20% bit-rate reduction with respect to the inter-freq differential coding method used in MPEG Surround.

Designing Transparent Interaction for Ubiquitous Computing: Theory and Application

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2007

Designing transparent interaction is important for ubiquitous computing (ubicomp). A psychology f... more Designing transparent interaction is important for ubiquitous computing (ubicomp). A psychology framework that characterizes user’s cognitive behavior in ubicomp environments would be invaluable for guiding the interaction design to be optimally compatible with human capabilities and limitations. By analyzing the cognitive skill and attention selectivity, such a framework is proposed in this paper. Correspondingly, a context-sensitive multimodal architecture is presented

Theoretical investigation of the mechanism of tritiated methane dehydrogenation reaction using nickel-based catalysts

Fusion Engineering and Design, 2015

<title>A novel absorptive thin film design for laser welding in optoelectronic device capsulation</title>

Lasers in Material Processing and Manufacturing II, 2005

In this paper, a kind of absorptive thin film, for the first time, was used in laser welding of S... more In this paper, a kind of absorptive thin film, for the first time, was used in laser welding of SiO2, Si and LiNbO3. This absorptive thin film of three-layer metal-dielectric-metal structure is designed for further reducing the high reflectance of the Nd:YAG laser beam in the surface of the tin layer that is utilized as solder between the transparent parent

New IDH1 mutant inhibitors for treatment of acute myeloid leukemia

Nature chemical biology, Jan 5, 2015

Neomorphic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) are driver mutations in acute myeloid l... more Neomorphic mutations in isocitrate dehydrogenase 1 (IDH1) are driver mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and other cancers. We report the development of new allosteric inhibitors of mutant IDH1. Crystallographic and biochemical results demonstrated that compounds of this chemical series bind to an allosteric site and lock the enzyme in a catalytically inactive conformation, thereby enabling inhibition of different clinically relevant IDH1 mutants. Treatment of IDH1 mutant primary AML cells uniformly led to a decrease in intracellular 2-HG, abrogation of the myeloid differentiation block and induction of granulocytic differentiation at the level of leukemic blasts and more immature stem-like cells, in vitro and in vivo. Molecularly, treatment with the inhibitors led to a reversal of the DNA cytosine hypermethylation patterns caused by mutant IDH1 in the cells of individuals with AML. Our study provides proof of concept for the molecular and biological activity of novel alloster...

A Cloud-Pattern Based Network Traffic Analysis Platform for Passive Measurement

2012 International Conference on Cloud and Service Computing, 2012

Controlled-NOT gate for manipulating photonic polarization states in a two-mode optical cavity

Optics Communications, 2010

We investigate the coherent interaction between two cavity modes with left or right circular pola... more We investigate the coherent interaction between two cavity modes with left or right circular polarizations and a traveling atom in the four-level Y configuration. With large single-photon detunings for both cavity modes and in the presence of a strong classical field, all one-photon and two-photon transitions may be well eliminated so that a close-loop four-photon transition starting from the only

The Future of the BRI: A New Context and New Issues ASEAN and the Belt and Road Initiative -Connectivity through Law and Commerce, Edited by BASIL C. BITAS, Academy Publishing, 2021. ISBN 978-981-14-9878-7, 338pp

Journal of International Economic Law, 2021

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is unprecedented in terms of its scale and carries profound im... more The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is unprecedented in terms of its scale and carries profound implications for the world order. The BRI involves not only "hardware" (e.g., new infrastructure crucial for the digital economy) but also "software" (e.g., rules and institutional development). It affects the landscape of the world economy, and involves many regions, including the ASEAN region as a top trade partner of China. This timely book, edited by Basil C. Bitas, offers valuable insights into major legal and commercial issues involved in doing business related to the BRI. It often takes an ASEANbased perspective, and focuses on the needed skill set for BRI-related projects. In the first chapter, Bitas argues that the ASEAN should "take care to sift through the commercial opportunities of the BRI without losing either its identity or policy flexibility" (p. 11). He further argues that the ASEAN could leverage "its core tenets of neutrality and regional centrality" and navigate the BRI (pp. 311-312). The book's chapters explore several closely interconnected key areas in BRI practice: trade and investment, finance, dispute settlement, and governance. In an early chapter on trade and investment under the BRI (chapter 2), Locknie Hsu analyses, among others, various developments and trends ranging from the digital yuan to US-China economic tensions. She argues that besides the important role of judiciaries and academia, it is crucial to understand economic agreements, dispute settlement choices, and the broader politicaleconomic context. Several chapters are devoted to finance understood in a broad sense. In chapter 3, Shen Yiming explores risk management and insurance along the BRI, including core risks (e.g., environmental risks), lessons learnt (e.g., an absence of adequate pre-project feasibility study or thorough due diligence, the misalignment of initial project designs with implemented designs), and risk management (e.g., risk allocation, identification and assessment). James Harris, Mark Hu, Bruce Schulberg, et al look in depth at project finance and public-private partnerships (PPP) along the BRI in chapter 6, including typical BRI project structuring (e.g., PPP projects with sovereign loans), challenges (e.g., the tension between private element in PPP project funding and sovereign loans), and the future (e.g., the application of Chinese law and dispute settlement arrangement). Jasper Wong examines the bankability and viability of the BRI, including the main source of BRI projects (Chinese banks, the Silk Road Fund and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)), financial instruments available to BRI states, and practices (chapter 9). Wong suggests ways to close