During Phase II of the APRD Project, the China Research Team will develop and implement the Archival Records, Survey Interviews, and Case Study research for the Chinese economy, and examine the conditions for China’s compliance with international trade and human rights standards.
Chaired by Dr. Sarah Biddulph from Melbourne University and Co-chaired by Dr. Gu Xiaorong from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the China Research Team conducts research activities primarily through collaboration with the Law Institute at Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, a leading policy research institute in China on issues of trade and human rights. Support is also available from East China University of Politics and Law, and the China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong.
The China Research Team’s primary research areas include:
- China’s labour-management system, the impact of shift in labour legislation in developed nations on China, anti-discrimination and employment promotion, and the construction of harmonious labour relations in China;
- International environmental protection, especially issues on the international legal control on global climate change;
- The impact of international trade agreements on labour rights protection in China;
- Corporate profit or cost in undertaking labour social responsibility;
- Financial regulation and investor protection in China, the regulation of foreign-invested financial institutions and their market access;
- Challenges faced by China in the area of plant genetic resource protection under the framework of TRIPs-UPOV, and the construction of a legal model for plant genetic resource protection in China.
The China Research Team is also working closely with Sarah Biddulph and Sean Cooney from the University of Melbourne and Professor Zhu Ying from the University of Adelaideon on a research project titled “Linking International Trade with Core Labour Standards: Does it Provide an Effective Tool for Improving Labour Rights in China?”.
