LL.M. Chinese Business Law Examination

LL.M. Chinese Business Law Examination

FIT TO SIT POLICY – IMPORTANT

By sitting or submitting this assessment, you are declaring yourself “fit to sit” the assessment. This is important. It means that you may not later submit a mitigating circumstances or appeal application unless it is an exceptional circumstance (see MoPPs/Part H/Section 6/Paragraph 6). The fit to sit policy applies to all students, including those who have reasonable adjustments or other learning support arrangements for assessments. Adjustments are designed (to the extent possible) to remove personal barriers to sitting this assessment. You are therefore declaring that adjustments have been made which mean you are able to access this assessment and there are no additional factors which potentially impact your performance. By sitting this assessment, you are, therefore, declaring you are ‘fit to sit’. If you are not “fit to sit”, you should not attempt this assessment. Should you start the assessment and subsequently become unwell or otherwise unfit to complete the assessment, you must notify Mrs Judy Alexander ([email protected]) straightaway, ensuring that your name and/or SRN is noted. This will be used to verify any application for mitigating circumstances.

Students’ instructions - PLEASE READ  

This is an ‘open book’ examination. You can refer to your notes and published material. However, your answers must be your own so please do not attempt to copy material. To do so will constitute an academic offence.  You have two hours to complete this assessment. Unless you have a current learning support agreement, no extensions are allowed. As soon as possible (within 15 minutes) after the assessment period, you must email as an attachment your answers to [email protected], making sure your student number is on this document.  In the case of hand-written answers, these must be photographed and sent to [email protected] as soon as possible (within 15 minutes) after the assessment period. You must then send them by mail within 24 hours to Professor Barry Rider, OBE, Jesus College, Cambridge CB5 8BL, making sure your student number is stated on your answers. Alternatively, you can scan your answer and send it as an attachment by email to [email protected].

Pass mark 

The pass mark for this assessment is 50%. If this is not your first attempt at this assessment, the maximum mark you can obtain is 50%. This assessment is a work of fiction. No reference to any actual person, firm or company is intended. 

Answer TWO of the Six questions below. All questions carry equal marks.

1. “Many would argue that for a country that considers itself socialist, China has almost fallen over itself in its haste to enact laws promoting business and facilitating the creation of private wealth. The result is a system of business and financial laws that lack coherence, are largely cosmetic and protect very little.” Do you agree with this observation?

 2. Analyse and discuss the law in China relating to the duties that directors of Chinese incorporated companies owe to their company and to other stakeholders. In your opinion do these laws in practice contribute to good governance within the corporate sector in China? 

3. Answer Either

(a) In China how easy is it for those who have suffered harm as a result of a breach of contract or the commission of a tort against them to seek and obtain redress in the Courts and in your view is the Chinese judiciary sufficiently competent and independent to resolve commercial disputes particularly when one of the parties is a foreign business operating in China?

Or

(b) To what extent is China concerned about the protection of customers particularly in regard to the quality of products and their ingredients and their suitability for the purposes they are intended for? 

4. China a decade or so ago had the reputation for offering very little protection to the owners of intellectual property. Do you think that this is justified today? If not why not?

 5. The Chinese leadership has on many occasions condemned corruption and underlined the harm it does to development and stability. Assess the legal measures that China has taken to address this problem particularly in the business community and discuss President Xi’s emphasis on the need to go beyond fighting corruption and promote ethics and good leadership. What if any role does the Chinese Communist Party have in this?

 6. It is the view of the UK government that trade and business can promote in other countries the rule of law particularly if they are encouraged to adopt common law practices and approaches. The UK is keen to promote this policy in the context of China. Do you think it is likely to have any beneficial impact on business and the rule of law in China? E