Dr Lijun Zhao

Overview

Dr Lijun (Liz) Zhao is Director of the Academic Visitor Programme, at City, University of London. Liz has undertaken extensive research and teaching in the areas of trade and commercial law, especially new technologies such as AI and digital assets.

Before embarking on a career in academia, she was admitted by the Chinese Bar Council. Currently, she works as tenured Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Corporate and Commercial Law and PhD Supervisor at City.

Over the past decades, she has collaborated with and contributed to the work of several international organizations and bodies, including the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its academic forums, the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO), and the Comité Maritime International (CMI), the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), etc.

As winner of grants from Erasmus+, the Higher Education Innovation Funding and City law firms, she founded and led the first international non-profit organization CECCA bridging the gaps, between researchers and professionals, between students and legal practitioners, and particularly between the East and the West.

For prospective applicants for City’s Academic Visitor Programme, please see more details from the City Law School website regarding research groups and 'Academic Visitor Programme':
https://www.city.ac.uk/about/schools/law/research-from-the-city-law-school#tabs638783-link636747

For prospective PhD students, she welcomes applicants who are interested in researching trade and commercial law, multidisciplinary research in relation to law and new technology such as digital assets, AI, blockchain/distributed ledger technology.



Presentations and Conferences (Selected):

(1) Invited panellist of the Lex Maritima working group meeting, CMI Plenary meeting, Montreal, 06/2023
(2) Presentation on ‘China and the International Legal Order: From Trade and Commercial Law Perspectives’, invited panellist, The 6th Young China Watchers-King’s College London China Conference China: Going Global, Staying Local, 28/02/2023
(3) Expert member of CMI 2022 Plenary Meeting, and invited panellist of the Lex Maritima working group meeting, Antwerp, 10/2022.
(4) 11th Cape Town Convention Academic Project Conference: Public International Law and the Cape Town Convention, Cambridge, 13-14/09/2022
(5) Member of the organising team for 12th Annual Maritime Law and Policy Conference, Chair of ‘Law and Technology’ session, London, 27/05/2022
(6) From Marx to Market: The Maritime Labour Convention, the Shore-based Welfare Services, and Empirical Evidence from China, City Staff Research Seminar, 16/03/2022
(7) Organizer of Public Lecture “A risk-based approach to specific aspects of the obligations placed on a coastal State by international maritime law”, for students and staff, held in a hybrid format (in-person and online), 30/11/2021
(8) Convenor of Webinar “Practical and Legal Insights into Carriage of Goods by Sea”, 25/08/2021
(9) Convenor and contributor of Webinar “The Salvage of the Vessel ‘Ever Given’ in the Suez Canal: What Happens After ‘Captain Netherlands’ Saves World Trade?”, held jointly by City, Maastricht University and CECCA, 20/05/2021
(10) Presentation: Legal Issues and Challenges in Addressing the Outbreak of Coronavirus on International Cruise Ships, in International Seminar on Global Public Health Governance in COVID-19 Era, held by Shanghai Maritime University, Online, 25/07/2020
(11) Convenor of International Conference ‘Arbitration Enforcement and Jurisdiction in a Commercial Setting: Anglo, European and Chinese Perspectives’, Presentation: Impact of Cultural Aspect on Arbitration: Law in Practice and the Experience of Chinese Parties in London Arbitration, Access to Justice and Arbitration Conference, Co-organised with Swansea University, hosted by HWF law firm, London, 21/02/2020
(12) London Shipping Week Events: Parliamentary Reception; Women in Shipping WISTA UK; LMAA Maritime Arbitration; Maritime Cyber Security; Green Shipping; UK-China Shipping; 09/2019
(13) Presentation: Trade vs War: Belt and Road Initiative and Innovation to Trade, at the 6th Sino-UK Annual Conference on Commercial Law, Economics and Business, CCLS, Queen Mary University of London, 07/06/2019
(14) Chair of Panel presentations on Law Commission and Law Reform and Reforming the Chinese Maritime Code, at Anglo-Chinese Maritime Law and Practice in Transition Conference, Held by Southampton University, 06-07/06/2019
(15) Presentation: Shipping, Maritime Transport Services and Regional Trading Agreements, Symposium on Regionalism in Trade in Services, held by Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany, 14-15/03/2019
(16) Southampton Maritime Week, Keynote speech: The Reconstruction and Internationalisation of Chinese Ports – Transforming national champions into global players, Southampton, 25-28/02/2019
(17) International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) mooting on investment arbitration, invited arbitrator, Paris, 04/2019
(18) City University London, Public lecture: China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Outbound Investments in Port and Connecting Infrastructures, London, 21/02/2019
(19) Invited Lady Hale to deliver lectures, ‘100 Years of Women in Law’ and ‘The Life of Lady Law Lord’, London, 02/2019
(20) ICC YAF, Young ICSID, and ICDR Y&I Triple Colloquium Event on the eve of the ICDR-AAA/ICC/ICSID 35th Annual Joint Colloquium on ‘Advancing Innovation in International Arbitration’, ‘Arbitration Ex Machina: The Use of Technology in International Arbitration’, Washington, 12/2018
(21) Investing in China through Shanghai-London Stock Connect, held by London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group, London, 12/11/2018
(22) Comité Maritime International (CMI) Assembly Meeting, CMI Lex Maritime Working Group meeting, hosted by the UN International Maritime Organization, London headquarter, 09/11/2018
(23) Colloquium on Judicial Sales and UNCITRAL meeting, CMI Working Group London Meeting, 08/11/2018
(24) Young ICSID Online Meeting on Proposed Amendments to the ICSID Rules, Online, 07/11/2018
(25) Presentation: Prospect of the Rotterdam Rules in the Changing Landscape of Maritime Transport Regimes – From Historical, Economic and Legal Perspectives, The 9th International Conference on Maritime Law, Held by China Maritime Law Association and Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 28/10/2018-31/10/2018
(26) Chair of Young Maritime Session, The 9th International Conference on Maritime Law, Held by China Maritime Law Association and Shanghai Maritime University, Shanghai, 31/10/2018
(27) Training: Proposals for Amendment of the ICSID Rules, held by International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, 01/10/2018
(28) Middlesex London Teaching Conference, Workshop presentation: Bridge the Gap (regarding students skills development) and Students Diversity, London, 07/09/2018
(29) Invited to World Blockchain Forum: Investments & ICOs, London, 04-05/09/2018
(30) Presentation: China’s Multilateralism in Global Trade in the Trump Era and the Implications on Reshaping Trade and Transportation Rules, 2018 Annual Conference of European Association of Chinese Law, Italy, 12-14/09/2018
(31) Presentation: Comparative Study of UK Insurance Act (2015) and Chinese Insurance Law, 10th European Colloquium on Maritime Law Research, Torun, Poland, 20-21/09/2018
(32) Presentation: Port Developments in China and Its Internationalisation, at International Research Seminar in Maritime, Port and Transport Law, Hosted by Port Authority of Venice, 21-23/06/2018
(33) Invited panellist at the IMF Workshop: The Role of the International Monetary Fund, Washington DC, 08/06/2018
(34) Presentation: Trade Measures and International Economic Law, Harvard Law School, Boston, 01-04/06/2018
(35) Convenor of the Middlesex Delegation to UN IMO 70th Anniversary and debate on opportunities and challenges of today’s trade and shipping sectors, London, 15/05/2018
(36) Coordinator of Middlesex University PhD Annual Conference, 03-04/05/2018, The Boroughs of London
(37) Chair of LUMP Postgraduate Maritime Law and Policy Conference, City University London, 20/04/2018
(38) NGO Representative Observer, UN International Maritime Organization, Meetings, 09-11/04/2018
(39) Convenor of International Conference on Seafarers Welfare in Chinese Ports (SWiC), ITF House, London, 23/03/2018
(40) Convenor of Commercial and Maritime Talk Series: Trends in World Trade and Shipping; A Portrait of Alibaba Group, Hendon Town Hall, London, 13/03/2018
(41) Public lecture: Law of the Sea, the South China Sea Arbitration and ongoing UK-Mauritius Disputes on Chagos Islands, invited by the City Law School, London, 21/02/2018
(42) Presentation: Trade in Services regarding the Higher Education Sector and Teaching Law, Kingston University, 01/2018
(43) Presentation: Cooperation, Transportation and Globalization: A Critique of the Role of Maritime Transport in Era of Deglobalisation, in Academic Forum Think Conference MC11 ‘Thinking about a Global Trade Governance for the 21st Century: Challenges and Opportunities on the Eve of the WTO’s 11th Ministerial Conference’, organised jointly by The Inter-American Development Bank, Ministry of Production of Argentina, Georgetown University, Harvard Law School and other prestigious institutes, Buenos Aires, Argentina,10-13/12/2017
(44) Presentation: China’s Role in International Trade: Belt and Road Initiatives, London Shipping Week, 11-15/09/2017
(45) Invited to join The Cambridge International Symposium on Economic Crime, Belt and Road Initiative: Chinese Law and Recent Legal Reform, Cambridge, 05-06/09/2017
(46) Invited to join World Maritime Day in China, Port Management Discussion Forum, Ningbo, China, 11/07/2017
(47) Attended as an observer in the negotiation of implementation of the BWM (Ballast Water Management) Convention, at the International Maritime Organization, 74th Session, MPEC plenary meeting, London, 06/2017
(48) Convenor of 2017 Annual Conference on Maritime Governance and Law, London, 9-10/06/2017
(49) Presentation: Issues of Warranty Clauses within Marine Insurance Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Legal Education regarding Common Law and Chinese Law, at the ‘International Conference of Maritime Policy, Technology and Education (ICMPTE), Southampton, 07-08/06/2017

Qualifications

• PhD, University of Wales, United Kingdom

Administrative roles

• Programme Director of Academic Visitor Programme, The City Law School
• Commitee Member, City Law School Research Ethics Committee

Employment

• Visiting Scholar and Lead of Global Law and Policy Research Group, Middlesex University (London, Dubai and Mauritius campuses), Apr 2021 – Sep 2022
• Senior Lecturer in Corporate and Commercial Law (Associate Professor, Tenured), City, University of London, Apr 2021 – present
• Supervisor of Arbitrators to be, The Chartered Instiute of Arbitrators (CIArb), Dec 2020 – Jun 2021
• Supporting Member and Arbitrator, London Maritime Arbitrators Association (LMAA), Jan 2020 – present
• External Examiner, Swansea University, Sep 2017 – Jan 2023
• co-Founding Director and Advisor, The China-Europe Commercial Collaboration Association (CECCA), Jun 2017 – present

1^st supervisor

• Miguel Nkegbe, Research Student

2^nd supervisor

• Raphael Esu, Research Student
• Odysseas Stergianopoulos, Research Student
• Alexandros-Catalin Bakos, Research Student

Featured publications

1. Hu, J.Z. and Zhao, L.L. (2022). The Modernisation of the Chinese Maritime Code: The Revision of the Hybrid Regime Governing Carriage of Goods by Sea. Commercial and Maritime Law in China and Europe Routledge.
2. Zhao, L. (2020). Maritime Transport, the WTO, and Regional Trade Agreements: Too Many Cooks? Coherence and Divergence in Services Trade Law (pp. 219–247). Springer International Publishing. ISBN 978-3-030-46954-2.
3. Zhao, L. Artificial Intelligence and Law: Emerging Divergent National Regulatory Approaches in a Changing Landscape of Fast-evolving AI Technologies. Research Handbook on Digital Trade Edward Elgar.
4. Zhao, L., Zhang, P., Zhao, M., He, G. and Chen, F. (2023). From Marx to Market: A Legal and Empirical Analysis of the Maritime Labour Convention in China. Asia Pacific Law Review, (2).

   [publisher’s website]

5. Sun, S. and Zhao, L.L. (2022). Legal issues and challenges in addressing the coronavirus outbreak on large cruise ships: A critical examination of port state measures. Ocean & Coastal Management, 217, pp. 105995–105995. doi:10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105995.

   [publisher’s website]

6. Zhao, L. and Zhang, P. (2021). Belt and Road Initiative Challenges and Restructuring of the Global Trade System. Journal of Transnational and Chinese Commercial Law, (13), pp. 51–71.
7. Zhang, P., Zhao, L., Vata, O. and Rajagopal, S. (2020). Restructuring seafarers’ welfare under the Maritime Labour Convention: an empirical case study of Greece. Maritime Business Review, 5(4), pp. 373–389. doi:10.1108/mabr-02-2020-0009.

   [publisher’s website]

8. Chen, F. and Zhao, L. (2017). To Be or Not to Be? -- An Empirical Study on Dual-class Share Structure of US-Listed Chinese Companies. Journal of International Business and Law, 16(2), pp. 215–248.

   [publisher’s website]

9. Zhao, L. (2016). The limited scope of seaborne cargo liability regime: new political–economic environments in the 21st century. Maritime Policy & Management, 43(6), pp. 748–762. doi:10.1080/03088839.2016.1163430.

   [publisher’s website]

10. Zhao, L. (2015). Carriers Beware! – Circumstances in Which Navigation Addresses Conflicting Liability Regimes. Journal of Navigation, 68(4), pp. 784–790. doi:10.1017/s0373463315000247.

    [publisher’s website]

11. Zhao, L. (2015). Uniform seaborne cargo regimes - A historical review. Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce, 46(2), pp. 133–170.
12. Zhao, L. (2015). Transportation, Cooperation and Harmonization, GATS as a Gateway to Integrating the UN’s Sea Cargo Regime into the WTO Framework. Pace International Law Review, 27(1), pp. 60–118.

    [publisher’s website]

13. Zhao, L. (2014). Soft or Hard Law. International Organizations Law Review, 11(1), pp. 172–227. doi:10.1163/15723747-01101006.

    [publisher’s website]

14. Zhao, L. (2022). Artificial Intelligence and Law: Emerging Divergent National Regulatory Approaches in a Changing Landscape of Fast-evolving AI Technologies. London, UK: City Law School.

Publications by category