Author
Prof Carrie Shang
Organisation/Institution
California State Polytechnic University
Country
UNITED STATES
Panel
International Business Law
Title
China’s Emerging “Technology Rule of Law”: Legal Development and Inter-Asian Influence
Abstract
This paper analyzes the rise of China’s “technology rule of law” and situates it within the wider trajectory of China’s legal development and its growing influence across Asia. While Western scholarship has often understood China’s post-1978 legal reforms as alternating between strengthening formal institutions and retrenching into political control, recent developments reflect a qualitative shift. Under Xi Jinping, China initially advanced a professionalized legal system—expanding its arbitration hubs in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, establishing the China International Commercial Court, and projecting an image of judicial sophistication. However, global unilateralism, heightened U.S.–China tensions, regional political upheavals, and China’s own economic stagnation have complicated this narrative, giving rise to a new skepticism toward Western legal norms, particularly extraterritorial regulatory tools such as sanctions, export controls, and long-arm jurisdiction. In the post-COVID period, China has increasingly promoted a governance model grounded in digitalization, AI-enabled adjudication, automated compliance, and ESG-linked regulatory frameworks. This article offers the first comprehensive assessment of this emergent “technology rule of law,” examining its institutional characteristics and its relationship to China’s broader political economy of development. Adopting a law-and-development perspective, the analysis further explores China’s evolving role as a rule-of-law exporter and evaluates how neighboring jurisdictions assess the attractiveness and adaptability of its model. Through case studies of Dubai and Singapore, the paper investigates the extent to which China’s technology-driven legal architecture is being replicated, selectively integrated, or resisted, and what these dynamics suggest for the future of inter-Asian legal ordering.
Biography
Carrie Shang is a professor of business law of California State Polytechnic University and Affiliated Scholar of UC Law San Francisco. She is an accomplished international business scholar and practitioner whose scholarship and practices focus on cross-border disputes, business compliance, and international trade. She holds a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a J.D. degree from the University of Southern California. She is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese Chinese. Carrie’s research primarily focuses on Chinese enterprises’ international legal compliance and the impact of evolving trade relationships on their operations. With extensive experience advising on Chinese enterprises’ cross-border transactions, she has served as an expert witness in multiple proceedings and has published extensively in leading peer-reviewed law and business journals. Carrie has taught at leading Chinese law schools. She was the head instructor of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics’ inaugural American Common Law program. She currently teaches courses on international business law, international trade, and dispute resolution. Licensed to practice law in California and New York, She is a Director of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center. She previously served as the Chief Representative of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) PRC Office from 2017 to 2018.
