Professor SI Yuzhuo Invited to Lecture at Nanqiang Academic Lecture

On the evening of March 29^th, former president of Dalian Maritime University, Prof. Si Yuzhuo, was invited to give a lecture at the Nanqiang Academic Lecture for XMU teachers and students. The title of Prof. SI’s lecture wasInternational Carriage of Goods Wholly or Partly by Sea - the "Rotterdam Rules".

As the leader of the Chinese delegation totheRotterdam Rulesseminar, Prof. Si compared Chinese and international assessments of the Rotterdam Rules, discussed his own opinions on the merits of becoming party to said rules and gave his thoughts on the appropriate time to modify Chinese maritime law.According him, methods adopted by China for professional assessments are unilateral in nature and that discrepancies among differing professions reflect a problem of shipping policies, shipping arrangements and shipping taxes adopting “Chinese characteristics.” He said that as a major player in shipping and international trade, China should, in due time, become party to theRotterdam Rules, and argued that “despite some disadvantages, the positive outcomes likely to stem from joining theRotterdam Rulesfar outweigh the costs” and that “ best time to modify domestic maritime law will come when the international community reaches consensus ontheRotterdam Rules.”

Editor: Yuan Ying, Tom Friedenbach