The Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation between Mainland China and HKSAR

Faculty of Law, The University of Hong Kong
and
Asian Institute of International Financial Law

Professor Philip St. John Smart Memorial Lecture

The Cross-Border Insolvency Cooperation between Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR: Is the Arrangement Enough and Why?

3 May 2023

China has witnessed more and more cross-border insolvency cases in the recent decades. Further, due to the proximity and close economic ties between the Mainland China and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), it is not difficult to understand the unprecedented importance of the arrangement between the Mainland and Hong Kong SAR concerning the cooperation mechanism for China-Hong Kong SAR cross-border insolvencies adopted in May 2021 (the Arrangement). However, the recent high-profile cross-border insolvency cases relating to the Peking University Founder Group (PUFG), Tsinghua Unigroup, and Hainan Airlines (HNA), which concern both the Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR, seem to indicate that the Arrangement is far from being enough to cope with all the cross-border insolvency cooperation matters between the two jurisdictions. The presentation tries to inquire as to why the Arrangement has not fulfilled its mission to the full extent, and whether and how to improve the current unsatisfactory status.

About the Speaker:

Dr. Jingxia Shi is currently a professor (international business & economic law) at the School of Law, Renmin University of China (RUC). Previously she was a professor and the Dean (April 2014-September 2019) at the School of Law, China University of International Business & Economics (UIBE). She has been retaining extensive research interest and expertise in the areas of international investment and trade law, as well as cross-border insolvency, with abundant publications on these subjects. Professor Shi earned her B.A. & LL.B. in 1992, and her Ph.D. in International Economic Law (1998) from Wuhan University, China. She also holds a LL.M. degree (2007) and J.S.D. degree (2011) from Yale Law School.

Chair: Dr Emily Lee, Director, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, Faculty of Law, HKU

Enquiries: Flora Leung at aiiflhku@hku.hk