WTO Centre public lecture

One of the world's most renowned experts on international trade law, Dr Ernst-Ulrich Petersmann, visited CityU on 19 July to deliver a lecture on competition rules in the World Trade Organization.

An audience of more than 100 packed a CityU lecture theatre to hear Dr Petersmann, a Professor at the European University Institute in Florence and Chairman of the International Trade Law Committee of the International Law Association, speak.

The lecture was organized by the School of Law's WTO Law and Dispute Resolution Centre, which is dedicated to the study of the interaction among globalization, legal development (especially in the field of international economic law) and international dispute resolution mechanisms. The Centre was founded this past January and is headed by Professor Peter Malanczuk.

"The number of attendees here shows the support of the lecturer and the Centre," said Professor Malanczuk in his introductory remarks at the lecture. "This Centre is the first in the Asia-Pacific region to focus on international law and dispute settlement. The importance of this centre is witnessed by China's entry into the WTO."

Dr Petersmann's lecture revolved around the central issue of what kind of "competition culture" the WTO needs. Among the important questions raised by the lecture was whether international competition rules were beneficial for domestic citizens even in the absence of domestic competition rules.