The Second “Belt and Road Initiative Simulation Competition” was held on June 26, 2019 in Shanghai, China. 40 students from Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Law School and Deakin Law School teamed up and participated in the competition.
The Competition is based on the case that examines China’s participation in the construction of the Mombasa-Nairobi Railway in Eastern Africa, but more specifically in Kenya. The stakeholders in the case study include the Kenyan Railways Corporation on Behalf of Kenya’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (KRC-MTI), the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the East African Environment and Labor Alliance (EAELA), and the East African Community (EAC). The whole negotiation involves four sessions: Opening Statement, Bilateral Negotiation, Ad-Hoc Negotiation and Quadrilateral Negotiation. The four teams analyzed each party’s stance and concerns in the project including financial burdens, labor issues, environmental sustainability concerns, and geopolitical concerns. After three hours of negotiations, the final resolution on the above issues was reached.
Hu Ling, the Associate Dean of the Law School of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, gave the opening speech of the competition. He thanked Deakin University Law School and FLIA for coming to the university. Also, he thinks the BRI simulation program is an important and practical way to train legal talents as moot court, mock arbitration and debate. Professor Hu Ling said that BRI simulation training is what law school education should pay attention to, and he hoped that BRI competition can continue to develop in the future.
Dr. Shaoming Zhu, President of the Foundation of Law and International Affairs, introduced the negotiation mode of BRI simulation to the students participating in the competition. The negotiation model is the “inclusive negotiation” framework proposed by FLIA. Inclusive negotiation refers to the negotiation mode jointly completed by four major stakeholders of international governance — governments, enterprises, non-governmental organizations and intergovernmental international organizations. Through the BRI simulation training and competition, students can have more opportunity to understand different roles such as government, enterprises, social organizations, and international organizations in the position of international negotiations, and acquire knowledge involved in the One Belt and One Road cases which includes legal, financial, energy, international affairs, construction and other core knowledge. They will be able to use negotiation, decision making, cross-cultural communication, public speaking, and writing instruments, all those key skills, to help and make themselves become adept at professional knowledge, understand strategic layout, and retain the local consciousness and interdisciplinary with international thinking. At last, she hopes to solid foundation for the students in the future international career development.
Judges in this competition are Xiaoke Zhang, a Senior Partner of Beijing Jincheng Tongda (Shanghai) Law Firm, Dr. Li Chen, Associate Professorial Fellow at Fudan University Law School, and Dr. Jiao Zhang, Secretary-General of the Institute for Belt & Road Initiative and Legal Studies at East China University of Political Science and Law.
Advisors for the four teams are: Jingru Feng and Wang Xing, Associate Professors of Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Law School; Xin Xu, Associate Professor of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics Trade Negotiation School; Zhijin Huang, Associate Professor of Shanghai University of International Business and Economics Trade Negotiation School; Asen Velinov, Attorney at Law (California) at Co-effort Law Firm LLP, Consultant at Oriental Financial Pudong Channel.
The competition produced the Gold Award and Silver Award for teams, three Public Speaking Awards, and three Diplomatic Style Awards. The Kenyan Railways Corporation on Behalf of Kenya’s Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure (KRC-MTI team represented by the Deakin University Law School in Australia won the team Gold Award, and the EAELA represented by the Shanghai University of Finance & Economics Law School won the team Silver Award.
In today’s era of globalization, transnational problems call for solutions with an international perspective, which puts forward higher requirements for the growth of young students. The “Belt and Road Initiative” reflects that in the discussion of global issues and the consultation of transnational cooperation, the interaction and exchange among the major stakeholders, including governments, enterprises, international organizations and civil society, is becoming increasingly obvious, and the requirements for the role of professionals and young talents are also increasing.
Moreover, “Belt and Road Initiative” youth talent pool established by the competition will directly deliver professional talents who are familiar with the party and state policies, understand China’s national conditions, have a global vision, can skillfully use foreign languages, are familiar with international rules, and are proficient in international negotiations for the enterprises and international organizations participating in the Belt and Road Initiative.
Shanghai University of Finance and Economics has made many attempts and efforts in cultivating international talents. In June 2018, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics launched the “BRI Simulation Competition” in cooperation with FLIA for the first time. We all aim to help young students develop into international talents who can speak for China and fight for its interests in the international community.
A global competition will be organized soon. Hope you will join us then!