This course undertakes a comparative approach to the regulation of business in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and its unique features, including “One Country, Two Systems”, three customs territories and three jurisdictions, resulting in contradiction among legal systems. It first tries to assess possible particularities in the legal and business culture in the GBA and focuses inter alia on the areas of commercial law, corporate law and business transactions, financial services, infrastructure intellectual property, and dispute resolution. The difference among the legal systems is a major source of the long-term obstruction against the full cooperation across the GBA. To this end, the legal systems will be presented and discussed from a comparative perspective. The analysis includes the evaluation of the level of the rule of law in the GBA and its strategic importance in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative and as a platform to boost the trade and investment development in China.

CILO-1: Students will be able to describe the national Greater Bay Area (GBA) development strategy and the strategic importance of the GBA in the context of the Belt and Road Initiative as a platform to boost trade and investment development in the country. CILO-2: Students will be able to explain the characteristics of the legal system in Hong Kong, Macao and mainland China, and correctly analyse the differences of the three legal systems as well as their competitive advantages. CILO-3: Students will be able to proficiently apply the learned norms and theories in the course to effectively resolve problems encountered when operating a business in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).