China’s Xi Jinping vows to focus on judicial cooperation in multilateral ties

Wider law enforcement and judicial cooperation in bilateral and multilateral ties are important for national security, Chinese president tells Politburo
Beijing has grown increasingly wary of its drawbacks in the international legal arena

Diplomacy

Amber Wangin Beijing

Published: 10:11pm, 8 Dec 2021

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Chinese President Xi Jinping has pledged to prioritise multilateral law enforcement and judicial cooperation to safeguard national security, while reiterating his call for China’s laws to apply beyond its borders.

Xi’s comments, made before the Communist Party’s top leadership, come at a time when China is engaged in an intense geopolitical stand-off with several Western governments, with bruising overseas legal tangles piling up for Chinese companies.

“It is necessary to incorporate the expansion of law enforcement and judicial cooperation as an important agenda of bilateral and multilateral relations,” Xi said at a study session of the Politburo, the party’s centre of power and top policymaking body.

This was “in order to enhance foreign-related law enforcement and judicial work, and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests”, he added.

President Xi Jinping (right) and Premier Li Keqiang with members of the Politburo Standing Committee in Beijing. Photo: AFP

Speaking in Beijing on Monday, Xi also called for a legal system that would allow the extraterritorial application of Chinese laws, a matter he has raised before.

His remarks come as China goes all out to protect its overseas interests amid growing international headwinds.

China has grown increasingly wary of its disadvantage on international legal matters in recent years, whether it be the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling on the South China Sea or Chinese tech companies becoming caught up in legal wrangles in the United States. As many as 12 such firms were placed on a US trade blacklist just two weeks ago.

One protective attempt from Beijing was the enactment of the anti-sanctions law earlier this year.

In effect since June, the law gives the Chinese government, as well as private citizens and businesses, the legal basis to take countermeasures against foreign individuals and entities involved in “discriminatory restrictive measures” which Beijing says “violate international laws and basic norms”.

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Xi also warned as early as two years ago that China lacked the legal professionals needed to protect its growing interests, and said this posed a national security threat.

Wang Jiangyu, a professor of international law at City University of Hong Kong, said the push for Chinese laws to apply overseas was part of Xi’s ambitious plan to expand China’s overall global influence.

“Xi is an ambitious leader who needs to expand China’s influence in all aspects, and the extraterritorial application of Chinese laws is an important aspect of expanding China’s influence,” Wang said.

“To strengthen their application requires cooperation from other countries, so it is expected there will be more signing of agreements in judicial cooperation, such as extradition treaties to expand the extraterritorial application of China’s laws.”

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But Wang pointed out that such cooperation might be more easily seen among nations friendly with Beijing, and less likely in the case of the US and its allies, who generally distrust China’s legal system.

“The civil and commercial cases regarding the Belt and Road Initiative are definitely included in the cooperation Xi called for,” Wang said.

Xi has long called for legal support for his signature multinational belt and road strategy, and China’s legal bodies, including the Supreme People’s Court, have pledged to work on strengthening judicial and criminal cooperation with the countries involved.

He Zhipeng, a law professor with Jilin University, said Beijing was expected to push for cooperation on matters related to trade and investment, and civil and criminal laws, “such as signing agreements to set rules for extradition”.

“In the past, it was dealt with case by case, and the legal cost was too high.”