Derecho y Negocios en Asia (GED70419)

General information

Type:	OP	Curs:	4	Period:	S semester
ECTS Credits:	5 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group	Teacher	Department	Language
	Jaume Giné Daví	Derecho	ESP

The Asian-Pacific region has undergone political, economic and social transformations that have reconfigured the new international order. There is a tendency to convergence between the West and East. China and India, 37% of the world population, have begun to emerge as nations. An Asian economic boom has posed new challenges for businesspeople, professionals and entrepreneurs. However, Asia continues to be an unknown region. It is the next region on the list to be tackled by Spanish foreign trade and it is the principal cause of Spain¿s major trade and investment deficit, which is well above the average of other EU countries.

To tackle the Asian challenge requires a sustained effort to get to know the region better. The barriers are above all cultural. The lack of knowledge regarding Asia hinders economic and business relations between countries and people belonging to other civilisations, such as the Confucian, Hindu, Buddhist and Islamic civilisations. Many professionals with a good legal and economic training face problems when it comes to trade with, investment in or establishing a company in Asian countries. They simply lack cultural knowledge. It is important to know how these countries function and what they are like, how they think and how their business people do business. All of this is fundamental because personal relations and confidence are key to ¿doing business¿ in Asia.

It should also be highlighted that the growth of international trade and the gradual subjection of Asian economies, and China¿s in particular, to the rules of the market economy has led to the gradual but irreversible reception of an extensive legal corpus, which shows clear influence form the EU and the USA. These legal changes have been a necessary instrument to frame economic reform and adjust legal institutions to the regulations established by International Economic Institutions to foster foreign trade and foreign investment in Asia.

The 21st century is that of the emergence of the Asian-Pacific region. The region should be a new strategic priority for Spanish foreign activity. Our principal competitors are and will be Asian.

The course ¿LAW AND BUSINESS IN ASIA¿ aims to achieve the following goals:

a) Offer an introduction to Chinese, Japanese, Indian and Korean law by explaining the principal characteristics of their legal systems, the influence and reception of foreign law in conjunction with the analysis of other political, economic and cultural factors, which affect the political functioning of the institutions as well as both the interpretation and practical application of the legal regulations by the Courts and other state organisms.

b) Place China, Japan, India and South Korea¿s growing influence on current political and economic international relations by highlighting the increase in inter-Asian trade and southern hemisphere trade as supported by the role of Asian-Pacific International development organisations (ASEAN, APEC, etc.) and relations with other economic areas (USA, European Union, Latin America and Africa).

c) However, the principal barriers that hinder Asian-Pacific relations are cultural. To understand the Law and do business with Asian businesses it is essential to understand a number of norms governing conduct, cultural behaviour and protocol without which personal and business relations can be hampered and fruitless. These countries cannot be studied and understood from preconceived models based on our western view of the individual and society.

10. Adaptability, flexibility

22. Leadership ability

15. Social networks

1. THE ASIAN CENTURY 1. A changing world: towards a rebalance between West and East 2. China grows, the West builds up debt 3. The evolution of the Chinese political regime, the great 21st century dilemma 4. The Asian-Pacific drives economic integration 5. Protectionist protection pressures resurge in the West

2. CHINA, THE WORLD'S SECOND ECONOMY 1. The Law in Chain: capitalism with Chinese characteristics a) General Introduction to the legal system of the People's Republic of China b) Political-administrative structure of the Chinese regime c) Towards a State of Law in China? d) Confucius revived in Maos' shadow e) The 90th anniversary of the CPC f) Public freedoms and the Internet 2. A complex and asymmetrical market a) Territorial and social complexity in the word's most highly populated country b) Are there incentives for internal demand? c) Internal and foreign markets; for Chinese companies d) A major asymmetrical market e) From rights to copyright g) Twelve years on from the WTO 3. Business culture in China a) Conduct guidelines for relationships and business with the Chinese b) The Chinese diaspora around the world

3. JAPAN, BEFORE AND AFTER 1. The Law in Japan: General introduction to the legal system. Political-administrative, economic and business structure 2. A country reborn from the ashes 3. Political alternation that provokes frustration 4. A foreign policy conditioned by territorial disputes. 5. The encroaching shadow of the colossus, China? 6. Fukushima shakes Japan and the world 7. Rethinking, revitalising and rejuvenating the country 8. Business culture in Japan: conduct guidelines for relationships and doing business with the Japanese

4. INDIA, ANOTHER GIANT HAS REEMERGED 1. The Law in India: general introduction to the legal system a) The biggest democracy in the world. With Indian characteristics? b) A social structure conditioned by the Caste system. c) Dichotomy between legality and corruption d) Political pluralism for the alternation of power. 2. A country the major territorial and social inequalities a) It will be the most highly populated country in the world b) Selective abortions and gender imbalance c) Territorial and social contrasts 3. A complex foreign policy 3.1 The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) 3.2 Rivalry and territorial disputes with China 3.3 Gradual rapprochement with the USA and the European Union 3.4 Conflictive relations with Pakistan 3.5 Renewing relations with neighbouring countries 4. Two decades of unfinished economic reforms 4.1 The launch of the 1991 economic reforms 4.2 The need for a second modernisation phase 5. Business culture in India: conduct guidelines for relationships and doing business with the Indians. The second most influential diaspora in the world.

5. KOREA, A NATION DIVIDED INTO STATES 1. South Korea, a dynamic country and open to foreign countries a) The Law in South Korea: general introduction to the legal system b) The big bid for Globalisation c) The drive for a network of free trade agreements d) Converting crisis intro opportunities e) Business culture in Korea: conduct guidelines 2. North Korea, that frontier of the Cold War a) The Law in North Korea b) A regime on the brink of collapse in search of way out c) Playing with fire d) A devastated economy e) Republic or monarchy? f) Will the North collapse?

6. THE USA CONTINUES TO BE A SUPER-POWER IN THE ASIAN-PACIFIC 1. New strategic priority: from the Atlantic to the Asian-Pacific a) Obama takes on the Asian challenges b) Leading the Trans-Pacífic Partnership (TPP) 2. Towards a Chinese-US rivalry a) A duel between titans in the China Seas b) Arms race and cyber-espionage c) The Yen against the Dollar

7. THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE ASIAN-PACIFIC REGION: A GREATER EUROPEAN PRESENCE OR "A GREATER GERMAN PRESENCE" 1. EU-Asian relations: more dialogue and shared knowledge 2. EU China relations: "a red carpet for Beijing" 3. China prefers to invest in business assets 4. Germany, the principal European spokesperson in China. 5. A Greater European presence or "a greater German presence"

8. RUSSIA TURNS TO FACE THE EAST AND THE SOUTH, CHINA TAKES THE LEAD 1. Russia turns towards central Asia and dreams of a Euro-Asian union 2. Russia and China, cooperation and failed encounters 3. Shanghai's cooperation organisation 4. The five central Asian republic courted by Russia and China 5. Russia enters the WTO in 2012 and backs gloablisation

9. THE GULF, ARABIAN OR PERSIAN?: ENERGY SOURCE, FOCUS OF TENSION 1. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) a) Saudi Arabia, petroleum and the Wahhabi movement b) The United Arab Emirates, between Abu Dhabi and Dubai c) Qatar, a new route for modernisation in the Arab world? d) Kuwait, a limited and unstable documentary e) Bahrein, the Gulf's sick country d) Oman, the sultan drives the reforms 2. Iran: nuclear ambitions and international embargo

10. SOUTH EASTERN ASIA, VERY CLOSE TO CHINA 1. The Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2. Three key countries on the chess board of South-east Asian relations a) Thailand, the beautiful but unstable countries of smiles b) Indonesia: Islam, democracy and development c) Singapore the hub of South-east Asia

11. THE ECONOMIC AND TRADE INTEGRATION PROCESSES 1. A weak institutional framework undergoing transformation 2. The free-trade agreements in the Asian-Pacific: a) China-Taiwan b) South Korea-India c) South Korea-EU d) South Korea-USA

12. LATIN AMERICA, CHINA'S THIRST FOR NATURAL RESOURCES 1. Asian demand, the driving force of Latin Amereican Growth 2. Brazil, the sixth world economy, China's major trade partner 3. Trade with Asia, its not all advantageous 4. Too many initials in the acronyms for effective regional integration

13. AFRICA, THE NEW FRONTIER FOR ASIAN COMPANIES 1. Africa, another continent undergoing development 2. China's voracious appetite for energy and food resources 3. Inida, a partner with a better image than China 4. South Africa, the last member of the BRIC group

The course is delivered through the combination of two elements:

a) lectures given by the lecturer on the course content
b) the students active class participation, oral presentations undertaken through group work and the completion of individual or group work assignments set and coordinated by the lecture. These activities aim to foster dialogue and debate in the class in order to develop a deeper engagement with a number of the course's key ideas or topics as well as their practical repercussion on the current framework of international economic relations.

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Core reading for the course:
Jaume Giné Daví: "Asia marca el rumbo", Dèria editors, Barcelona 2012, 409 p.

The lecturer will propose further books, documents and basic reports to study in conjunction with the course.

Group	Teacher	Department
	Jaume Giné Daví	Derecho