Recently, the book “The China’s Interpretation of the ‘UNCITRAL Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution’” written by YANG Jianzheng, Dean of the E-commerce Development Research Institute of USST, professor and doctoral supervisor of the BS-USST, was published which was sponsored by the National Publication Foundation. From 2010 to 2016, Professor YANG Jianzheng, as the chief expert of the Chinese delegation, participated in the drafting of the “Technical Notes of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on Online Dispute Resolution (hereinafter referred to as the “UNCITRAL Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution”). On December 13, 2016, the United Nations General Assembly, after unremitting efforts, adopted the “Technical Notes of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on Online Dispute Resolution” which was originated from the China’s technique guidance. This is a legal document involving e-commerce dispute resolution. It is of great significance to solve online transaction disputes and promote the healthy development of global e-commerce. The Chinese delegation balanced the United States and Europe, coordinated all parties, and promoted the third working group of UNCITRAL to reach a consensus based on the China’s document. This is a useful attempt for China to lead the formulation of rules in the field of international economy and trade. It is also the first breakthrough made by the Chinese delegation in the legislative activities of the United Nations on international economy and trade. On the one hand, this achievement benefits from China's booming e-commerce practice. On the other hand, it is also the joint effort of Chinese experts, scholars, government officials and entrepreneurs.
As a member of the Chinese delegation who participated in the drafting of UN documents, Professor YANG Jianzheng has always hoped to introduce the whole process of document drafting, changes in drafting ideas and understanding of the provisions in detail to China's e-commerce practitioners, consumer rights and workers for customers protection, lawyers and consumers. From the detailed records of these meetings, we can trace the whole process of the formulation of the United Nations Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution, feel the fierce game of international economic and trade legislation, and understand the important role played by the Chinese delegation in the formulation of United Nations documents. After six years of efforts to overcome the impact of COVID-19, the book finally debuted for readers. Through the first-hand materials such as the speech records of previous meetings and the memos of the meeting, the book shows the resounding Chinese voice on the international legislative stage in an all-round and multiangle way.
Worldwide, e-commerce transaction dispute resolution has encountered many difficulties, which has seriously weakened the potential of e-commerce development, while there are few works on e-commerce online dispute resolution. “The China’s Interpretation of the ‘Technical Notes of the United Nations International Trade Commission on Online Dispute Resolution’” is an important work in this field. Based on his personal experience and rigorous scientific attitude of participating in the drafting of United Nations documents, the author discussed specific issues about the “United Nations Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution”, fully demonstrated the theoretical basis and implementation pathway of the technical notes. The book comprehensively discussed the scientific legislative ideas of the Chinese delegation in drafting United Nations documents, provided a rigorous legislative roadmap, and interpreted and explained the document item by item. This work will effectively help readers understand this legal document and use it to resolve e-commerce disputes.
As a documentary monograph on UN legislation, in addition to the detailed interpretation of the contents and background of the “UNCITRAL Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution”, more work has been dedicated to a detailed record of the process of the Chinese government delegation's participation in the preparation of UN documents, elaborating the important role played by the Chinese government delegation in the preparation of UN documents, introducing the development of China's online dispute resolution mechanism and its reference to the formulation of the UN document.
In participating in the legislation of the “UNCITRAL Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution”, the author of the book created a methodology called “Legislative Approach by Process Analysis”, that realized the combination of Chinese legislation and international legislation, and the combination of natural science and traditional legal analysis methods, analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of different legislative ideas in the United States and Europe from a new perspective, and put forward the ways and methods to solve the contradiction between the two, and achieved a breakthrough in the formulation of international economic and trade rules of the United Nations. Closely combined with the specific practice of cross-border e-commerce online dispute resolution in China, the book answered the hot issues related to the United Nations documents one by one, and put forward the detailed rules for the implementation of the “UNCITRAL Technical Notes on Online Dispute Resolution” (expert discussion draft) with Chinese features according to the United Nations documents, which provides practical guidance for governments at every levels to guide the online dispute resolution and the actual operation of mediators. These are the important reasons that this book is funded by the National Publication Foundation.
The following is a detailed introduction of the “The China’s Interpretation of the ‘Technical Notes of the United Nations International Trade Commission on Online Dispute Resolution’” by the Law Press.
The China’s Interpretation of the ‘Technical Notes of the United Nations International Trade Commission on Online Dispute Resolution’
Group photo of some representatives of UNCITRAL working group III (Online Dispute Resolution) after the adoption of the document Technical Notes of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law on Online Dispute Resolution (the third person from the right in the front row is Professor YANG Jianzheng)
Photo of Professor YANG Jianzheng at the meeting of UNCITRAL working group III (Online Dispute Resolution)
Translator: XIAO Yuewen
Reviewer: ZHOU Huijun
