Speakers

Daniel Bunn is President and CEO of the Tax Foundation. Daniel has been with the organization since 2018 and, prior to becoming President, successfully built its Center for Global Tax Policy, expanding the Tax Foundation’s reach and impact around the world.

Prior to joining the Tax Foundation, Daniel worked in the United States Senate at the Joint Economic Committee as part of Senator Mike Lee’s (R-UT) Social Capital Project and on the policy staff for both Senator Lee and Senator Tim Scott (R-SC). In his time in the Senate, Daniel developed legislative initiatives on tax, trade, regulatory, and budget policy.

He has a master’s degree in Economic Policy from Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from North Greenville University in South Carolina.

Thunj Chantramonklasri is an Expert Fellow at the Center for Cryptoeconomics, as well as advisor to several notable startups. He was formerly the Chief Economist for one of Southeast Asia’s largest digital assets exchange, and was previously at Kasikorn Research Center, AWR Lloyd and J.P. Morgan. He was amongst the first recipient of a cyber.Fund grant to study decentralisation on Ethereum, and holds an MPhil Economics from the University of Cambridge.

Guanglei Chen is a doctoral student in Law at Shenzhen University. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Law (2022) and a Master’s degree in Economic Law (2025) from Wuhan University. His research covers fiscal & tax law and tech law. He has published two journal articles and co-authored one monograph.

Dr. Tianhao Chen is a leading scholar in administrative law, with a deep specialization in the legal theory and practice of government contracts (administrative agreements). His work is pivotal in defining the boundary between public power and private rights in modern governance. Dr. Chen takes a direct role in legislative development, leading the drafting of the “Administrative Agreement Law (Expert Proposal Draft)” (《行政协议法（专家建议稿）》), a landmark effort to codify rules for government-private cooperation.

In this session, Dr. Chen will trace the evolution of the legal framework surrounding public contracts in China. He will discuss the shift from private law interpretations to a distinct administrative law regime, highlighting the implications for investors. Furthermore, he will provide critical insights into dispute resolution practices, analysing how Chinese courts currently handle breach of contract by government entities and the legal protections available to private investors under the emerging “Administrative Agreement” doctrine.

Xiaojing Cui is a professor and PhD supervisor from Wuhan University School of Law, deputy director of Wuhan University Institute of International Law, and director of Wuhan University International Tax Law Research Centre. She was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Paris XI, France, and conducted professional research as a visiting scholar at the University of Paris I, France, and as a senior visiting scholar at Georgetown Law Centre (USA) sponsored by the Fulbright Program. Professor Cui has been committed to the field of international tax law, including global tax governance, international tax reform in the digital economy, and international tax administration cooperation. Professor Cui has published more than 70 academic papers in China and abroad, including authoritative Chinese legal journals such as China Legal Science, as well as English journals on international tax law such as Asia Pacific Law Review, China: an international journal, Bulletin for International Taxation and Asia-Pacific Tax Bulletin.

Georgios Dimitropoulos is a Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the College of Law, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), where he is also a Chairholder of the WTO Chairs Programme (WCP). He also holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q) and Senior Research Affiliate at the Singapore Management University (SMU) Centre for Digital Law (CDL). He is the Co-Chair of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) International Law and Technology Interest Group (ILTechIG) and serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of World Investment & Trade (JWIT) and the Asia Pacific Law Review (APLR).

Rita de la Feria is Professor of Tax Law at the University of Leeds, and a Visiting Professor of Law at Oxford University. She was appointed Tax Reform Advisor to the Government of Timor-Leste in 2026, and she is a member of the Advisory Panel of the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) since 2023.

Her research focus primarily on tax law and policy, and she has published widely in that area. She is also actively engaged in global tax policy discussions, has provided tax policy and legal drafting advice to several Governments worldwide, and features regularly in global media outlets. Professor de la Feria was listed two years running (2015-2016) in the Global Tax 50, as one of the most influential tax people in the World; and was co-recipient of the 2016 Outstanding Women in Tax Award, awarded by the Tax Analysts. In 2019, she was recognised in the 100 Years of Women in Tax by IFA as one of the most influential women in tax in the last 100 years.

África Andrés del Olmo holds an LLM in Energy and Environmental Law from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and an LLB in Global Law from Tilburg University, where she trained in comparative legal systems across French, Dutch, German, and British jurisdictions. Her master’s research focused on the intersection of international trade law, energy security, and sustainability. This included essays on EU energy unbundling and WTO clean energy disputes under GATT Article III:4 and the TRIMs Agreement. She also holds an ESG reporting certificate from the Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute. Previously, she worked as a Project & Research Assistant at the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Prague, supporting cross-border regulatory analysis and stakeholder engagement. She currently works in legal and regulatory compliance for a technology company, where she applies the same frameworks to data governance, cross-border legal risk, and emerging technologies. This paper reflects her ongoing interest in how international trade law balances energy security and sustainability; a tension she first explored during my master’s and continue to examine in practice.

Xue Feng is an Associate Professor at the School of Law, Xi’an Jiaotong University, in Xi’an, China. She holds a PhD in Law from Queen Mary University of London and a Master’s degree in International Commercial Law from the University of Exeter, UK. Dr. Feng specializes in Comparative Commercial Law and International Economic Law. She serves as a board member of both the Institute of European Law Studies, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Chinese Society of International Economic Law. Her recent publications include ‘Parent company’s joint liability in tort: an alternative to manage corporate tort problems’ published in the Hong Kong Law Journal (2022), and ‘The extension of vicarious liability in corporate groups’ published in the Journal of Corporate Law Studies (2024), and ‘A Comment on United States — Certain Tax Credits Under the Inflation Reduction Act, WT/DS623/R’, in American Journal of International Law (2026).

Dr. Fu holds a Ph.D. in Law from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law. Her primary research interests lie in the field of administrative law, with a particular focus on administrative agreements and digital administrative law. Dr. Fu is an active member of the Teaching and Research Office of Administrative Procedure Law at NWUPL, a premier institution for legal studies in China.

Her recent research explores the flexible mechanisms in the resolution of administrative disputes, providing insights into the substantive resolution of disputes involving public power.

Yuka Fukunaga is a professor at Waseda University.

She serves as Co-Secretary of the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) and as Secretary of the Japan Association of International Economic Law (JAIEL). She is also a Vice President of the Japan Chapter of the Asian Society of International Law (AsianSIL), a member of the Executive Council of the AsianSIL, and a member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of International Economic Law (JIEL).

She is on the indicative list of panelists for the World Trade Organization (WTO) dispute settlement and the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

She is a life member of Clare Hall, University of Cambridge.

She served as assistant legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) (2012-2013) and as an intern at the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat (2002).

LL.D. (2013); LL.M. (1999, 2000); LL.B. (1997)

Brian Galle is a professor of law at Berkeley, primarily teaching courses on taxation and nonprofit organizations. He joined Berkeley in 2025 from Georgetown, where he was the Agnes Williams Sesquicentennial Professor of Tax Policy. Before Georgetown, Prof. Galle was also on the full-time faculty at Boston College and Florida State University. In 2022 and 2023, he served as a Senior Fellow at the Securities & Exchange Commission, in the Division of Corporation Finance, where he helped draft and strategize major rulemaking for the Commission. Prior to the academy, he was a federal prosecutor in the Criminal Appeals and Tax Enforcement Policy Section at the Tax Division of the U.S. Department of Justice; a law clerk to the Hon. Robert A. Katzmann of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and a law clerk for the Hon. Stephen M. Orlofsky of the District of New Jersey.

Prof. Galle writes on a broad range of subjects including tax law and policy; charity and philanthropy; and the design and implementation of incentive systems. His legal scholarship has appeared in such outlets as the California, Chicago, Pennsylvania, and Stanford Law Reviews and the Duke and Yale Law Journals. He has also published quantitative studies of tax systems and philanthropic organizations in the Journal of Law & Economics, the Journal of Policy Analysis & Management, the Journal of Health Economics, and the American Law & Economics Review, among other venues. Web sites that study such things generally list Prof. Galle as one of the ten most-cited scholars in tax law. Two news stories citing him as a source have won Pulitzer Prizes.

In addition to his work drafting regulations, Prof. Galle has also contributed to a series of bills aimed at taxing the accumulated fortunes of America’s very richest, including the federal Billionaire Minimum Income Tax and the Fair Trusts Act as well as wealth-tax or mark-to-market bills in California, New York, Vermont, and Washington State. His monograph from the Roosevelt Institute, “How to Tax the Rich,” summarizes the rationale and design choices behind many of these efforts.

Prof. Galle has also helped author a number of amicus briefs cited by the Supreme Court in tax cases. Most notably, in 2012, he joined a brief arguing that the Affordable Care Act was constitutional as an exercise of Congress’ taxing power, a rationale the Court followed closely in its majority opinion.

Asha Hemrajani is Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University. Her research focuses on AI safety and security, cybersecurity policy and law, scams, digital infrastructure and Critical Information Infrastructure (CII).

Her commentary has been featured in Bloomberg, The Business Times, ChannelNewsAsia, Lianhe Zaobao, BusinessWorld Online, The Diplomat and the Singapore Law Review. She has also served as a journal article reviewer for Oxford Intersections published by Oxford University and Marine Policy.

Ms Hemrajani’s professional background spans network engineering, strategy, and regulation across the telecommunications and domain names sectors. She previously served on the Board of Directors of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the global domain names regulator. She is currently lead of the AI and Sectoral Legal Frameworks Subcommittee in the International Law Association (ILA) AI and Technology Law Committee.   She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, a ModularMaster in Cybersecurity by Design and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Law. 

Dr Jean Ho is Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore and Director of NUS Law Academy. Her research expertise lies in investment contracts, investor responsibility, state responsibility, treaty interpretation, and property regulation. She is the author of State Responsibility for Breaches of Investment Contracts (Cambridge University Press 2018) and of New Property in International Law (Oxford University Press 2024, nominee for the 2025 European Society of International Law Monograph Prize). Her other works have appeared in the American Journal of International Law, the British Yearbook of International Law, and the Journal of International Economic Law (JIEL). She was appointed Editor-in-Chief of JIEL in January 2026 by Oxford University Press after a global search.

Zhongqi Jiang is a PhD candidate in International Law at School of Law, Institute for Belt and Road Initiative and International Legal Studies, Xi’an Jiaotong University. He was awarded the National Scholarship for Postgraduate Students of China twice, and received over 10 academic awards including the Second Prize of Excellent Papers from China Society of International Economic Law. He has published more than 10 papers in Chinese academic journals such as Democracy and Legal System, Nomocracy Forum, and South China Finance. He has also participated in two National Social Science Fund projects focusing on overseas investment legal protection and sci-tech law governance.

Prof. Ajit Kaushal is a professor and deputy director at Amity Law School, Amity University Patna, with more than 17 years of distinguished experience in legal education and research. His areas of expertise include corporate laws and currency regulations. Prior to joining Amity University Patna, he served as the Professor & Head of the Currency Research Centre at GD Goenka University, where he spearheaded interdisciplinary research on currency law, digital assets, and monetary sovereignty. An alumnus of the National University of Singapore (LL.M.), he obtained his doctorate from UPES, India. He has authored and contributed to more than 30 books and book chapters and has published extensively in reputed national and international journals. In addition, Dr. Kaushal has also convened two international conferences on law & technology.

Shweta Kushe is a corporate lawyer practicing at the intersection of international trade law and technology law. She is currently an Assistant Manager with the Global Trade Advisory practice at Deloitte India. She holds an LL.B. from the University of Delhi and a B.A. in Economics from the University of Mumbai. Her current research interests sit at the confluence of investment law, technology governance, and digital trade, with a particular focus on AI and semiconductors. Views expressed here do not reflect the views of her employers or affiliated entities.

Jaemin Lee is currently Professor of Law at School of Law, Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea. He obtained his LL.B., LL.M. and Ph.D. from Seoul National University; LL.M. from Georgetown University Law Center; and J.D. from Boston College Law School. He has authored articles and book chapters on various topics of international law, international economic law, and international dispute settlement. He served as President of the Korean Society of International Economic Law (2020-2021). He also served as Chairman of the Korea Trade Commission (2022-2024), and Ambassador-at-large for Economic Security (2023-2024). Most recently, he headed the School of Law as dean (2024-2026). His book entitled “Artificial Intelligence and International Law” was published in May 2022 from Springer; “East Asia in a New Legal Landscape: FTAs and Dispute Settlement” was published by Seoul National Univ. Press in September 2022; and “International Law in Action – Domestic and Global Affairs Viewed through a Legal Prism” was published by Routledge in October 2025.

Xinran Li is a PhD candidate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. She is interested in wealth tax, property tax, inheritance and gift tax, and tax on trusts. Her research starts from the balance between social equity and economic efficiency, discussing tax systems, enforcement scope, and anti-avoidance measures targeting high-net-worth individuals, aiming to provide solutions that align with the country’s tax legal framework and administrative capacity.

Dr Xinyue Li is an Associate Researcher at School of International Law and a founding member of Institution for International Law and Policy of Global Commons Governance, East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai, China. She is also a Visiting Researcher (2022 and 2025) of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge. She obtained a PhD from University of Durham (UK), a Master of Laws from University of New South Wales (Australia), a Master of Jurisprudence from East China University of Political Science and Law, and a Bachelor of Laws from Soochow University. Dr Li is selected for Chinese National Overseas Talent Programme, Shanghai Magnolia Talent Plan Pujiang Project, and Shanghai Higher Education Young Teacher Cultivation Funding Scheme.

Her research interests include interdisciplinary methodologies of international law (i.e., quantum international law), economic security, and law & technology. Her monograph, International Economic Law and Quantum Theory: Quantizing Geoeconomics, is published by Routledge. She has also published in Oxford Bibliography of International Law, Journal of World Investment and Trade (JCR-Law 1), Asian Journal of WTO & International Health Law and Policy (SSCI), Chinese Journal of International Economic Law (国际经济法学刊CSSCI), and European Human Rights Law Review (ERA Journal).

Yanjinxi Lin is an LL.B. candidate at Zhejiang Normal University and a co-presenter. Her research interests include international economic law, WTO law, supply chain governance, and economic security law.

Dr. Ma Yanxin is a leading voice in China’s digital government research. He authored the influential book Digital Government: Transformation and Rule of Law. He leads multiple National Social Science Fund projects and is deeply involved in legislative consulting regarding automated administration, public data authorization, and the “low-altitude economy,” bridging the gap between administrative law theory and emerging technologies.

Ruth is doctoral candidate at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Her PhD research focus is on the legal implications of the Undertaxed Profits Rule (UTPR) from a tax, trade, and investment law perspective. She holds an LLM with distinction in International Tax Law from King’s College London and a LLB from Strathmore University Kenya. She has over a decade of experience in tax law and policy having previously served as a research associate at the WU Global Tax Policy Center and Strathmore Tax Research Center, and a tax advisor at KPMG East Africa.

Professor at the University of Tokyo Graduate Schools for Law and Politics, Yoshi specialises in tax law, international tax law, and tax policy. His work emphasises teaching and advancing tax-related disciplines, contributing to bridging academic theory and practical application. Alongside his role at the University of Tokyo, he served as a member of the Japanese Government’s Tax Commission. He has also collaborated globally, including serving on the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association.

Miss Leona Mok is an Accounting Manager in a government department of Hong Kong. She is currently responsible for handling accounting procedure formulation, financial monitoring, internal audit and cost accounting.

Before joining the government, Leona has over ten years of experience in accounting, auditing, financing and regulatory reporting. Previously, she served in various listed companies, high-net-worth family offices and sizable audit firms.

Leona holds a Bachelor degree of Professional Accountancy from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and a Master degree of Corporate Governance from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. She is CPA member of Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (“HKICPA”). She is also Associate of the Hong Kong Chartered Governance Institute (“HKCGI”).

Dr. Doron Narotzki is a Professor in the George W. Daverio School of Accountancy at The University of Akron’s College of Business, where he also serves as Director of the Master of Taxation program. His teaching and scholarship focus on tax policy, international taxation, corporate income taxation, and business law. A professional leader in international tax and mergers and acquisitions, Dr. Narotzki previously worked in international tax at PwC in New York City and joined the College of Business in 2014. His work bridges legal analysis, business practice, and tax policy, with particular emphasis on cross-border taxation and the design of tax systems. He holds an S.J.D. from the University of Florida and an LL.M. from the University of Michigan, and was awarded the Hugh Ault Fellowship at the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.

Rocco Palma is Principal Legal Officer at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) and an Italian diplomat seconded from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. He is responsible for the UNIDROIT–ICC Joint Project on International Investment Contracts and coordinates the Task Force on investment contract practice under the Roma Tre–UNIDROIT Centre for Transnational Commercial Law and International Arbitration. He previously served as officer in charge of the exploratory study for the joint HCCH–UNIDROIT Project on the Law Applicable to Digital Assets and Tokens and is currently overseeing preparatory work for UNIDROIT-WIPO’s forthcoming joint project on Standard Essential Patent (SEP) Licensing.

His work focuses on international investment law, international commercial law, legal harmonisation, digital assets, intellectual property, and sustainable development. Prior to joining UNIDROIT, he served in several legal and economic affairs positions within the Italian diplomatic service, including at Italy’s Permanent Representation to the European Union and at diplomatic missions in Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Israel. He regularly lectures and publishes on international economic law and transnational commercial law.

Dr Leopoldo Parada is an Associate Professor (Reader) in Tax Law, Director of the LLM in International Tax Law at King’s College London, and a recognised authority on international tax policy. Formerly, he has held academic appointments in Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands, and routinely advises governments and intergovernmental organisations on headline reforms such as Indonesia’s new interest-limitation rules and Curaçao’s implementation of the OECD Pillar 2. His scholarship on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), tax treaties, and the digital economy has been cited by bodies such as the U.S. Congressional Research Service and the EU Advocate General, and he has lent his expertise to investigations, including the ICIJ’s Pandora Papers in 2021. Recognised by TaxCOOP Canada “35 Leader of the Future in Taxation” as one of the most promising tax policy experts, Dr Parada is a frequent contributor to international conferences and specialised media outlets around the world.

Niccolò Ridi is Senior Lecturer (or Associate Professor, whichever sounds less odd in the setting) in Public International Law at King’s College London, where he is also a Fellow of the King’s Digital Futures Institute. He works on several areas of international law, including international economic law broadly, and generally using computational approaches. As a practitioner, he advises States and other entities and frequently acts as counsel before international courts, including the ICJ.

Marcia Rossi is a postdoctoral researcher in Service Innovation and Governance at COPPEAD/UFRJ, Brazil. Her professional and academic experience spans tax management, risk management, and controllership, with involvement in large-scale projects across private organisations and the public sector. Her research focuses on organisational governance, risk management, and decision-making processes in complex and regulated environments.

Tamir Shanan is an Assistant Professor (Senior Lecturer) at the Haim Striks Faculty of Law, College of Management Academic Studies, Israel, where he has served as Dean and Vice Dean, and currently serves as Academic Director of the Heth Academic Center for Research of Competition and Regulation. He holds an S.J.D. and LL.M. in International Taxation from the University of Michigan Law School, as well as an LL.M. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

His research focuses on United States and Israeli personal, partnership, and corporate income tax law, cross-border and comparative taxation, and tax policy. He is a prolific scholar with publications in leading United States and European journals. He has presented his work at conferences and universities across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Yuxi SHEN is a Ph.D. candidate at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her research interest lies in the intersection of international investment law and sustainable development. Her doctorate project focuses on the role of international investment contracts as governance instruments for promoting sustainable investment and advancing the ongoing reform of international investment law. She obtained her Master of Law from the University of Cambridge, a Master of Arts, a Bachelor of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Wuhan University.

Dr. SUN, Jin is Deputy Secretary-General of International Organization for Mediation since Oct, 2025.

Dr Sun Jin served as the Director-General of the International Organization for Mediation Preparatory Office from February 2023 to October 2025, and acted as Chair of all the negotiation sessions on the IOMed Convention. Dr Sun has served in different positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (“MFA”) since 1996, including the Deputy Director-General of the Department of Treaty and Law, the Special Representative on Climate Change Negotiations of the MFA, and the Deputy Director-General at the Department of International Cooperation of the Supreme People’s Court. Over the years, Dr Sun has led Chinese delegations to participate in numerous bilateral and multilateral treaty negotiations and international conferences.

Dr Sun has possessed the National Lawyer’s Qualification since 1994, and served as an arbitrator of the 6th Beijing International Arbitration Center and a council member and adjunct professor at the Institute of International Law of Wuhan University. Dr Sun obtained a Bachelor of Laws, a Master of Laws and a Doctor of Laws at the Wuhan University, and a Master of Laws from the University of Melbourne.

Dr Sun has published a lot of books and articles including “Resolving International Disputes through Mediation: Where We Stand, Challenges, and Opportunities Ahead”, “Use Rules of International Law to Deal with New Challenges Faced with International Relation”, and “The Hague Judgments Convention and How We Negotiated It”. Dr Sun also participated in the compilation of “Chinese Practice in International Law” and “ISDS Reform Conference Proceedings”, etc.

Dr. Wei SUN is the Managing Partner at Beijing Zhong Lun Law Firm and serves as China’s Representative to UNCITRAL Working Group II. He is also a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and holds management roles at several other international dispute resolution institutions.

Jefferson VanderWolk is an international tax lawyer with extensive experience in private practice, academia, government, and international organisations in the US, Asia, and Europe.  From 2016 to 2018, he was Head of the Tax Treaty, Transfer Pricing and Financial Transactions Division at the OECD. Earlier, Jefferson was with EY (2013-16), the US Senate Committee on Finance (2011-13), the Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law (2009-11), Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific (2006-09), the IRS Office of Chief Counsel (2005-06), Baker & McKenzie (London 2000-2005, Hong Kong 1987-91 and 1994-95, and New York 1986-87), Deloitte (Hong Kong 1995-99 and London 1999-2000), and the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law (1991-94).  He has written books on Hong Kong and China tax law as well as many articles on tax law and policy issues.  Since 2018, he has been a partner at the global law firm of Squire Patton Boggs.

Mr. Chenhao WANG is a PhD Candidate in Laws at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, focusing on corporate law, fintech regulation, and data law. His thesis, “Constructing a Systematic Regulatory Regime for Real World Asset (RWA) Tokenization,” is supervised by Professors Robin HUANG and Jingyi WANG.

He earned an LLM from The University of Hong Kong with a full Ng Teng Fong Law Scholarship and an LLB from East China University of Political Science and Law. He previously worked at Micro Connect Group, supporting contract drafting, transaction structuring, and cross-border data compliance. He also worked at A&O Shearman on corporate matters and at JunHe LLP on global capital markets matters.

His current talk is “Beyond the Intermediary: Legal Obstacles to Protocol-Level Tax Compliance in Decentralised Crypto-Asset Markets.”

Dr. Wenchi Wei is a distinguished expert in public budgeting, financial management, and intergovernmental fiscal relations. His research rigorously examines how political and bureaucratic incentives shape fiscal behaviour within the Chinese government.

In this session, Dr. Wei will deconstruct the financial backbone of China’s public contracts. He will explain the nuances of China’s budget system and the Central-Local fiscal relationship, clarifying how local governments mobilise resources for major projects. A key focus of his presentation will be the recent practice and management of local government Special Purpose Bonds (SPBs). Dr. Wei will analyse how SPBs have become a primary instrument for infrastructure investment, the associated debt sustainability challenges, and what these fiscal trends mean for the stability and viability of public contracts.

Dr. Lan WU is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Law, Ocean University of China, where she teaches environmental and natural resources law. Her research focuses on the legal and regulatory frameworks essential to facilitating the clean energy transition amidst the global climate crisis. Dr. Wu holds a PhD from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and previously interned as an Energy and Climate Fellow at UNDP China. Her recent work includes identifying regulatory barriers and crafting innovative legal solutions to advance climate action and sustainable energy governance. She has published book chapters on related topics with De Gruyter and Palgrave Macmillan.

Jingjing Xie is an MSc Management candidate at University College London and a co-presenter. Her research focuses on labor economics, international trade, and financial regulation.

Dr. Xie Yaowen specializes in the intersection of law, economics, and digital governance. Her recent work focuses on personal information protection and corporate data compliance. She is a strong advocate for shifting from traditional “command-and-control” models to “cooperative regulation,” offering a fresh perspective on data governance and regulatory compliance in the digital economy.

Ruixiang (Ray) Xu is a researcher working at the intersection of tax law and emerging financial technology. His research interests span digital-asset taxation, comparative tax policy, and the regulation of distributed-ledger technologies. Ray holds an LL.M. in Taxation from NYU School of Law and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, where he served as a senior editor of the Washington International Law Review and worked in the Technology & Public Policy Clinic; during the 2019 Washington legislative session, he helped draft proposed legislation on the legal status of electronic
records on distributed ledgers. He is currently based at Peking University School of Transnational Law (STL) in Shenzhen. He has practiced M&A, taxation, technology transactions, and U.S. IPOs at DLA Piper (Seattle) and Herbert Smith Freehills (Hong Kong).

Dr Shunqi Yang is a Research Assistant Professor at the School of Law, City University of Hong Kong. Her research focuses on financial regulation, corporate governance, and sustainable finance. She holds a PhD from King’s College London, where she passed her final viva without corrections, and her thesis was awarded the King’s Outstanding Thesis Prize 2024/25. She also holds an MA in Law (qualifying law degree) from the University of Bristol, providing a strong foundation in common law, as well as a dual bachelor’s degree in Law and English. Admitted under the Chinese Legal Profession Qualification, she brings cross-jurisdictional expertise spanning both common law and Chinese legal systems. Her recent work includes a book chapter on non-performing loans published by Edward Elgar in 2026, with a monograph forthcoming with Routledge in 2027.

Prof. Yun ZHAO is Henry Cheng Professor in International Law and Associate Dean (Mainland Affairs), Faculty of Law at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He is appointed as Justice of the Peace of the HKSAR Government. Prof. Zhao is currently Representative of Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP) of the Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH); Expert Committee Member of the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy of the Department of Justice; Director of the International Institute of Space Law; Standing Council Member of Chinese Society of International Law, Chinese Society of Private International Law, and Chinese Institute of Space Law; Council Member of Chinese Law Society; Council Member of Zhuhai International Court of Arbitration, Hainan International Arbitration Court and Tianjin Arbitration Commission; Vice President of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators; Secretary-General of Xiamen Academy of International Law. He is listed as mediator at International Organization for Mediation; arbitrator in several international arbitration commissions.

Dr. Yi Zheng is Assistant Professor at the Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School of China University of Political Science and Law and a Guest Professor at Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO). She received her J.S.D. and LL.M. from Washington University in St. Louis and her LL.B. from Sun Yat-sen University. Her research focuses on international taxation and income tax law. She serves as an expert for the Ministry of Finance’s Customs and Tariff Law Think Tank, the National Tax Policy Think Tank, and the Tariff Commission of the State Council. She is the principal investigator of a National Social Science Foundation project on income tax reform under the international Two-Pillar framework and has published extensively on international tax law and tax policy.

Yuxiang Zhou holds an LL.B. from Tsinghua University and an LL.M. from Duke University, and serves as Senior Counsel and Deputy Director of the Committee on Cross-Border Legal Affairs at S&P Law Firm. He specializes in complex domestic and cross-border dispute resolution, advising Chinese enterprises on overseas investments, M&A, project operations, and compliance, especially under the Belt and Road Initiative. Previously at King & Wood Mallesons, he handled major cross-border asset recovery, white-collar defense, and international arbitration cases, with expertise in negotiation and ADR. In digital assets and fintech, Yuxiang researches regulatory trends and real-world asset tokenization (RWA), collaborating with leading scholars and publishing forward-looking insights on compliance pathways.

His professional affiliations include consulting expert at Shenzhen University and external supervisor for master’s students at its School of Economics, expert committee member of the China Association of Trade in Services, and mediator at the Hainan Global Commercial Mediation Center.

Prof. Dr. Yansheng ZHU is a full professor at the Law School of Xiamen University (XMU). He serves as the Deputy Director of the Centre for International Tax Law and Comparative Taxation in XMU and the Director of the China-OECD LLM Programme on Taxation in XMU. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Georgetown University Law Centre (2011-2012). He is a member of the Standing Council of China’s Society of Fiscal Law and a member of the Standing Council of China International Taxation Research Institute. His academic research focuses on international tax law, Chinese tax law, and company law.