On the afternoon of May 30, 2026, an academic lecture titled "International Economic Administrative Law: Facts, Logic, and Development" was held in Conference Room 434, Xingming Building, Xianlin Campus, Nanjing Normal University. The lecture was delivered by Professor Zhu Shudi, Ph.D. supervisor at the Law School of Fudan University, and hosted by Professor Yuan Yong from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University. Discussants included Ma Shengan, Senior Judge of the Second Level at the Administrative Division of Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court, Professor Yan Hailiang, and Associate Professor Yan Lin, both from the Law School of Nanjing Normal University. Faculty and students attended the lecture, which fostered a strong academic atmosphere.

At the start of the lecture, Professor Yuan Yong warmly welcomed Professor Zhu Shudi and introduced her academic experience and research contributions to the audience. Professor Yuan noted that Professor Zhu is a leading scholar in the field of international economic administrative law in China, having long focused on economic administrative law and WTO international trade judicial review. She has authored several important works, including *International Economic Administrative Law*, and with keen academic insight pioneered this research area. Professor Yuan added that Professor Zhu, based in Shanghai—a financial and economic hub—has a profound understanding of the cutting-edge changes in global economic governance. The lecture, he said, provides valuable insights for faculty and students regarding the relationship between administrative law, international economic law, and the development of foreign-related rule of law.

During the lecture, Professor Zhu first reviewed her academic trajectory, shifting from economic legislative history and economic administrative law to international economic administrative law, drawing on her own research experience. She introduced the work of the Fudan University research team on international economic administrative law and the International Economic Administrative Law Roundtable Forum. Guided by the philosophy of "diverse actors, balancing theory and practice," she explained that research in international economic administrative law should focus both on constructing theoretical systems and on addressing practical issues arising from economic globalization and foreign-related rule of law. Professor Zhu particularly emphasized that young scholars should seek research directions with lasting vitality grounded in real-world problems.
Moving to the factual dimension, Professor Zhu addressed current realities of international economic administrative law. Using cutting-edge issues such as cross-border mergers and acquisitions, AI technology, data cross-border flows, and foreign investment security reviews as entry points, she noted that the objects of contemporary international economic regulation are no longer limited to capital, goods, and market access. New elements—core AI technologies, data resources, algorithms, and intellectual property rights—are increasingly becoming focal points of legal regulation. Drawing on relevant cases, she illustrated that administrative regulation in cross-border economic activities is shifting from formal review to substantive and penetrating review. The balance among national security, data sovereignty, technological security, public interest, and market freedom has become a critical issue that international economic administrative law must address.
Professor Zhu further pointed out that international economic administrative law involves both the internationalization of domestic administrative law and the application and transformation of international economic rules within domestic legal orders. It concerns both the exercise of governmental economic regulatory powers and the protection of private parties' legitimate rights and interests. In the context of deglobalization, long-arm jurisdiction, cross-border data flows, and the restructuring of international rules, she argued, relying solely on traditional sectoral law perspectives is insufficient to explain real-world problems. Comprehensive research integrating multiple disciplines—administrative law, international economic law, international law, and economic regulation theory—is necessary. Regarding the institutional system of international economic administrative law, Professor Zhu identified principles such as national economic sovereignty, international economic cooperation, equal protection, due process, and proportionality as crucial for understanding cross-border economic regulation. Especially in emerging areas like cross-border data regulation and technology export controls, balancing national security, economic freedom, data security, and public interest is both a question for administrative law and a key issue in building foreign-related rule of law. She stressed that in the face of profound changes in the international economic order, academic research must both "view the world from China's perspective" and "view China from the world's perspective," advancing the construction of an independent Chinese legal knowledge system while responding to practical issues.
Subsequently, Professor Yuan Yong provided an interim summary. He remarked that Professor Zhu's lecture not only shared cutting-edge observations from her international exchanges and research visits in Hong Kong but also systematically outlined the formation and key achievements of research in international economic administrative law, offering numerous promising research directions for young scholars and graduate students. Professor Yuan noted that Professor Zhu's lecture was not merely introducing a disciplinary concept but, through changes in the international economic and political landscape, urging legal researchers to respond to new demands posed by national foreign-related economic development and global governance reform. For young scholars and graduate students, academic research should not remain confined to reading literature, completing papers, or earning degrees; rather, one should situate personal research within the broader context of national development and the construction of the rule of law.

Judge Ma Shengan then delivered his discussion remarks. He noted that Professor Zhu's lecture, covering facts, logic, and development, was cutting-edge and profound, offering great inspiration. Drawing on his administrative trial practice, Judge Ma observed that while judicial practice often deals with many specific and detailed cases, technological and socioeconomic changes constantly raise new legal questions. He encouraged young scholars to pay attention to frontier areas such as artificial intelligence and cross-border data, seeking practically relevant research topics within national governance and foreign-related rule of law construction.

Professor Yan Hailiang, in his discussion, pointed out that Professor Zhu, based on her long-term research, systematically presented the development trajectory of international economic administrative law. International economic administrative law is not a simple disciplinary patchwork but rather a new legal consciousness emerging from changes in the international economic order. He engaged in an in-depth exchange with Professor Zhu regarding the relationships between international economic administrative law, international economic law, and international administrative law, as well as the connections between international economic administrative law and human rights protection. Professor Zhu responded that international economic administrative law should return to specific issues, focusing on how law adjusts and coordinates when conflicts arise between foreign-related administrative decisions of different states.

Associate Professor Yan Lin, drawing on perspectives from private international law and international economic law, noted that Professor Zhu's lecture responds to significant changes in the current international economic order. With security factors increasingly prominent in the globalization process, international economic rules are no longer centered solely on free trade and investment facilitation. The importance of state administrative regulation, public interest protection, and security reviews is growing. International economic administrative law provides a new interpretive framework for understanding this shift and reflects Chinese scholars' theoretical responses to major issues in global governance.

During the interactive session, faculty and students raised questions on topics such as the alignment between domestic and international rules and the hardening of soft law. Professor Zhu responded by discussing the principle of proportionality, the balance between public and private interests, and the wisdom of balancing reason, law, and emotion in traditional Chinese legal culture, offering insights into rule integration and interest coordination in foreign-related rule of law.
At the end of the lecture, Professor Yuan Yong again thanked Professor Zhu Shudi for her wonderful presentation. He noted that the lecture not only revealed the broad potential of international economic administrative law as an emerging research field but also reminded faculty and students to pay greater attention to the intrinsic connections among practical issues, contemporary demands, and national strategies in their future research. In the face of adjustments in global economic governance structures and the deepening advancement of China's foreign-related rule of law, legal researchers must possess both solid foundation in sectoral law and interdisciplinary research skills.
The lecture was rich in content and profound in thought, systematically sorting out the research lineage of international economic administrative law while providing in-depth explanations of cutting-edge issues such as cross-border data regulation and foreign-related administrative rule of law. It broadened faculty and students' understanding of foreign-related rule of law research and offered important guidance for young scholars in identifying academic directions and responding to contemporary challenges. The lecture concluded with warm applause.

Written by: Xing Xutong
Photo credit: Graduate Student Union, Law School, Nanjing Normal University