序言
Luca Castellani[1]
In the last few decades technological development and the diffusion of information and communication technologies have changed radically society and economy. Moreo-ver, the ability to exchange information anywhere and anytime has made the world much smaller.
Novel legal questions have arisen and possible solutions to those questions have been suggested. Many of those solutions are the effort of global efforts and adoption of the resulting uniform legislation helps harmonizing national laws in a field that, due to its own nature, is inherently transnational. This is the case, for instance, in the case of the law of electronic transactions and electronic signatures, where the texts prepared by the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law ( UNCITRAL) have been a-dopted in more than 100 States. This is likewise the case of the Convention on Cyber-crime of the Council of Europe ( the “ Budapest Convention” ) , which may be used also as a source of inspiration for domestic legislation. In addition, regional trade agreements contain an increasing number of provisions providing detailed guidance on specific as-pects of national and international e-commerce law. The announced plurilateral initiative on e-commerce, to be discussed in the framework of the World TradeOrganisation, may add another layer to uniform e-commerce law.
China has taken the lead in promoting the use of information and communication technologies for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Chinese companies are a-mong the global top players in this business sector. This is not surprising, as success in this field requires ingenuity, entrepreneurship and skills that are recurrent in Chinese history.
With respect to e-commerce laws and regulations, China has sometimes relied on transnational models. This happed for the Law on Electronic Signatures, which is based on UNCITRAL texts. In other cases, it has adopted an original approach aimed at ad-dressing specific Chinese needs and features.
China has now decided to address certain matters that are critical to its harmonious development of e-commerce. These matters pertain to e-commerce regulation and facili-tation, protection of consumers online, conclusion and performance of contracts as well as dispute settlement. Specific provisions on platforms operator have attracted much in-terest as they are among the first to be adopted worldwide.
The preparation of the law has been meticulous and inclusive, spanning over few years. I had the honor to attend the initial and the last meetings of the drafting process as well as other related events. On those occasions, I have always learned much fromthe expertise of those involved. The author of this book, Professor Xue Hong, has been in-volved in every step of the drafting process as a leading expert. It is indeed fortunate that she wrote this book, which is not only the first work on the International e-com-merce Law but a compilation of insights. The book is therefore particularly useful to un-derstand the operation of the law and the goals pursued by its drafters.
The e-commerce Law is a work-in-progress. Suggestions to fine-tune certain provi-sions have already been made. A debate may be foreseen, enriched by practical experi-ence. It will help in better understanding the content of the law and in promoting its use and interpretation.
From the international perspective, the e-commerce Law raises great hopes. Arti-cles 71, 72 and 73 of the Law clearly pave the way to greater Chinese involvement in cross-border e-commerce law. In particular, those articles may support China’ s adop-tion of two important treaties, the United Nations Convention on the Use of Electronic Communications in International Contracts and the Framework Agreement of the Facilita-tion of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific. The first treaty provides core rules to assess the validity of electronic communications, including electronic signa-tures, exchanged across borders in a business-to-business environment. The second treaty promotes the exchange of trade-related data across borders, thus opening the way to international single windows and other trade facilitation mechanisms involving both private and public sectors.
China's adoption of the two treaties will send a strong signal of its engagement in leading not only technological but also legal innovation related to the digital economy. The international community will then not only take into full account Chinese views and needs, but also benefit from its expertise and experience. This will provide an important contribution to building a prosper and harmonious future in a fully connected world.