Departments of Justice and Commerce to Lead First U.S.-China Judicial Dialogue: In Support of Economic Growth and Reform

On Aug. 3 and 4, 2016, in Beijing, senior administration officials and top U.S. judges will meet with Chinese counterparts to discuss judicial reform.  This new high-level U.S.-China Judicial Dialogue: In Support of Economic Growth and Reform was announced during President Obama and President Xi’s meeting in September 2015.  The dialogue will be led by Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Bill Baer and Department of Commerce General Counsel Kelly Welsh for the U.S. side, and by CPC Central Leading Group for Judicial Reform Vice Chairman Jiang Wei and Supreme People’s Court Vice President Tao Kaiyuan for the Chinese side.  Both sides will include leading jurists as speakers.  The U.S. delegation includes Chief Judge Diane Wood of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia and U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh of the Northern District of California. 

The goal of the U.S.-China Judicial Dialogue: In Support of Economic Growth and Reform is to support and exchange views on judicial reform, and to identify and evaluate the challenges and strategies in implementing the rule of law.  President Obama and Chinese President Xi agreed that the dialogue should lead to an improvement in the transparency and predictability of the business environment.  In this first meeting of the dialogue, the two sides will discuss case management, alternative dispute resolution, precedent, amicus briefs and evidence in civil and commercial cases.