General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6311 / JDOC6311 |
| Course name: | Data and Privacy Regulation in China: Law, Economics and Politics |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | Second |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credit / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
On November 1, 2021, China’s Personal Information Protection Law came into force. This new law, coupled with the Data Security Law that became effective on September 1, 2021 and the 2017 Cybersecurity Law form a broad regulatory framework for data and privacy regulation in China. This course provides an in-depth study into this increasingly important area of regulatory governance, with a particular focus on three areas: data sovereignty, consumer privacy protection, and the intersection between data protection and competition regulation. We will first survey the relevant economic literature to understand the theoretical underpinnings of data and privacy regulation. As many of Chinese data regulations were inspired and closely modelled after the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation, we will also study the relevant rules and regulations in the EU and compare them with the Chinese laws. In addition to introducing students to the legal issues surrounding data and privacy protection, we will examine the legal institutions responsible for data regulation in China, the challenges during law enforcement, how businesses and individuals have adapted to these new data laws, and the associated economic impact. To help students gain a global perspective of data governance, we will also discuss the fluid legal developments in other major jurisdictions. We will further guide students to analyse the underlying political and economic institutions that have driven the distinct regulatory approaches adopted by the EU, the United States and China.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | Angela Zhang | angelaz@hku.hk | CCT 913 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain the basic theories of data and privacy regulation.
CLO 2 Understand the various legal issues in relation to data sovereignty, consumer privacy protection and the tensions between data and competition regulation.
CLO 3 Understand the underlying political and economic institutions in fostering the development of each form of data governance.
CLO 4 Apply the knowledge and understanding of the legal issues to analyse new issues arising from data privacy regulation.
CLO 5 Demonstrate an awareness of the impact of data regulation on businesses and individuals in China.
2.2 LLM and JD Programme Learning Outcomes (PLOs)
Please refer to the following link:
LLM – https://course.law.hku.hk/llm-plo/
JD – https://course.law.hku.hk/jd-plo/
2.3 Programme Learning Outcomes to be achieved in this course
| PLO A | PLO B | PLO C | PLO D | PLO E | PLO F | |
| CLO 1 | ✓ | |||||
| CLO 2 | ✓ | |||||
| CLO 3 | ✓ | |||||
| CLO 4 | ✓ | |||||
| CLO 5 | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Due date | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| Class participation | N/A | 15% | 5 | 1, 2, 4 |
| Group presentation | 28 Apr 2023 | 15% | 2 | 1, 2, 4 |
| Final essay | 21 May 2023 | 70% | 2 | 2, 3, 5 |
| *Feedback method (to be determined by course teacher) | |
| 1 | A general course report to be disseminated through Moodle |
| 2 | Individual feedback to be disseminated by email / through Moodle |
| 3 | Individual review meeting upon appointment |
| 4 | Group review meeting |
| 5 | In-class verbal feedback |
3.2 Assessment Detail
To be advised by course convenor(s).
3.3 Grading Criteria
Please refer to the following link: https://www.law.hku.hk/_files/law_programme_grade_descriptors.pdf
Learning Activities
4.1 Learning Activity Plan
| Seminar: | 3 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
| Private study time: | 9.5 hours / week for 12 teaching weeks |
Remarks: the normative student study load per credit unit is 25 ± 5 hours (ie. 150 ± 30 hours for a 6-credit course), which includes all learning activities and experiences within and outside of classroom, and any assessment task and examinations and associated preparations.
4.2 Details of Learning Activities
To be advised by course convenor(s).
Learning Resources
5.1 Resources
| Reading materials: | Reading materials are posted on Moodle |
| Core reading list: | TBA |
| Recommended reading list: | TBA |
5.2 Links
Please refer to the following link: http://www.law.hku.hk/course/learning-resources/