General Course Information
1.1 Course details
| Course code: | LLAW6025 / JDOC6025 |
| Course name: | China Company Law |
| Programme offered under: | LLM Programme / JD Programme |
| Semester: | First |
| Prerequisites / Co-requisites: | No |
| Credit point value: | 9 credits / 6 credits |
1.2 Course description
The purpose of the course is to introduce to the students basic concepts of China’s business entities and to analyze fundamental policy issues raised in China’s corporatization process, in which the company has evolved to become the most important business institution since the inception of China’s economic reform. Throughout the course, special emphasis is put on helping students to build a set of transferrable corporate legal skills which they can apply to solve legal problems in corporate business transactions.
The course starts with an overarching analytic framework to approach corporate law. The main topics include the formation of various types of companies in China, protection of creditors and minority shareholders, fiduciary duties of controlling shareholders, directors and senior managers, shareholder’s derivative suit and corporate governance in Chinese companies etc. In addition, the study of this course will be put in broader contexts of China’s economic and political system, its cultural background and its recent rise as a global superpower. In this connection, the course will also explore the role of Chinese state-owned enterprises and the emerging problems when Chinese companies go global.
1.3 Course teachers
| Name | E-mail address | Office | Consultation | |
| Course convenor | James Zeng | jszeng@hku.hk | CCT 507 | By email |
Learning Outcomes
2.1 Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) for this course
CLO 1 Describe and explain corporate law and securities regulation rules.
CLO 2 Identify and analyze relational issues between various groups such as shareholders, directors, supervisors, employees, and creditors.
CLO 3 Apply agency theory to explain China specific problems in utilizing the capital market.
CLO 4 Examine the experience of legal transplantation of western corporate law rules in China.
CLO 5 Draw implications for China future legal and economic reforms and development theories.
CLO 6 Improve analytical skills and judgmental power related to policy rationales behind corporate law and securities regulation in China.
CLO 7 Demonstrate awareness of the corporate and securities investment responsibilities within broader economic, political, environmental, and socio-cultural contexts.
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 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 6 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CLO 7 | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Assessment(s)
3.1 Assessment Summary
| Assessment task | Weighting | Feedback method* | Course learning outcomes |
| In-class presentation | 30% | 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5, 6, 7 | |
| Take home exam | 70% | 1, 2, 3, 4 ,5, 6, 7 |
| *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 the course convenor.
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 |