Since the Opium Wars, China has been characterised as the ‘Oriental Other’: ‘without God or law’, according to Marcel Granet’s celebrated 1934 asser tion. Contemporary discourse has extended this characterisation, with China often portrayed as lacking morality or possessing a questionable moral framework—a perception that recent controversies concerning clinical practices and biotechno logical applications in the life sciences within the PRC appear, superficially, to substantiate. This chapter examines China’s evolving legal identity and its implications for global biogovernance. Drawing upon China’s historical role as a recipient of exter nally imposed legal models over the past two centuries, the analysis interrogates two fundamental questions: first, whether a distinctive ‘Chinese legal model’ exists, rooted both in foreign (particularly European) legal frameworks and indigenous Chinese values of traditional and ideological origins; secondly, how these character istics shape contemporary Chinese legal approaches to biogovernance, and whether such approaches align with, contradict, or provide novel perspectives compared to Western legal traditions. Ultimately, it assesses how China—now a major global scientific and economic actor—can meaningfully contribute to the global commons, moving beyond orientalist assumptions to engage with the complexities of China’s legal and regulatory reality in the life sciences.
China's Role in Global Risk Governance: A Comparative Legal Perspective
Simona Novaretti
2026-01-01
Abstract
Since the Opium Wars, China has been characterised as the ‘Oriental Other’: ‘without God or law’, according to Marcel Granet’s celebrated 1934 asser tion. Contemporary discourse has extended this characterisation, with China often portrayed as lacking morality or possessing a questionable moral framework—a perception that recent controversies concerning clinical practices and biotechno logical applications in the life sciences within the PRC appear, superficially, to substantiate. This chapter examines China’s evolving legal identity and its implications for global biogovernance. Drawing upon China’s historical role as a recipient of exter nally imposed legal models over the past two centuries, the analysis interrogates two fundamental questions: first, whether a distinctive ‘Chinese legal model’ exists, rooted both in foreign (particularly European) legal frameworks and indigenous Chinese values of traditional and ideological origins; secondly, how these character istics shape contemporary Chinese legal approaches to biogovernance, and whether such approaches align with, contradict, or provide novel perspectives compared to Western legal traditions. Ultimately, it assesses how China—now a major global scientific and economic actor—can meaningfully contribute to the global commons, moving beyond orientalist assumptions to engage with the complexities of China’s legal and regulatory reality in the life sciences.
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