China: University Partnerships on Rule of Law

USAID supports a U.S. academic institution consortium to engage with higher education institutions in China.  The goal of the program is to link higher education institutions in the U.S. with their counterparts in China to provide technical and human capacity-building expertise to address rule-of-law issues. Legal reform in China will enhance economic development, advance human rights, contribute to political reform, counter corruption, and improve China’s interactions with the international community.

The consortium consists of four partner law schools: University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law; American University, Washington College of Law; China University of Political Science and Law; and South China University of Technology.  The project engages junior Chinese law professors and U.S. faculty experts in advocacy and clinical studies.  It also provides scholarships for students and opportunities for Chinese professors to visit the U.S. to observe and teach American methods of clinical and advocacy education.  The partner Chinese universities will acquire a critical mass of junior professors with American Master of Law degrees to sustain the program.  Workshops, conferences, and a joint faculty research project will also provide intensive exposure to the techniques of clinical and advocacy education and contribute most effectively to sustainability, by creating and widely disseminating templates for future use by law schools throughout China.