The Future of Electronic Commerce in International Sea Carriage through Exercise of Right of Control – A Critical Analysis from Chinese Law Perspective

Abstract: The Rotterdam Rules, which is a new convention dealing with carriage of goods by sea, is open for signature. There are a number of improvements in the new rules compared to its predecessors, but the most outstanding amongst them are the concepts of right of control and recognition of electronic transport record. At the same time, electronic commerce is developing at an amazing speed which requires more legal and technical support. The significance of enacting of Rotterdam Rules is undoubtedly relevant to modern commerce. This thesis will be centred on the Rotterdam Rules to examine right of control and electronic transport document, in order to explore the practical meaning of them in electronic commerce. The Chinese law perspective is explored to find out the viability of using the legal framework of the Rotterdam Rules in facilitating international trade concerning electronic commerce. The author suggests possible improvements that need to be effective under Chinese laws for incorporating the construct of the Rules in facilitating e-commerce in the event of the Rules being applied in China in the future.