Centre for Law, Economics and Society research visit to East Asia

Team members from the Centre for Law, Economics and Society (CLES) at UCL have recently returned from an important research visit to East Asia. Organised by Professor Ioannis Lianos, the founding director of the CLES, this research trip aimed to reinvigorate long-standing collaborations between CLES and other leading research centres in East Asia, while developing new partnerships and projects to enhance the international outreach and policy impact of the competition law team at UCL Faculty of Laws. The visit also sought to strengthen connections between UCL Laws and CLES with the vibrant UCL competition law and policy alumni community throughout the region.

The visit began at the University of Hong Kong, with the organisation by Professors Ioannis Lianos from UCL and Julian Nowag from the University of Hong Kong Law School of a one-day conference held on 16 May 2025 on the topic of Competition Law, Innovation and Growth: Connecting the Dots. The event brought together more than 20 speakers, including academics and competition authority officials from across the broader region (Hong Kong, China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and the Philippines), to discuss how competition law has recently embraced a more dynamic and macro-oriented approach focused on promoting innovation, growth, and sustainable development. Participants examined the implications of this shift for the institutional structures and substantive doctrines of competition law, drawing on the experience of Asian jurisdictions. This conference connects with the broader work of the CLES team on the intersection of competition law with industrial policy and innovation (explore relevant papers/articles: Synthetic Futures and Competition Law: Towards the Emergence of Precautionary Principle-Minded Approaches and Sustainability Concerns in EU Merger Control: From Output-Maximising to Polycentric Innovation Competition). Professor Ioannis Lianos and Dr Stavros Makris presented their respective work in this area. 

The event was dedicated to the memory of Professor Valentine Korah, Chair of Competition Law at UCL Laws, who passed away in 2023, and was also attended by UCL Laws alumni in Hong Kong (an active alumni community led by Andrew Ng). The conference was brilliantly opened by distinguished alumnus Ka-Sun Chu, Honorary Fellow at UCL and Founding Partner at Winston Chu & Company Solicitors, who discussed Professor Korah's contributions to competition law and policy while sharing his personal memories of her engaging personality and how well-liked she was by students during his time at UCL Laws. In recognition of Professor Korah’s contributions to the area of competition law and learning at UCL Laws, in November 2024 the Faculty of Laws launched the Valentine Korah Memorial initiative.

The visit continued in Shanghai, China, where the CLES team was invited to present their work at a bespoke workshop, held on 19 May 2025, organised by the competition law team at Jiao Tong University KoGuan Law School, led by distinguished Professor Xianlin Wang and Professor Liyang Hou. Professor Lianos presented his work on digital ecosystems and competition law, focusing on the health value chain, while Dr Makris presented his forthcoming paper on ‘Rethinking Indeterminacy: Competition Law as an Interpretivist Argumentative Practice’. The visit provided the opportunity to interact with the local Laws alumni community and engage with colleagues from other law schools in Shanghai, such as Shanghai University of Finance and Economics. It will also lead to new joint initiatives in competition law/policy and law and technology, led by CLES and the KoGuan Law School competition law and policy team, with forthcoming events planned for the UK and China in 2025-2026.

The final stop in this research visit was in Tokyo, Japan, where Professor Lianos and Dr Makris were invited to present their work at a bespoke workshop that took place at Keio University, organised by Professor Kazuhiko Fuchikawa and the competition law team at Keio. Professor Lianos presented his recent work published at the Theoretical Inquiries in Law on Synthetic Futures and Competition Law, while Dr Makris presented his recently published work at the Modern Law Review on Competition Law in the 21st Century – Is Adam Smith Still Relevant?. The workshop was attended by leading Japanese competition law scholars as well as participants from other countries, including South Korea, and led to interesting and engaging discussions. 

The visit was concluded by the invited lecture of Professor Lianos at the headquarters of the Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) to the staff of the JFTC on his recent paper: Access to Health Data: Competition Law and Regulatory Alternatives – Three Dimensions of Fairness (forthcoming at the Journal of Competition Law and Economics). The meeting led to discussions of further contributions of the CLES team to JFTC’s work and Professor Lianos was invited to contribute to the forthcoming symposium of the JFTC in October 2025 on ‘bid rigging and competition law’. The visit to Japan also enabled the development of new relationships with key legal professionals to facilitate further CLES activities in East Asia during the next research visit in 2025-2026.

Find out more

• Explore CLES news
• Learn about forthcoming Laws events
• Donate to the Valentine Korah Laws Memorial Fund