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Abstract
“Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI) is a Chinese initiative to promote multinational economic cooperation and enhance worldwide prosperity. This Initiative’s impact on other countries’ maritime law and policy is worth exploring. This paper discusses the BRI and its impact on Japanese shipping laws, emphasizing the importance of Sino-Japanese economic cooperation. It is observed that Japanese private enterprises appear to have a more open attitude than that of the Japanese government toward the BRI. By participating in the BRI, Japanese companies can be more involved in international multimodal transport, not only as shippers utilizing the improved rail and sea carriage network to ship their products but also as multimodal transport operators providing logistical services. This may further trigger the development of Japanese shipping law, so that Japan can better benefit from the connectivity brought by the BRI and address new geopolitical challenges created by it.
Notes
1 The 2015 Vision and Actions was jointly issued by the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Commerce in March 2015.
2 The document was issued by the NDRC and the State Oceanic Administration (SOA) in June 2018.
3 See the discussion in section 2.
4 For example, Japan has launches ‘Silk Road Diplomacy’ in Central Asia since 2009. Japan also concluded infrastructure agreement with the EU in 2019. Both initiatives have some overlapped areas with the BRI.
5 The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was initiated by President Xi Jinping at the same time when proposing the BRI in 2013, which aims to facilitate financial support for infrastructure construction and to promote regional interconnectivity and economic integration.
6 The five priorities are policy coordination, facilities connectivity, unimpeded trade, financial integration and people-to-people bond, see the 2015 Visions and Actions.
7 The full text of the Outline for Amendment (in Japanese) is available at: http://www.moj.go.jp/content/001172144.pdf (accessed 27 September 2016).
8 For updates for the amendment of the Commercial Code (transport and maritime law), see http://www.moj.go.jp/shingi1/shingikai_syoho.html (accessed 27 September 2016).
9 Japan’s Commercial Code (Act No. 48 of 1899, as amended, e-Gov website (in Japanese); (Act No. 29 of 2018, Kanpou [Official Gazette], Extra Ed. No. 111, at 4 (25 May 2018), National Printing Bureau website (in Japanese).
10 For a before-and-after comparison of the amendment, see http://www.moj.go.jp/MINJI/minji07_00219.html (accessed 15 October 2019).
11 See previous Japanese Commercial Code, Article 566(1), applicable mutatis mutandis by Article 589.
12 See previous Japanese Commercial Code, Articles 589, 566(3), 522.
13 See Article 14 of the ICOGSA.
14 See Article 578 of the previous Commercial Code.
15 See Article 577 of the amended Commercial Code.
16 See Article 582, 583 of the Commercial Code.
17 See Article 17 of the Regulations for the Carriage and Storage of Dangerous Goods by Ships.
18 See Article 11 of the ICOGSA.
19 See Article 572 of the amended Commercial Code.
20 See Margo Case, the Japanese Supreme Court (25 March 1993).
21 See Chinese Contract Law, Articles 61, 311, 312.
22 See Chinese Maritime Law, Articles 46, 51, 106.