Jin Sheng

The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Exchange to The University of Melbourne, Australia

Visiting Australia has been one of my big dreams for many years and it came true in 2007! The Australian Cheung Kong Research Award provided a cherished chance for me to conduct a few months research for my PhD dissertation on China’s corporate control transactions and investor protection at the University of Melbourne. On an evening in early June 2007, accompanied by the roaring landing of the Qantas airplane, a fancy unfamiliar city was presented to my eyes: that’s Melbourne, a beautiful and well-organized city. The staff from the International Student Office at the University of Melbourne picked me up at the Tullamarine Airport. Everything seemed fine. But in the cold wind of an early winter, I felt a little … upside down. It was the first time for me to come to the southern hemisphere.

Early morning on the second day I arrived, I went to register at the Human Resources Department and the Melbourne Law School. My Australian supervisor had arranged a study carrel at the Legal Resource Centre before he had gone to Europe. It was such a nice study room with French windows. In the drawers of my desk, there were even all kinds of stationery. The Melbourne Law School also provides good facilities for each visitor: access to library resources and a study carrel at the Legal Resource Centre. Australian universities have different academic calendars: the first semester is usually from March to June; the second semester is from late July to early December. It was the exam period. Many students were using the library to prepare for their final exams. I could feel the tense atmosphere from exams, so the best thing I could do was to begin my own work immediately.

My first weekend in Melbourne quickly approached. All of a sudden the campus became very quiet, and I had a little time to take a look at the campus. As a university with more than 150 years of history, the University of Melbourne has the motto “Postera crescam laude”, which means “Growing in the esteem of future generations”. Just as Melbourne is famous for its Victorian and contemporary architecture, the many campus buildings are diversified and stylish. The law building has 10 levels with a glass surface. In front of the Law School is the University Square. Even in the winter, the meadow on the square was still green. The only thing was that it was so quiet around the campus during the weekend that all I could hear was my own breath and a few possums jumping up and down in the bushes at 9 o’clock in the evening.

In retrospect, my visiting programme was very helpful in expanding my research experience, especially in comparative legal studies. My host university assigned 2 supervisors, who provided valuable comments and references in my proposed research area. Additionally, Melbourne Law School attracts visiting scholars from all over the world. I met legal scholars from Europe, North America, Japan, and Korea at the Asia Law Centre and the Centre for Corporate Law and Securities Regulation. I attended some seminars at the Melbourne Law School. Beyond those abundant academic activities, what I thought most during my visit was the integration and conflict between Chinese and western legal cultures on my research topic.

Examples of relevant issues are how to harmonize the conflicts between China’s indigenous legal resources and emerging legal modernization, the conflicts between endogenous legal infrastructure and exogenous western institutions, and the conflicts between the updated lawmaking and sluggish legal enforcement as well. In an era of globalization, legal systems in different jurisdictions are becoming far more interconnected than ever before. Legal transplants from different legal systems could help overcome intrinsic disadvantages in Chinese laws and practices. To some extent, my research is trying to find out trade-offs for relating legal reform and thus provides certain significant reference for China’s legal transplantation. My research at the Melbourne Law School promoted my efforts on this issue. Therefore, I would sincerely thank my Australian supervisors, Mr. Andrew Godwin and Professor Ian Ramsay, and the Asian Law Centre of Melbourne University as well, for supporting my research in this invaluable visiting programme.

In addition, I was pleased to get accommodation at the Graduate House of Melbourne University. Since April 2007, the Graduate House of University of Hong Kong has joined the Graduate Union, which is composed of many top universities in the world. If you live at Melbourne Graduate House for more than 3 months, you can get membership of the Graduate Union. It was so convenient to live in Graduate House, which was only 100 metres away from the law building. I also met many international students at breakfasts and dinners in Melbourne Graduate House. The residents were from more than 20 countries, and we had a diversified and friendly environment. On weekends, I visited such attractions as the museum, botanical gardens or the zoo with these international students. We had lots of fun. One of the most exciting activities was the Australian Christmas. Have you ever spent a Christmas in summer? There are 2 Christmases in Australia each year: one is on December 25; the other is on July 25. The Graduate House of Melbourne University held a Christmas party for all residents. We had traditional Christmas food, Christmas trees and Christmas carols. We even had a Santa Claus in the middle of summer!

I was lucky to have this opportunity to enjoy a different lifestyle, meet with many brilliant people and conduct some comparative research in another common law country. The blue sky, fresh air and the Victorian architecture in Melbourne will remain in my memory forever.

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