Editor's note

• Author: Lu Haina
• Position: Ph.D. in Law, School of Law, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Associate Professor, School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Secretary-General, Human Rights Center, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact: luhaina123@sina.cn
• Pages: 443-444

FRONTIERS OF LAW IN CHINA

VOL. 14 DECEMBER 2019 NO. 4

DOI 10.3868/s050-008-019-0021-4

FOCUS

GENDER AND BUSINESS

EDITOR’S NOTE

LU Haina∗

Today, business and human rights or corporate social responsibilities have become

popular topics of public discourses. Nevertheless, despite being an important and

cross-cutting topic, the gender aspect of business is less frequently discussed, particularly

in relation to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. The equality between

men and women is a basic national policy in China, but when China’s increasing overseas

investment and international aids are concerned, little attention has been paid to its gender

impact. This focus address these often ignored issues by following three articles.

The first article analyzes the gender impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)

and argues that China has a human rights obligation to adopt a gender policy in its BRI to

ensure that its overseas investments and aids programs respect and promote gender

equality. To date, China has not developed a gender-mainstreaming or rights-based

approach to its strongly promoted Initiative. Hence, this article provides a general

overview of how the BRI may affect gender equality both BRI countries and globally. By

reviewing the international standards on gender equality in transnational trade and foreign

investment and aid projects, this article clarifies China’s obligations under international

law to promote gender equality through its BRI and to analyze the gap between China’s

practices and obligations. Finally, the article suggests some policy recommendations on

achieving gender mainstreaming within the BRI.

The second article is based on a positive research on the gender impact of China’s

overseas textile enterprises on three Southeast Asian countries: Vietnam, Myanmar, and

Bangladesh. This study clarifies how Chinese textile and apparel enterprises operate

overseas and discusses the efforts that have been made to promote an equal working

environment. In addition, the study analyzes the challenges and problems encountered by

overseas Chinese textile and apparel enterprises in promoting gender equality and makes

∗ LU Haina (陆海娜), Ph.D. in Law, School of Law, Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium;

Associate Professor, School of Law, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China; Secretary-General, Human

Rights Center, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872, China. Contact: luhaina123@sina.cn