The Peking University (Beijing University) Law School will start its English conducting LL.M. programme in Chinese Law:

http://www.law.pku.edu.cn/llmp/en_01.asp

As the university is the best ranked university in China, as well as its law school are best ranked in China too, does anyone has comment on this LL.M.?

Wow! 160,000RMB is 13 years salary for the average Chinese person. It seems to me that they're just cashing in... Beijing(Peking) U is has a great reputaton but not yet for teaching foreigners law. I think they'd be wise to reduce that tuition...

160,000 RMB is about one year's salary of a normal whitecollar staff in middle sized foreign company in China. In China, the MBA program for local students conducted by a pretigious university shall cost 100,000 RMB.

as an insider, I think it absolutely not worth the money....
If you just want to experience the Chinese Civil Law..You can be an intern in a local internatinal law firm.....
You can learn more there

I agree with law thinker. 160,000RMB is excessive, unjustifiable and seems to lead one to the conclusion that PekingU is simply setting up this program to cash in.

While it is true that an LLM at PekingU costs less than an LLM in many American universities it still costs a lot more than comparable programs in the rest of Asia and when the cost of the LLM is compared with the average wage in the country it is excessive. If the average wage for a skilled Chinese graduate in Beijing is 3000RMB per month (I have several friends who are working there and earning this amount) this amounts to 36,000RMB per year. On this calculation it would take a Chinese worker close to 5 years to afford to take this LLM program. That is like an LLM for foreigners in the USA costing $180,000. Why do people so readily accept that foreigners should pay twenty times the local tuition rate? The excuse that foreigners have more money and should therefore pay more should be no longer be tolerated.

janerichardson was right, it was just a scam, apply HKU/CUHK/CITYU is a much better choice.

How do you know that the PKU program is a scam? Are you a student or did you do limited research on the web? It is certainly not a scam. The professors are high caliber, with many friends in China and in the U.S. (and elsewhere in the world). I think it is a great program and you get a lot out of it. The program is taken very seriously and the professors prepare extensively for the classes. It has a rigorous reading list and you will be exposed to great lectures.

I think it is a hasty judgment to say it is a scam because of the price tag, which is far less than Tsinghua. With the economy in China booming and companies/firms/private equity investors flocking to China, it will become more and more difficult for you to be admitted into PKU and the degree will be more and more desired.

Additionally, the ministry of education requires all LLM programs to be two years long--Tsinghua's is only 1 year long AND costs more per year than BeiDa (and only a little less than both years at BeiDa combined). I am NOT accusing Tsinghua's program of being a scam either, I'm just saying that BeiDa's program is pretty reasonable AND doesn't violate any guidelines.

A reason for the tuition rate is because it is illegal for Universities to raise tuition for Chinese students, therefore, to stay on the cutting edge and compete with other schools, and to earn more revenue (which is sorely needed as living expenses and costs continue to rise in China), one solution is to look towards foreign students. U.S. schools raise tuition all the time. Imagine if U.S. schools could not raise tuition--then where would it get the money to maintain (and improve) the quality of education? It's not b/c we're foreigners and they want to rob us or they are greedy so they think we should pay more. It is a valid and pratical reason--they simply need the money b/c they can't get it the way schools in the U.S. can get it (i.e. by raising tuition rates). However, this does not make the program any less valid. You get out what you paid for it. Everybody wins. What do you have to say about NYU's LLM program that accepts almost everyone and comes with a price tag of $50,000? (and NYU's LLMs are useless except for tax--as are most LLMs in the U.S.)

Hong Kong has its benefits, but Beijing is still the capital and the political muscle of China. If you want to make connections, Beijing is the place to be. Also, BeiDa is world famous and is ranked as the #1 law school in China. The name of BeiDa alone will draw attention to your resume and may be the extra nudge for potential employers to get your foot in the door.

I study LLM at Tsinghua, the law school next door to BeiDa. I am not aware that there is such regulation requiring the LLM in China to long for 2 years. I think it should not be legislation but rather just a guideline laid by the relevant authority.

Actually though the study period is longer, the course works offered by BeiDa are similar to those by Tsinghua both in term of contents and number. I also notice that the course works in BeiDa are for one year and the second year is for thesis writing and internship. In this respect, a gap between these two programmes is really close.

Overall, Tsinghua is always ranked the first amongst Chinese universities in all polls. Chinese people also recognise Tsinghua as the national most famous and reputable university.

Specifically speaking on the law schools, it is relatively bold to claim which school is the first rank. Even Chinese scholars or students rarely claim their schools as the best one. On the contrary they normally say they are the best in specific field of legal studies. For instance, the best school for criminal law may be Beijing Normal University (Bei Shi Da), public law may be Chinese Political Science and Law University (Zheng Fa), civil law may be People University (Ren Da), etc. Tsinghua as one of elite schools seems to mainly focus on civil and business laws.

As such, to claim Tsinghua or BeiDa as the best law school is just a funny bluffing between students of two neighbouring schools. Even Chinese law students in BeiDa do not often really claim that.

Further, the modern Chinese law study has just started since the legal reform in 1979 following the open-door policy. More interestingly the first substantive piece of Chinese civil law became into force in 1987 (8 years before Tsinghua law school resumed its operation in 1995). Modern Chinese legislations are very nascent and they could not make any real difference in legal teaching and training amongst law schools. And this supports why the Chinese law schools do not dare to claim as the best in the league.

Prior to the legal reform the Chinese legislations were very few and substantially based on the planned economic system. The subjects taught in the law schools during such period were mainly those economic related laws, criminal laws and socialist ideology.

However, BeiDa is indisputably recognised as one of the best law schools. Also in fact Tsinghua and BeiDa law schools have very close exchange and cooperation. One course in my LLM was also taught by a professor from BeiDa, whose style made a bit different from Tsinghua pragmatic approach.

I personally feel that Tsinghua is energetic, dynamic and pragmatic. I also strongly believe that Tsinghuas style of hard working, moving fast and adhering to practice would drive Tsinghua law school to sooner leave others lagging behind.

Tsinghua as the best in country also aims high at being the world class university by 2020. LLM offered by the law school is one of Tsinghuas showcases, apart from the MBA offered by the School of Economic and Management. This year Tsinghua encourages other 7 schools to offer degrees taught in English inspired by the models of LLM and MBA.

The debate between Tsinghua and Beida is an eternal issue for domestic Chinese and now extends to international community!

My view is that it does not matter between the two for your job-hunting in China. It can add some value but probably not the key selling point. The real issue is who you know at the southeast area of the Beijing town (Guo Mao & CBD), not your study locations around the northwest side(Zhongguancun).

But if you want to have fun in Beijing, that will be a different story.

The Peking University (Beijing University) Law School will start its English conducting LL.M. programme in Chinese Law:

http://www.law.pku.edu.cn/llmp/en_01.asp

As the university is the best ranked university in China, as well as its law school are best ranked in China too, does
anyone has comment on this LL.M.?

Pairot:

What's funny is that you say claiming BeiDa is the best law school is bold, but you claim that Qinghua is well known in China for being the most famous and reputable university--are you being hypocritical?

You probably aren't aware that the ministry of education requires 2 years for accreditation of an LLM program because that's not something Qinghua touts to its would-be students. This is also something that has been confirmed by professors at other universities also wishing to start an LLM program--it must be two years to be accredited. Therefore, your lack of awareness does not constitute a lack of the regulation.

If Qinghua is only one, then it is either not accredited, or it found a way around it (Hu Jintao did graduate from there...)

According to the most recent rankings in 2007:

" edu.sina.com.cn/l/2007-01-08/1747136912.html
Top Law Schools:
2007:
1. A++ Beijing University
2. A++ People's University (Beijing) (same as Renmin)
3. A++ Wuhan University
4. A++ Tsinghua University
5. A+ China University of Political Science and Law (Zhengfa Daxue)
6. A+ Jilin University
7. A+ Fudan University
8. A+ Southwest University of Political Science and Law (Xinan Zhengfa Daxue)(Chongqing)
9. A Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (Zhongnan Caijing Zhengfa Daxue)
10. A Zhejiang University
11. A Xiamen University
12. A Zhongshan University
13. A East China University of Politics and Law
14. A Nanjing University
15. A Nankai University (Tianjin)
16. A Huazhong Normal University
17. A Suzhou University
18. A East China Normal University
19. A Shandong University"

interesting ranking list, enemy...I always thought Qinghua was #2 but it looks like it is ranked #4!!?! I happen to like my classes at Qinghua, although some students don't seem to be very serious. I think the Qinghua program is pretty good for its second year in existence. I do regret a little not knowing about Beida's program first as I would like to have applied but I don't regret attending Qinghua's program.

regarding the beida professor that teaches at qinghua, apparently, (according to my chinese beida spies I met at lush--haha), the civil law professor at beida was going to start working at qinghua law school instead and started the qinghua LLM program. apparently the beida dean didn't like him so made some calls and qinghua revoked its offer of employment to him (so much for illegalizing guanxi in china!) so the civ law professor had to stay at beida against his will. i think because he started the two llm programs, he gets to still teach at qinghua but not as a full time qinghua professor. how's that for messed up? from what i gather it's pretty much common knowledge among the chinese students at beida (and maybe qinghua) so it's not a secret you will "blow" by posting it on here.

For those of you at Qinghua (or any other English programme), what were your job prospects like after finishing the degree? Did you work in China? Return to your home country? Did you all have JD degrees before starting?

Where did you article? Did you get job experience in Beijing while you were there - and how did they set that up, or how did you get placed?

Hello everyone,

I have applied for this LL.M. However, I do not have much information in regards to workload and other such academic requirements.

Does anyone have first hand information in this regard to share with us?

Many thanks in advance,

Psycs

hi psyc

Hi, shock. Yes, I have already been admitted.

I will be going on September, I am just awaiting my admission package.

See you there

that's

Hello, I'm a italian law student and I'd like to register to the LL.M. in chinese law taught in english of Beijing University. Can anyone give me some infomations about the course, if there is a campus where to live, if it's the most important LL.M. in China and if it's important to find work after the degree.
Thank you, Federico

Hi Fedefra

Hi shockresist, i read your post and I thank you for the infos. But i have another question: You wrote "the first Italian lawyer is my classmate" so I ask you if to partecipate at LL.M is necessary to be a lawyer or is sufficient to have a law degree from another law school. Thank you
Fedefra