Xiangtan University, as a university in Chairman Mao''s hometown, has always been a key unit for the African studies. As early as 1978, the Department of African Studies of Xiangtan University was established according to instructions from the Chinese central government. The Institute changed into the African Law Institute in 1998 in order to provide legal support for China-African business transactions, and in 2005 it became the Center for African Law and Society.[16] It is the first and sole institute for African laws studies in China so far, and has worked hard to introduce the study of African law in China.[17]
For the exchange of law between scholars from both sides, the Centre has invited some African law scholars to give lectures on the latest developments in African law in different areas. For example, we have invited professor Christopher Forsyth, a public law and private international law expert in Cambridge University, to deliver a lecture on the legal system in Southern African and private international law problems concerning China-African business transactions. Professor K.K Prah, Director of the Centre of the Advanced Studies of African Society, gave a lecture on human rights and pan-Africanism.[18] Moreover, many of the staff members in the Centre have gone to African or other countries to study African law. For example, professor Hong Yonghong, Director of the Centre for African Laws and Society, went to the University of Cape Town in 2003, professor Chen Xiaohong to the University of Paris (III) in 2005, Dr. Guo Shuli to Asser Institute of International Law in 2004, and two other staffs in the Centre will go to the UK to study African law in 2008.
The most important event for the exchange of law between the scholars from both sides was the symposium on the Law and Socio-economic Development: A Comparison between China and African Countries. This event was hosted by the Centre, under the sponsorship of the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC, from October 21 to November 9, 2006. 15 scholars from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Uganda, Ghana and Tanzania, attended the symposium. The African guests and Chinese scholars exchanged their respective views about the relationship between constitutional law, criminal law, civil and commercial law, labor law, criminal and civil procedural law as well as international law and socio-economic development extensively and fruitfully during the 20-day symposium, and they also talked about possible ways to attain a deeper and more extensive exchange of law in future. At the end of the symposium, the Centre and Remin University in Beijing held a joint forum on Sino-African Legal Education and Legal Culture; scholars from both sides exchanged ideas about legal education and legal culture in their respective countries.
Because of the rapid development of China-African commercial transactions, the African scholars show a similar interest in Chinese law. According to a colleague from the University of Cape Town, teachers and students in the Faculty of Law are researching Chinese Company Law due to the fact that some South African companies are investing or are about to invest in China and want to gain some knowledge about the relevant Chinese laws from the Faculty. Many other law faculties in Africa have expressed their intention to establish a regular program for the exchange of law. For example, the Department of Law of the University of Botswana put forward a Memorandum of Understanding about exchange programs with the Centre, [19]and cooperative Diploma and Master Programs in Trade Policy between the Faculty of Law, University of Namibia and the Centre are currently under way. [20]
