The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG) has entered into force on 1 January 1988. It is the purpose of the CISG “to provide a modern, uniform and fair regime for contracts for the international sale of goods.” (UNCITRAL, (CISG), Text – Explanatory note). As of January 2023 the CISG had 95 Contracting States including China and other major trading nations. The CISG has consequently been regarded as one of the most successful international legal unification projects while, however, critics continue to point to the potential advantages of domestic sales law regimes.

The CISG did not apply in Hong Kong and Macau before they became Special Administrative Regions of the People’s Republic of China and it has always been doubtful if the situation has changed after the so-called “handovers”. On 29 September 2022 the Legislative Council of the Hong Kong SAR then passed the Sale of Goods (United Nations Convention) Ordinance (Cap. 641) (Ordinance) and accordingly the CISG came (officially) into effect in Hong Kong on 1 December 2022. The situation for Macau has remained unchanged.

The applicability of the CISG is governed by a set of partly complex CISG rules. This seminar explains these rules and considers their implication for sales transactions within the Greater Bay Area and between GBA parties and parties based outside China.

About the Speaker:
Prof. Lutz-Christian WOLFF is Wei Lun Professor of Law and Dean of the Faculty of Law at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. After several years of studying, doing research and working in Passau, Shanghai, Taipei, Düsseldorf, Beijing, New York and Frankfurt he has been based in Hong Kong since 1999. Prof. WOLFF specializes in Chinese and international business law, private international law and comparative law. His work includes: Mergers & Acquisitions in China – Law and Practice, 5^th ed. (2015); The Law of Cross-border Business Transactions – Concepts, Principles, Skills – 2^nd ed. (2017); From a ‘Small Phrase with Big Ambitions’ to a Powerful Driver of Contract Law Unification? – China’s Belt and Road Initiative and the CISG -, 34 Journal of Contract Law (2017), 50; Legal Responses to China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative: Necessary, Possible or Pointless Exercise?, 29 Transnational Law and Contemporary Problems Journal (2020), 249. He is also the editor of China Outbound Investments (2011 – Chinese translation 2012) and Legal Dimensions of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (Hong Kong 2016 – with Xi Chao).

*The Law Society of Hong Kong has awarded this seminar 1 Continuing Professional Development (CPD) point.