DMU Wisdom Shines at the United Nations

On December 15, 2025, the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly considered and adopted the United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents (NCD) and authorized Ghana to host the signing ceremony in 2026. The Convention is of milestone significance. As stated on the UN official website, “China is the proposer and major promoter of the Convention”. China Central Television (CCTV) News spoke highly of its adoption. For the first time in history, the Convention extends the negotiability feature of maritime bills of lading to all modes of transport, filling a long-standing legal gap and facilitating faster, safer and more convenient global trade.

CCTV News reports

As a pioneering university in China’s education on foreign-related ocean and maritime rule of law, Dalian Maritime University (DMU) has been deeply involved in the formulation of the Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents. The team from DMU Law School, led by Zhu Zuoxian, Dean of the Law School, has injected DMU wisdom into the birth of this international public good with solid professional expertise and a global vision, by providing written and oral advisory opinions, delivering speeches at plenary sessions, participating in consultations of the ad hoc expert group, and developing the NCD model text, among other contributions. Invited as an expert member of the Chinese delegation, Zhu Zuoxian, together with other industry experts, participated in the full-cycle negotiations of a total of eight meetings for the Convention – from agenda deliberation and draft adoption to the formulation of the Convention’s interpretative instruments. He also assisted the Chinese Language Group in high-quality completion of the Chinese translation of the Convention text in the final stage.

From November 28 to December 2, 2022, the 41st session of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group VI took place at the Vienna International Centre (online).

The 41st session of Working Group VI of UNCITRAL was held at the Vienna International Centre. During the meeting, national delegations conducted a first-round discussion of the Secretariat’s initial draft of a legislative instrument on negotiable multimodal transport documents. The Chinese delegation was organized and led by the Ministry of Commerce, with Professor Zhu Zuoxian invited to participate as an expert representative from the academic community. This session constituted the “first reading” of the draft instrument prepared by the Secretariat. Delegations engaged in comprehensive and in-depth discussions on a wide range of provisions and reached consensus on several issues. The views and proposals put forward by the Chinese delegation received strong support from the Working Group, laying a solid foundation for the future formulation of the convention.

From May 8 to 12, 2023, the 42nd session of Working Group VI of UNCITRAL was held online at UN Headquarters in New York.

The 42nd session of the UNCITRAL Working Group VI was held for five days at the UN Headquarters in New York, the United States. Professor Zhu Zuoxian was once again invited to attend as an expert representative from the academic community. The session continued its deliberation of the draft instrument, and the “first reading” was essentially completed.

From November 27 to December 1, 2023, the 43rd session of UNCITRAL Working Group VI was held at the Vienna International Centre.

As the discussions moved to a more advanced stage, the meeting proceeded with the “second reading” of the draft instrument. Professor Zhu Zuoxian participated in the session as an expert member of the Chinese delegation. During this session, he actively engaged in in-depth discussions on the framework of the provisions and collaborated with other members of the Chinese delegation to clarify their core positions. These views attracted considerable attention and recognition from other participants. Throughout the session, Professor Zhu, together with other members of the Chinese delegation, had in-depth exchanges with the Chair of the session, Ms. Beate Czerwenka, and the Secretariat, and the delegation’s contributions to the draft instrument were highly acknowledged by them.

A group photo of Professor Zhu Zuoxian (first from the left) with members of the Chinese delegation, the Chair of UNCITRAL Working Group VI, and representatives of the Secretariat

From May 6 to 10, 2024, the 44th session of Working Group VI of the UNCITRAL was held at the UN Headquarters in New York, the United States.

During the session, Professor Zhu Zuoxian participated as one of the five members of the Chinese delegation, while Professor Cao Xingguo of the Law School of Dalian Maritime University attended as an observer representing the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). The discussions were conducted on the basis of draft document WP.103, and the “second reading” of the draft instrument was largely completed. Prior to the meeting, Professor Zhu submitted written comments to the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce. During the session, he engaged in close consultations with other members of the Chinese delegation to help formulate the delegation’s official positions. The views and proposals presented by the Chinese delegation during the debates received strong recognition from many national delegations.

Group photo of the Chinese participants (Professor Zhu Zuoxian, fourth from left; Professor Cao Xingguo, first from right) with José Angelo Estrella Faria (fifth from right), former Principal Legal Officer and Head of the Legislative Branch, International Trade Law Division, United Nations Office of Legal Affairs

From December 9 to 13, 2024, the 45th session of Working Group VI of the UNCITRAL was held at the Vienna International Centre.

Professor Zhu Zuoxian was invited to attend the meeting as a member of the Chinese delegation, while Professor Cao Xingguo participated as an observer representing the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. Prior to the meeting, Professor Zhu engaged in in-depth discussions on the draft instrument with other members of the Chinese delegation and submitted written comments to the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce. During the session, he took an active part in internal consultations to help formulate the delegation’s official positions and delivered statements at the plenary on several key issues, which received strong recognition from the UNCITRAL Secretariat and many national delegations. During the meeting, Professor Zhu and his colleagues also met with Luca Castellani, Legal Officer of the Secretariat of the UNCITRAL and expert on legislation on electronic transferable documents, and held productive consultations and discussions on the provisions of Chapter IV, “Electronic Transport Records,” of the draft amended Maritime Law of the People’s Republic of China.

Professor Zhu Zuoxian addressing the meeting

From March 17 to 21, 2025, the 46th session of Working Group VI of the UNCITRAL was held at the UN Headquarters in New York, the United States.

The draft convention has entered its final refinement stage. Prior to the meeting, Professor Zhu Zuoxian, together with members of the Chinese delegation, engaged in in-depth discussions on the draft instrument at Peking University Law School and submitted written comments to the Department of Treaty and Law of the Ministry of Commerce. During the session, they actively negotiated to formulate the official views of the Chinese delegation and delivered statements on several crucial issues at the conference. Some of their proposals were adopted by the Working Group, effectively advancing the negotiation process towards achieving consensus.

Professor Zhu Zuoxian addressing the meeting

Group photo of all participants (Professor Zhu Zuoxian: fifth from the left in the front row; Professor Cao Xingguo: first from the left in the front row)

From July 7 to 11, 2025, in Vienna, Austria, during the 58th Annual Session of the UNCITRAL, the draft UN Convention on NCDs was adopted.

Professor Zhu Zuoxian attended the annual session and witnessed the formal adoption of the draft UN Convention on NCDs by the Commission. This achievement would not have been possible without the significant contributions of the Chinese delegation. Furthermore, through our concerted efforts and the sustained dedication of the DMU team, we have provided the delegation with high-caliber professional expertise for consultations and negotiations.

Delegates pose for a group photo after the annual session where the draft convention was adopted (Professor Zhu Zuoxian: second from the right in the front row)

On October 19, 2025, the world’s first Negotiable Cargo Document template was officially released.

To promote the implementation of the rules, COSCO SHIPPING Group and Dalian Maritime University, leveraging their jointly established International Shipping Law and Compliance Research Center, took the lead in pilot initiatives. The dedicated research team was formed to tackle key challenges, addressing the lack of negotiable documents in rail-sea unimodal transport and the bottlenecks hindering the development of “single-document” and “single-container” systems in multimodal transportation. The team successfully developed the world’s first NCD template applicable to all modes of transport and multimodal shipments. Zhang Yong, President of the China Maritime Law Association (CMLA), Member of the Party Leadership Group, Vice President, and Chief Legal Officer (Chief Compliance Officer) of China COSCO SHIPPING Corporation Limited, and Xu Minqiang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Dalian Maritime University, jointly unveiled this achievement.

Zhang Yong (right) and Xu Minqiang (left) jointly release the Negotiable Cargo Document Template

From December 15 to 19, 2025, in Vienna, Austria, during the 47th Session of UNCITRAL Working Group VI, the Draft Explanatory Notes on the Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents were reviewed.

Professor Zhu participated as a member of the Chinese delegation. Over the course of a week, the working group completed consultations on the Explanatory Notes prepared by the Secretariat. This document would serve as an important reference for understanding and applying the convention after its entry into force, marking the conclusion of all tasks of Working Group VI. During the session, on December 16, Professor Zhu was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the UNCITRAL side event, “Understanding the Negotiable Cargo Documents: A Practical Overview.” In his address, he presented the world’s first Negotiable Cargo Document Template, developed by the International Shipping Legal and Compliance Research Center—a joint initiative of COSCO Shipping Group and DMU.

Professor Zhu Zuoxian (first from the right) delivers a keynote speech at the side event

On December 15, 2025, the convention was formally adopted by the 80th United Nations General Assembly. The Permanent Mission of China to the UNCITRAL and other international organizations in Vienna jointly hosted the “From Chongqing to Accra: The Making of a New Convention” Reception at the UN Office in Vienna. Representatives from the Chinese delegation, along with delegates from other countries and international organizations, attended the reception to celebrate the adoption of the convention.

Members of the Chinese delegation involved in the convention’s drafting work pose for a group photo (Professor Zhu Zuoxian: second from the right.)

From the evolution of an idea into the finalization of the convention, the DMU team closely followed the negotiation process. With profound expertise in maritime law theory, rich practical experience, and a broad international perspective, our team served as the intellectual anchor for the Chinese delegation, grounding the convention with a distinctly Chinese perspective on the future of global trade. The full engagement not only demonstrated the effectiveness of the university’s efforts in cultivating foreign-related legal talent but also represented a significant practice in serving the national strategy of building a strong transportation nation and enhancing China’s international discourse.

Moving forward, Dalian Maritime University will leverage its role as a National Innovation Base for the Collaborative Cultivation of Foreign-Related Legal Talent. We are committed to deepening research in maritime and international law, nurturing a new generation of top-tier legal minds with a global perspective. Our mission is to steadfastly contribute DMU’s wisdom to the global governance of the oceans and the improvement of international rules.