A review on the preparedness of Chinese maritime law education for emerging industry and technology trends

Sustainable net-zero shipping, maritime digitalization, and application of artificial intelligence technologies

Bibliographic Data

ID16969770
AuthorsMax Zhang (0000-0002-5817-9651, Dalian Maritime University, corresponding author), Shihui Yu (0000-0001-5257-1241, Dalian Maritime University)
Year2025
Volume9
Pages100752
Publication date2025-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSustainable Futures (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2666-1888
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.sftr.2025.100752
OpenAlexW4410872160
LanguageEN
References cited36

This review examines whether China’s maritime law education system is prepared to meet the demands of a rapidly evolving maritime industry shaped by sustainability targets, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence integration. Among others, these shifts introduce complex legal and regulatory challenges such as new frameworks for carbon accountability, data governance, and autonomous vessel operations. To assess educational alignment where these changes, the review follows a two-step approach: first, it draws on academic and policy literature to identify emerging technologies and the associated legal competencies needed to navigate their regulatory impact; second, it then evaluates the extent to which China’s maritime law curricula address these professional requirements. As this review aims to highlight, much scholarly and technical attention has been given to the operational and environmental dimensions of maritime innovation, there remains a professional skills gap – a disconnect between the competences now demanded by industry and those currently taught in legal education. Through comparative curriculum analysis, the paper highlights opportunities for Chinese institutions to proactively leapfrog integrate interdisciplinary legal training in areas such as maritime environmental governance, cybersecurity, and AI liability. The student concludes with a phased proposal for curriculum reform aimed at strengthening China’s legal capacity in the global maritime domain

Business · Emerging technologies · Engineering management · Political science · Preparedness · Arctic and Russian Policy Studies · Computer Science · Engineering · Law · Marine and Coastal Research · Technology Assessment and Management · Artificial Intelligence

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