员工 | People

Learn more about the academic and professional staff who work at or with the Manchester China Institute.

NEWS FLASH: Remembering Dr Lee Kai Hung, CBE DL, 1935 – 2025, 14 November 2025

Director

Lei Chen is Chair of Comparative Law and Lee Kai Hung Chair of Chinese Politics at The University of Manchester, where he also serves as Director of the Manchester China Institute. He is an internationally recognised scholar specialising in comparative private law, Chinese law, international commercial arbitration, and dispute resolution.

Professor Chen is a Member of Academia Europaea, a Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, and a Titular Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law. He serves on the International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court of China and is a Fellow of the European Law Institute. He is also General Editor of the Hart English Commentary on the Chinese Civil Code and the Elgar Encyclopedia of Private Law.

In addition to his academic work, Professor Chen is a practising international arbitrator and expert witness. He has acted as presiding, sole, and co-arbitrator in disputes administered under the rules of leading arbitral institutions, including the ICC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, CIETAC, BAC, and SCIA, and has provided expert opinions on Chinese law before courts and arbitral tribunals in multiple jurisdictions.

Professor Chen was called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. His research has been widely published in leading international journals and by major academic presses, with a particular focus on comparative civil law, Chinese private law, international arbitration, and cross-border commercial dispute resolution.

Core academic and professional staff

Extended China Studies Team