USAI-SZYMANSKI ROL PROGRAM FOR CHINESE STUDENTS

Each summer since 2008, the US-Asia Institute’s J. Matthew Szymanski Rule of Law Program has brought Chinese law students to Washington, D.C. for a four-week intensive program designed to expose them to the institutions and officials of the US government and legal system. The Summer 2023 cohort of Chinese law students attended over 60 meetings with speakers from all three branches of the federal government, including Members and staff of Congress, administration and state and local officials, and leading academic and legal scholars. Our 16th annual “D.C. Program” ran from June 26th to July 21st, 2023. Our 17th program will run from June 24th to July 19th, 2024. 

USAI-SZYMANSKI ROL PROGRAM FOR US STUDENTS

Each summer since 2016, the US-Asia Institute’s J. Matthew Szymanski Rule of Law Program has sent US law students to China for a two-week program designed to expose them to the institutions and officials of the Chinese government and legal system. Our eighth annual “China Program” ran from May 12th to May 27th, 2023. Our 9th annual program will be held May 20th - 31st, 2024.

You can download the one-pager detailing information of our exchange program HERE.

Here is a brief video introducing the programs with footage from the 2018-2022 cohorts.

Program Founder

J. Matthew Szymanski, SENIOR ADVISOR AT THE US-ASIA INSTITUTE

J. Matthew Szymanski is a senior advisor for the US-Asia Institute and a partner at Gammon and Grange, P.C. From 1990-2002, he practiced law and served in government in the Washington, D.C. area. From 2002-2007, he served the US Congress as chief of staff for both the House Small Business Committee and the US-China Interparliamentary Exchange. In the latter role, he helped manage US-China relations by organizing 20 US delegations to China and hosting many Chinese delegations in the United States. From 2007-2014, Mr. Szymanski was vice president for corporate relations at Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) at its headquarters in Shanghai, China. He resided on SMIC’s Shanghai campus with his family and together they traveled widely. To promote US-China relations, he hosted US and Chinese delegations at work and at home and volunteered time teaching US-style rule of law (ROL) courses at East China University of Political Science and Law, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Fudan University, and Peking University School of Transnational Law. He also served as an adjunct professor for Council on International Educational Exchange, teaching international business law to American undergraduates studying abroad at East China Normal University. In 2010, the City of Shanghai awarded him Leading Professional status. He returned to the US in 2014.

In 2008, Mr. Szymanski partnered with USAI to establish the USAI-Szymanski ROL Program for Chinese Students to host top Chinese law students in Washington, D.C. For four weeks each summer, a handful of students experience the US system firsthand, observing legislative and judicial proceedings and meeting with officials from all three branches of the US Government. In 2015, he partnered with USAI to establish the USAI-Szymanski ROL Program for US Students. For more information on Mr. Szymanski, see his LinkedIn profile.