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Dr Guan H. Tang

Guan H.

Reader in Commercial Law

Email: g.h.tang@qmul.ac.uk
Telephone: +44 (0)20 7882 6186
Room Number: Lincoln's Inn Fields

Profile

Dr Guan H. Tang is a Reader in Commercial Law and a primary PhD supervisor at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London. She previously served as Senior Lecturer in Law and Programme Leader for the LLM in Information Rights and Practice at Northumbria University. Prior to this, she was Associate Professor of Civil and Commercial Law and Director of Law Internationalisation at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Dr Tang’s academic career began in 1998, when she was awarded a scholarship to pursue a Master’s degree at Queen’s University Belfast, where her research focused on information technology and law, with particular emphasis on intellectual property rights in China. She later read law with Hector MacQueen and received her doctoral degree from the University of Edinburgh Law School.

Dr Tang has extensive academic, managerial, and advisory experience across both the United Kingdom and China. Her research is informed by a strong understanding of the rule of law and its global significance from a practical perspective, with a sustained focus on comparative intellectual property, technology law, and governance. Her current research projects centre on artificial intelligence governance, and the public interest.

Postgraduate Teaching

Adopting a student-centred approach to education, Guan places strong emphasis on the application of learning theories in both the design and delivery of her teaching. She views university teaching as an inherently inspirational endeavour and develops course content and pedagogical styles that respond directly to students’ needs, abilities, and intellectual development. Central to her teaching philosophy is the belief that empowering students with analytical tools and independent learning skills is more valuable than the mere transmission of information.

Accordingly, Guan’s modules engage with contemporary issues in commercial law (broad term) from a comparative perspective and are structured around two core components: lecturer-led seminars and student-chaired roundtable discussions. The modules are further supported by an elected module committee, fostering student participation, collective responsibility, and active engagement in the learning process.

Research

Research Interests:

Guan welcomes proposals for both academic and consultative collaboration within her expertise. Her current research includes:

  • Artificial Intelligence Governance;
  • AI Law and Policy: Security Considerations;
  • Copyright and Censorship;
  • The Rule of Law in China: A Commercial Law Perspective.

Conferences/conference papers

Publications

Guan has published numerous conference proceedings, peer-reviewed papers, and book chapters. Her works include:

Books

  • “AI Governance and Trade”, Co-editor (Brill, Forthcoming);
  • “Personal Insolvency Law: Global Perspectives and China’s Transformation”, Co-editor (Routledge, 2026);
  • “Copyright and the Public Interest in China”, (EEP, 2011 UK & 2012 USA).

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

  • “Artificial Intelligence Legal Personhood: A Company law Inspired Discussion”, AI Governance and Trade by Guan H Tang and Spyros Maniatis (Brill, forthcoming 2026);
  • “When AI wreaks havoc across the Equator: A Right to Object by the Global South?”, AI and IP by Guido Westkamp and Noam Shemtov (EEP, 2026);
  • “Personal Insolvency at a Crossroads” and “Competition, Human Rights, and the Architecture of Personal Insolvency Law in China”, Personal Insolvency Law: Global Perspectives and China’s Transformation by Guan H Tang, Jing Liu and Yimin Ren (Routledge, 2026);
  • “Measures that could make the use of AI more transparent and explainable” (UK Parliament, 2022);
  • ‘’Human Rights’’, Case Analysis by Ji Weidong and Yang Li (SJTU, 2021);
  • “Competition and Copyright: Law and Enforcement in the People's Republic of China”, Competition Law and Intellectual Property in China by Spyros Maniatis, Wang Xiaoye and Ioannis Kokkoris (OUP, 2019);
  • “WTO Law”, Legal English - Unified Textbooks for the HEIs of PRC (PUP, 2017);
  • “Moral Rights in China”, Moral Rights 2nd Ed by Gillian Davies and Kevin Garnett, (Sweet & Maxwell, 2016);
  • “Public Archives and Public Copyright: The Chinese Tale”, European Intellectual Property Review (2012) Issue 4, 267-276;
  • “Is Administrative Enforcement the Answer? Copyright Protection in the Digital Era” Computer Law and Security Review (2010) Vol 26, No 4, 406-417; reprinted in Copyright Law in the Making - European and Chinese Perspectives by Sylvia Kierkegaard and Willem Grosheide (eds.), (CO-REACH, 2012) DOI: 10.1016/j.clsr.2010.05.006;
  • “Moral Rights in China”, Moral Rights 1st Ed by Kevin Garnett and Gillian Davies, (Sweet & Maxwell, 2010);
  • “Copyright, Censorship and Privacy: Is Cyberspace Over Crowded?” International Journal of Intellectual Property Management (2008) Vol 2, No 2, 201-219 DOI: 10.1504/IJIPM.2008.019342;
  • A Comparative Study of Copyright & the Public Interest in the UK and China, SCRIPTed - A Journal of Law, Technology & Society (2004) Vol 1, No 2, 319-347 DOI: 10.2966/scrip.010204.272.

Supervision

Currently, Guan supervises four PhDs in the field of commercial law, and is mentor to two visiting academics.

Public Engagement

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