THE TRADE IMPLICATIONS OF SPORTS SPONSORSHIP AND LICENSING UNDER CHINA’S WTO OBLIGATIONS: A CASE STUDY OF THE BEIJING WINTER OLYMPICS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18623/rvd.v23.n4.4791Keywords:
WTO Obligations, Sports Sponsorship, Licensing Regulation, Beijing Winter Olympics, Trade ComplianceAbstract
China’s hosting of the 2022 Winter Olympics became a case which involves both international trade obligations and domestic control over sponsorship and licensing in sports. The following study will therefore seek to assess whether China meets WTO requirements about the GATS and TRIPS agreements. Using documentation analysis, the findings from the case studies and official documents, academic and grey journals, stakeholder reports, it is possible to point out how Chinese law works and note the gap between legal regulation on paper and its enforcement. The result reveals that foreign sponsors faced restricted market access, complicated regulations, and prejudice that seemed to favour domestic companies. While China’s laws are compatible with WTO norms, in practice, it violates these principles through non-tariff measures, transparency, and equal treatment. The Major limitation of the study is that it only used secondary data. Future studies should also yield man-on-the-street interviews augmented by comparisons with other host nations of the Olympics.
References
Abbott, F. M. (2018). The WTO TRIPS agreement and global economic development. In International economic regulation (pp. 305-326). Routledge.
Bown, C. P. (2024). Modern industrial policy and the World Trade Organisation. Annual Review of Economics, 16.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative research in psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Chang, C. H., King, B. E., & Shu, S. T. (2020). Tourist attitudes to mega-event sponsors: Where does patriotism fit?. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 26(3), 320-333.
Chen, L. S. (2022). Getting China’s Political Economy Right: State, Business, and Authoritarian Capitalism. Perspectives on Politics, 20(4), 1397-1402.
Chen, S., Tan, T. C., & Houlihan, B. (2019). Sport policy in China. Routledge.
Cheng, W. (2019). China engages with the global intellectual property governance: The recent trend. The Journal of World Intellectual Property, 22(3-4), 146-161.
China, AMC. (2022). China Business: The Next Hundred Years. China Business Climate Survey Report.
Chu, M. P. (2020). China's quest for sporting mega-events: The politics of international bids. Routledge.
Citaristi, I. (2022). World intellectual property organization—wipo. In The Europa Directory of International Organisations 2022 (pp. 395-398). Routledge.
Cornelissen, S. (2010). The geopolitics of global aspiration: Sport mega-events and emerging powers. The international journal of the history of sport, 27(16-18), 3008-3025.
Costa, S., Silva, A. J., Dias, T., Marinho, D. A., Batalha, N. M., Roque, R., ... & Ferraz, R. (2025). Integrity and Transparency in Sports: A Survey Review. The Open Sports Sciences Journal, 18(1).
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2016). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches. Sage Publications.
Das, D. K. (2001). China's accession to the World Trade Organisation: Issues and implications. Digital Commons.
Du, M. (2014). China's State Capitalism and World Trade Law. International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 63(2), 409-448.
EUIPO. (2024, November 4). China IP SME Helpdesk. IP Helpdesk. https://intellectual-property-helpdesk.ec.europa.eu/regional-helpdesks/china-ip-sme-helpdesk_en.
European Union Chamber of Commerce in China. (2021). European Business in China Position Paper 2021/2022. Europeanchamber.com.cn.
Hillman, J. (2023). What Role for the WTO in Disciplining China’s State-Dominated Economy? Book Review of Between Market Economy and State Capitalism: China’s State-Owned Enterprises and the World Trading System. By HENRY GAO and WEIHUAN ZHOU. Book Review of Between Market Economy and State Capitalism: China’s State-Owned Enterprises and the World Trading System.
Huo, D., Shen, Y., Zhou, T., Yu, T., Lyu, R., Tong, Y., ... & Wang, Q. (2023). Case study of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games: Implications for global mass gathering events amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Public Health, 11, 1068023.
International Trade Centre. (2021). TRADE IMPACT FOR GOOD Building an inclusive and sustainable recovery. Intracen. https://intracen.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Annual%20Report%202021_ENG.pdf.
IOC. (2022). IOC MARKETING REPORT BEIJING 2022. Olympic. https://stillmed.olympics.com/media/Documents/Olympic-Movement/Partners/IOC-Marketing-Report-Beijing-2022.pdf.
Jain, R. (2016). China's Compliance with the WTO: A Critical Examination. Indian Journal of Asian Affairs, 57-84.
Jia, M. (2021). Special courts, global China. Va. J. Int'l L., 62, 559.
Jw, C. (2009). Research design-qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. SAGE, CA; ofprnia.
Lazarev, D. (2014). Dispute Resolution Clauses in International Sponsored Research Contracts. Cardozo J. Conflict Resol., 16, 585.
Lee, A. L. (2010). Did the Olympics help the nation branding of China? Comparing public perception of China with the Olympics before and after the 2008 Beijing Olympics in Hong Kong. Place Branding and Public Diplomacy, 6, 207-227.
Lei, Z. (2023). The European Union's Economic and Trade Legislation: New Developments and Implications for China. China Int'l Stud., 100, 113.
Levi-Faur, D. (2005). The global diffusion of regulatory capitalism. The annals of the American academy of political and social science, 598(1), 12-32.
Ma, Y. (2020). Governance of Olympic elite sport and professional football in China: Studies on the national games of China and the Chinese Super League (Doctoral dissertation).
Majone, G. (1997). From the positive to the regulatory state: Causes and consequences of changes in the mode of governance. Journal of Public Policy, 17(2), 139-167.
Marchetti, J. A., & Mavroidis, P. C. (2011). The genesis of the GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services). European Journal of International Law, 22(3), 689-721.
Martin, M., & Pajouh, M. S. (2019). Does strategic ambiguity have a place in the WTO dispute settlement understanding? US-China L. Rev., 16, 215.
McHarg, A. (2017). Administrative discretion, administrative rule-making, and judicial review. Current legal problems, 70(1), 267-303.
OECD. (2021). OECD Investment Policy Reviews. OECD. https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/serials/oecd-investment-policy-reviews_g1gha2c4.html.
Pearson, M., Rithmire, M., & Tsai, K. S. (2021). Party-state capitalism in China. Current history, 120(827), 207-213.
Peerenboom, R. (Ed.). (2003). Asian discourses of the rule of law. Routledge.
Van Gompel, S. (2024). Do intellectual property rights affect sports activities?. In Research Handbook on Intellectual Property Rights and Inclusivity (pp. 151-178). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Wang, R. (2020). New Private Law? Intellectual Property" Common-Law Precedents" in China. UMKC L. Rev., 89, 353.
Wu, H., Xu, X., & Huang, M. (2023). Annoted landmark international intellectual property cases in China, 2021-2022. Torrosa.
Yin, R. K. (2017). Case study research and applications: Design and methods. Sage Publications.
Yu, P. K. (2010). Enforcement, economics and estimates. The WIPO Journal, 2(1), 1.
Yu, P. K. (2012). Enforcement, Enforcement, What Enforcement. Idea, 52, 239.
Zhang, Q., Kim, K., Nauright, J., & Zhang, J. J. (2024). Stakeholders in venues of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games: a critical analysis. Sport in Society, 27(2), 296-316.
Zhang, Q., Kim, K., Nauright, J., & Zhang, J. J. (2024). Stakeholders in venues of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games: a critical analysis. Sport in Society, 27(2), 296-316.
Zhang, S., Van Doorn, J., & Leeflang, P. S. (2012). Changing consumer markets and marketing in China. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 4(4), 328-351.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
I (we) submit this article which is original and unpublished, of my (our) own authorship, to the evaluation of the Veredas do Direito Journal, and agree that the related copyrights will become exclusive property of the Journal, being prohibited any partial or total copy in any other part or other printed or online communication vehicle dissociated from the Veredas do Direito Journal, without the necessary and prior authorization that should be requested in writing to Editor in Chief. I (we) also declare that there is no conflict of interest between the articles theme, the author (s) and enterprises, institutions or individuals.
I (we) recognize that the Veredas do Direito Journal is licensed under a CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE.
Licença Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
