On 22 October 2022, a seminar on "Research on the Legal Regulation of Human Assisted Reproductive Technology", a major research project of the Ministry of Education in the philosophical and social sciences, was successfully held at the Kaiyuan Building of Peking University. The seminar was chaired by Professor Liu Yinliang, Director of the Research Centre for Science and Technology Law of Peking University and the main leader of the project. The meeting was attended mainly by members of the subject team, including Professor Ma Caihong, Chief Physician of Peking University Third Hospital, Professor Cong Yali of the School of Medical Humanities, Peking University, Professor Jiang Shu, Long-tenured Associate Professor, He Jian, Long-tenured Associate Professor and Assistant Professor Yu Qi of Peking University Law School, as well as Professor Li Rong of Peking University Third Hospital and Associate Professor Meng Fanzhuang of East China Normal University Law School. The group also invited Professor Sun Dongdong from Peking University Law School as an expert advisor to guide the project.

The experts then reported on the progress of their work and the scientific results they had achieved, in the areas of ART technology, ethics, constitutional and administrative law, civil and criminal law, including the clinical development of ART technology, the ethical aspects of ART application, the substantiation and limitation of reproductive rights as constitutional rights, the civil rights and obligations relationship between ART subjects, and the punishability of non-compliant ART applications.

After gaining a comprehensive understanding of the work of the group, the experts also engaged in lively discussions on a number of topics: (1) the legal nature and status of frozen reproductive materials; (2) the legal liability of prenatal diagnosis and eugenics; and (3) the objectives and priorities and difficulties of legal regulation of ART. The insights of the experts provided constructive guidance for the follow-up research of the project.

Professor Liu Yinliang concluded the working seminar and thanked the experts on behalf of the members of the group for their valuable suggestions on the project research, saying that with the full cooperation of the members of the group, the project would be completed with high quality and efficiency.

Translated by: Han Ping