Marco Germanò, Doctoral Researcher at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, joins Dr. Monika Prusinowska —Ramon y Cajal Fellow at the University of Barcelona's Public International Law Department, who serves as guest host for this episode— to discuss the role of lawyers and law firms in channeling Chinese investment into Latin America. Drawing on his research in Brazil and Mexico, Marco examines how large Anglo-American law firms historically served as indispensable intermediaries between Chinese capital and local legal frameworks, and how that model is shifting: Chinese law firms are gaining ground, Chinese companies are building in-house legal teams on the ground, and Latin American firms are investing in China expertise through China desks, specialist hires, and direct partnerships with Chinese counterparts. The conversation also covers the cultural and communication challenges that persist in these interactions —from language barriers to differences in decision-making—, the state of academic exchanges between law schools in China, Brazil, and Mexico, and the evolving landscape of dispute resolution, where Chinese arbitration institutions such as CIETAC are beginning to challenge the dominance of traditional seats in London, New York, and Paris.
This episode is the result of a collaboration between Fundación Andrés Bello, the Public International Law Department of the University of Barcelona, and the Cologne International Forum.
About the guests:
- Marco Germanò is a Doctoral Researcher (S.J.D.) at the University of Toronto and a Research Affiliate at New York University School of Law. His work draws on socio-legal methods and theories of transnational legal ordering to examine how technological change reshapes legal and epistemic authority in global governance. He has held academic and professional positions at the United Nations, the International Law Commission, the University of São Paulo, and Brazil's Institute for Applied Economic Research, among other institutions. Prior to joining Toronto, he worked on research projects on Chinese investment in Latin America as a Yenching Scholar at Peking University, a CECHIMEX Fellow at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, and a Research Associate at the University of Oxford.
- Dr. Monika Prusinowska is a Ramon y Cajal Fellow at the Public International Law Department of the University of Barcelona. Her professional perspective has been shaped by nearly a decade of experience in China, where she worked at the China-EU School of Law at the China University of Political Science and Law, served as foreign counsel at one of the country's largest law firms, collaborated with Asian arbitration institutions, and was a research associate with the Oxford University China, Law and Development Project. Her research focuses on the legal connections between China and the rest of the world, covering dispute resolution, the legal implications of Chinese foreign investment, and China's role in the energy transition. She currently co-leads, together with Dr. Daniel Sprick, a research project on the legal ramifications of Chinese investment presence in Latin America. She serves as Vice-President of the Board of the European China Law Studies Association.
Marco Germanò's recommendations:
- Chinese Law and Development: Cases from the Global South — a casebook edited by Matthew Rewi (University of Oxford) bringing together case studies on Chinese cross-border deals across multiple Global South jurisdictions. Available in open access.
- The Vegetarian — a novel by Han Kang, South Korean author. It follows a woman who decides to stop eating meat and the consequences that decision sets in motion across her personal and family life.
Recording date: July 10, 2025
Café & Seda is a podcast sponsored by the Fundación Andrés Bello – Centro de Investigación Chino Latinoamericano
