The conditionality of human rights is a very provoking issue in international economic relations. It should be applied under the guidelines of legitimacy, legality, credibility, and proportionality. The EU is enthusiastic about human rights conditionality. However, it is hard to say that the EU’s program of human rights conditionality has worked well in practice. Some main multilateral economic institutions, which had been criticized for disregarding human rights concerns, have remained shy to human rights conditionality. As an increasingly emerging economic giant, China will be expected to have some sort of obligation to better respect, better protect and better promote international human rights. China can accept human rights conditionality in a moderate way.

Human Rights Conditionality and International Economic Relations
  Ⅰ. Introduction
  Ⅱ. Human Rights Conditionality in International Economic Relations: The EU and Multilateral Economic Institutions
  Ⅲ. Human Rights Conditionality in Chinese International Economic Relations: Basic Contexts
  Ⅳ. Human Rights Conditionality in Chinese International Economic Relations: Current Attitude and Future Choices
  Ⅴ. Conclusions

• Congyan Cai(Associate professor of international law at the Xiamen University School of Law, China)