Bulgarian-Chinese seminar on white-collar crime

On 24 April 2026, a Bulgarian–Chinese academic seminar dedicated to whitecollar crime in Bulgaria and China was held. The event brought together scholars from the Institute for the State and the Law at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS), faculty members from the Law Faculties of Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski” and Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”, as well as representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria. On the Chinese side, participants included attorneys from two leading law firms: Capital Equity Legal Group (CELG) and Shanghai Jinghuheng Law Firm.

The seminar was conducted in a hybrid format and was moderated by Asen Velinov, Director of the Center for Business and Law at Wenzhou Kean University, and Jing Lei, Director of the International Legal Committee at CELG.

The trends in the development of Chinese legislation concerning whitecollar crime and the specific features of such offences were presented by:

• Chen Youxi – Founding Partner and Chairman of the Board of Directors, CELG
• Zhang Qingjun – Senior Partner and Director, Shanghai Jinghuheng Law Firm

The procedural issues, evidentiary challenges, and successful defence strategies used by the Chinese attorneys were discussed by:

• Hu Xiyan – Senior Partner and Deputy Director, Shanghai Jinghuheng Law Firm
• Yang Bing – Senior Partner and Deputy Director, CELG Shanghai Office
• Wang Wenwen – Director of the North America Legal Department and the International Criminal Law Department, CELG Shanghai Office

The Bulgarian legal framework was presented by:

• Chief Assist. Prof. Iveta Vuleva-Topakbashyan, PhD, BAS: Introduction to Bulgarian Criminal Law
• Chief Assist. Prof. Ognyan Velev, PhD, BAS: WhiteCollar Crime – Criminological Aspects. Bribery
• Assoc. Prof. Iva Pushkarova, PhD, Sofia University “St. Kl. Ohridski”: WhiteCollar Crime under Bulgarian Criminal Law
• Prof. Gergana Marinova, Doctor of Juridical Sciences, BAS: Introduction to Bulgarian Criminal Procedure
• PhD Candidate Antoniy Gatov, BAS: Collection of Evidence in WhiteCollar Crime Cases
• Chief Assist. Hristo Kutiev, Plovdiv University “Paisii Hilendarski”: Challenges to the Defence in WhiteCollar Crime Cases
• Sava Petrov, Prosecutor at the Supreme Cassation Prosecutor’s Office: International Legal Cooperation in WhiteCollar Crime Cases

We include here the presentation of Chief Assist. Prof. Maria Mihaylova, PhD, BAS: Bribery in the Private Sector.

The participants agreed that whitecollar crime is becoming increasingly complex, affects many different spheres of social life and poses growing challenges to traditional evidentiary law.