Startseite The ‘law of code’: the EU and China’s converging legal discourse on regulating algorithms
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The ‘law of code’: the EU and China’s converging legal discourse on regulating algorithms

  • Sara Migliorini ORCID logo EMAIL logo und Chitian Wang ORCID logo
Veröffentlicht/Copyright: 12. Juni 2025
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Abstract

This article examines the converging regulatory landscape for artificial intelligence, particularly algorithms, in the European Union and China. It explores how these jurisdictions influence each other in their regulatory approach and suggests that various factors enable significant convergence in the legal discourse and policy in this area. In particular, the article describes how these jurisdictions have increasingly recognised algorithms as primary objects of regulation and have adopted similar language and rules. The article analyses recent legislative texts on three subjects: the principle of transparency, automated decision-making and algorithmic recommendation systems. The study also reveals notable divergences between the two that are rooted in their distinct socio-political contexts, complicating the straightforward transplant of regulatory models. The article situates the analysis within the broader literature on legal convergence and emphasises the complexities of transposing legal rules across jurisdictions. Ultimately, this study highlights the need for a nuanced understanding of convergence and divergence in the legal discourse concerning AI and algorithms, complementing the literature comparing the approaches of Chinese and EU lawmakers to the regulation of technology.


Corresponding author: Sara Migliorini, Faculty of Law, University of Macau, Macau, China, E-mail:

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Received: 2024-11-25
Accepted: 2025-03-19
Published Online: 2025-06-12
Published in Print: 2025-06-26

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