Ma Xinmin is a member of the International Law Commission. He previously served as Legal Adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, where he practiced extensively in public international law and the law of the sea. In that capacity, he acted as Agent for China before the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and led Chinese delegations in a wide range of international conferences and treaty negotiations. Prior to that, as legal expert at the Sino-British Joint Liaison Group in Hong Kong, he was intimately involved in negotiating the legal arrangements for the handover of Hong Kong and the related constitutional affairs.
His professional experience in international legal and diplomatic affairs includes service as Chinese Ambassador to Sudan, Deputy Legal Adviser of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Legal Adviser at the Chinese Embassy in the United States. He also served as Vice-Chair of the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, a Member of the Bureau of the BBNJ Preparatory Committee, Vice-Chair of the Assembly of the Annual Session of the International Seabed Authority. Currently, he is Vice President of the Chinese Society of International Law, and previously served as Vice President of the Chinese Society of the Law of the Sea and the Asian Society of International Law.
Mr. Ma is the author of numerous scholarly publications in international law, with particular emphasis on United Nations law, the law of state immunity, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and the law of the sea. He has also edited several academic volumes and contributed chapters to edited books.