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Recent developments in legal and social theory have rendered it necessary to define what we mean by justice and rule of law. Marcelo Neves has contributed to the theory of a rule of law state, for instance, by assessing the merits of Habermasian thought using, a. o., tools of the social systems theory. In this article I will discuss the problem, identified by Neves, that a rule of law state does not always emerge naturally. He talks about the deficiences known in 'peripheric modernity'. As regards development studies, legal issues have made their way onto the agendas since rule of law, democracy and human rights are relevant for realizing almost any social development goal. I will discuss the recent developments on a global level by using materials also from law and development studies. Even more than the Rawlsian or Habermasian concept of justice, the work of Amartya Sen has been influential in these debates. Sen has presented his pragmatic and comparative view about justice as an alternative to the comprehensive theoretical models which cannot be met in the context of the developing countries. The role of rule of law and justice in the development of the societies is further underlined when taken into account of the grand challenges of today. In this article we discuss the role of rule of law as part of UN Sustainable Development Goals (Agenda 2030) and also present the work done by the so-called Venice Commission in this area. One important observation is that the rule of law needs to be embedded in the culture of the society. We face a paradox: in order for the law to work properly, we need to develop a non-instrumental approach towards it

China is increasingly aware of the role and potential it can have to influence the world development. This has led it to reconsider and develop foreign policies, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) being a new flagship of them. The economic tone in China’s foreign policy has given it a soft flavor.