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The 2020 Civil Code of the PRC

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The 2020 Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China is the first unified civil code in PRC history. Adopted at the Third Session of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress on 28 May 2020, it entered into force on 1 January 2021, replacing nine separate civil laws. The Code represents a milestone in Chinese legal development, providing comprehensive regulation of private law relations.

Legislative History

The project to codify Chinese civil law was announced in October 2014. A three-step process was followed: first, amending the General Principles of Civil Law (2017); second, drafting individual books (2018-2019); third, compiling all books into a unified code (2020). Multiple draft versions were published for public comment, with tens of thousands of comments received. The process reflected the NPC’s commitment to broad consultation.

The 2019 Foreign Investment Law

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Foreign Investment Law of the People’s Republic of China (中华人民共和国外商投资法) was adopted on 15 March 2019 and entered into force on 1 January 2020. It replaced the three existing laws governing foreign investment: the Law on Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, the Law on Sino-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures, and the Law on Wholly Foreign-Owned Enterprises. The Law represents a fundamental reform of China’s foreign investment legal framework, moving from a case-by-case approval system to a negative list approach with national treatment.

Chinese Criminal Law Under the 1997 Criminal Code

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China is codified in the 1997 Criminal Code, which replaced the 1979 Criminal Code as part of the comprehensive reform of Chinese criminal justice. The 1997 Code substantially revised and expanded criminal law, codifying crimes previously defined in separate regulations, introducing the principle of legality, and rationalising the system of punishments. The Code has been amended 11 times since 1997, with the amendments progressively expanding the scope of criminalisation, adjusting penalties, and responding to emerging forms of criminality.

The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (2020)

Sun, 05 Jul 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, adopted on 28 May 2020 and effective from 1 January 2021, is the first unified civil code in the history of the People’s Republic. It replaced nine separate civil laws enacted over four decades, including the General Principles of Civil Law (1986), the Contract Law (1999), the Property Law (2007), the Tort Liability Law (2009), and the Marriage Law, Adoption Law, Inheritance Law, and other specialised statutes. The Code represents the culmination of decades of civil law development and stands as a landmark in Chinese legal history.