Characteristic Features of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

One of the most important events in the history of modern Chinese law was the adoption of the first Civil Code by the National People’s Congress in 2020 and its entry into force in 2021. The work on the code has been going on for a considerable amount of time; its appearance was preceded by several unsuccessful attempts at codification. The paper argues that the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China is based on the provisions of the continental, general, socialist and traditional Chinese law. Using the method of comparative legal analysis, the features of the structure and content of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China were revealed. In particular, a number of provisions related to the digitalization of the economy are highlighted, which can be recommended to be used by the domestic legislator to improve the legislation of Russia. It is argued that although structurally the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China has original features, it is grounded on the German Civil Code. It is concluded that the section of the code devoted to the property law to the greatest extent reflects the state system existing in the People’s Republic of China. It has also been proven that a number of norms on legal entities and on organizations that do not have the status of a legal entity are formulated based on the traditions of Chinese society.