Consumer Jurisdiction and Choice of Law Rules in European and Chinese Private International Law

Abstract

This article compares consumer jurisdiction and choice of law issues in China and the EU. It aims to answer the following questions. What is the notion of consumer? Are farmers, package travel tourists and timeshare tourists consumers? Are dual-purpose contracts consumer contracts? Is a consumer jurisdiction rule needed in China and if yes, under what ground and with what conditions? Is choice of court agreement in consumer contracts valid? How to limit the exercise of party autonomy and what role mandatory provisions may play? Shall consumer contract and tort claims be subject to the same applicable law? Based on a comparative analysis with European law, this article concludes that to improve cross-border consumer protection, China should reform its law to include package travel contracts and timeshare contracts into consumer contracts and determine the nature of dual-purpose contracts pursuant to their primary purpose. Moreover, the current limitation on party autonomy should be lifted by providing freedom to both parties and relying on mandatory provisions as a safety valve. The consumer choice of law rule and its interaction with the general contract choice of law and tort choice of law rule needs to be reexamined.