The Draft Civil Code of the People's Republic of China: English Translation (Prepared by the Legislative Research Group of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)

Since the beginning of 20th century, various attempts have been made by the legal scholars to draft a Civil Code in China.

However, only after 1980s, when the “open-door” policy has been implemented, the Chinese civil law has become the basis for the development of socialist market economy. After the adoption of Chinese contract law (1999), Chinese property Law (2007) and Chinese Tort Law (2009) in recent years, the construction of a socialist civil law system has been basically formulated. For the completion of a systematic civil law structure, a civil code has now been further advocated by the society.

The Draft Civil Code prepared by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences headed by Liang Huixing, is the first draft civil code after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The English translation of this code aims to provide some assessment for the western scholars to get some knowledge about the recent development of Chinese civil law.