The Making of the Chinese Civil Code: Promises and Persistent Problems

The Chinese Civil Code (2020) is the first ever Civil Code in mainland China since 1949. In addition to the consolidation of existing civil legislations, the Code incorporated a number of doctrinal and structural changes that are significant both in and beyond China. The chapters in this volume demonstrate the extent of European influence in Chinese Civil Law and also shows how Chinese law innovates upon those influences. The book shares the insights from both the key Chinese scholars who were directly involved in the drafting process and veteran Western scholars who study Chinese private law.

Table of Contents:
1. The making of a civil code in China: promises and perils of a new civil law Hao Jiang; 2. Personality rights in China's new civil code: a response to increasing awareness of rights in an era of evolving technology Liming Wang and Bingwan Xiong; 3. Force majeure or change of circumstances: an enduring dichotomy in Chinese law? Qiao Liu; 4. Art. 580 (2) of the Chinese civil code: can the Chinese folk medicine cure serious illness? Shiyuan Han; 5. Contractual consent in the new Chinese civil code Catherine Valcke; 6. The security interests in Chinese law: some nuances Lei Chen; 7. Chinese tort law in the era of the civil code Chunyan Ding; 8. Causation in the Chinese civil code: a comparative law appraisal Marta Infantino and Weiwei Wang; 9. The aims of tort law across China and the west Mauro Bussani; 10. Classifying the passive appreciation of separate property during marriage in the Chinese civil code: a legal and economic analysis Jian He; 11. The rule of law in traditional China James Gordley; 12. The private law influence of the great Qing code Taisu Zhang; 13. The new validity rules in Chinese civil code and Chinese state-owned enterprises' freedom in contracting: one step too far Hao Jiang and Antonia von Appen; 14. Chinese civil law and soviet influences: what is left? Gianmaria Ajani; 15. The connections between roman law and Chinese civil law: traditions, innovations and environmental protection Enrico Toti; Index.

About the Author :
Hao Jiang is Assistant Professor of Comparative Private Law at Bocconi University. He has written about Chinese, European and American private law from a comparative perspective. He also writes about contract theory. With James Gordley, he co-authored the Introduction to the Comparative Study of Private Law (2021). Pietro Sirena is Professor of Civil Law, European Private Law, and Comparative Private Law at Bocconi University, where, since 2018, he serves as Dean of the Law School. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the European Law Institute (ELI) and as Director of the Società Italiana per la Ricerca nel Diritto Comparato (SIRD). In 2022, he was elected President of the Society of European Contract Law (SECOLA); in 2018, membre associé of the Académie International de Droit Comparé (AIDC).

Review :
'In this fascinating book, scholars from various jurisdictions shed their light on numerous legal aspects of the Chinese Civil Code of 2021, the most important private law codification of the last decades. They do so by examining the doctrinal changes made through a comparative law lens and thereby taking a closer look at the ideological, historical, sociological, and philosophical dimensions of the new Chinese Civil Code.' Andre Janssen, Chair Professor of Private Law, Radboud University Nijmegen 'The editors and authors of the book are eminent experts in comparative law and Chinese civil law. The topics on which they have contributed reflect many of the basic issues of the Civil Code. The work is therefore an indispensable tool for every scholar and practitioner engaged in Chinese private law.' Knut Benjamin Pissler, Research Fellow, Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg and Professor for Chinese Law, University of Göttingen 'This excellent book is a fascinating and comprehensive discussion of the key features of the new Chinese Civil Code. Written by leading scholars from East and West who are experts in comparative law and legal history, it offers an in-depth analysis of the approach to codification in China, a country that has experienced unprecedented economic growth while retaining several features of socialist legal systems. Personality rights, property, torts, and contracts are all covered to reveal the characteristics of each area of law in China, while providing a brilliant comparative perspective with other legal systems.' Michele Graziadei, Full Professor of Comparative Law, University of Torino 'This book will be an invaluable scholarly resource to anyone engaging with the new Chinese Civil Code. It explores this hugely important enactment both from within, as a matter of Chinese law, and from a broader comparative perspective. In doing so, it contextualises the Chinese Civil Code - its historical evolution, its relationship with other systems, and its contribution to solving modern legal problems in the 21st century. The editors are to be congratulated on bringing together such a stellar line-up of authors to produce this timely and very impressive collection.' Birke Häcker, Schlegel Chair in Civil Law, Common Law and Comparative Law, University of Bonn