Legislation on China's civil code has formally begun in June 2016. At a workshop at the China University of Political Science and Law on 1 November 2016, legal scholars discussed what can be learned from the latest developments in EU Contract Law for drafting this fundamental law for managing civil affairs in China. The workshop entitled “The latest developments of European Contract Law and implications for China’s Civil Code” was co-funded by the China-EU School of Law and the European Union's Jean-Monnet Project. It was organised by Professor Zhang Tong, Jean-Monnet Chair for European Law. Over 30 scholars and 10 postgraduate students from Europe and Beijing participated.

Professor Reiner Schulze, former Dean of the University of Münster Law School, Germany, shed light on the "The latest legislation of European Contract Law and development trends". He outlined that since the 1980s, the most significant trend was the harmonization of European Private Law and European Contract Law. Professor Sun Xianzhong, a deputy to China's National People's Congress and a law professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, gave a talk on the “The development of legislation of a Civil Code in China and the relevant problems”. Amongst further topics discussed were the latest judicial implementations of European Contract Law, theories of Chinese Contract Law, legal norms and relevant judicial practices as well asthe impact of the Constitution on Civil Law.

June 2016 marked the formal beginning of the legislative process for the civil code, which is a collection of laws designed to cover private law. According to the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, there are two steps needed to codify the laws. The first is to legislate the general rules, and the second is to integrate separate existing civil laws into a code, which is expected to be enacted in 2020.

Professor Zhang Tong also holds a China-EU School of Law research grant on this topic. Within this research project, CESL supported the translation of Professor Reiner Schulze’s book “Towards a European Private Law” and Professor Thomas M.J. Möllers’book “Newest developments in European Capital Markets”.

Text by Institute of European Law