The Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China: Major Features and Contributions to the World

Abstract

After decades of preparation, China ultimately enacted the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China, and this Code exerts significant influence on the international community. The Code is distinguished from civil codes of other countries by its philosophy of codification, structure, systems, principles, and specific provisions. Revolving around civil rights stipulated in the Civil Code, this article selects and analyzes a portion of provisions to throw light on the real right system’s characteristics of the era and of China. This paper aims to underline the importance of laying special emphasis on maintaining personal dignity, and discuss the necessity of actively adapting laws for the development of extensive IT application. This paper sets forth how the part on contracts functions as general provisions of the part on the law of obligations and how the part on tort liability protects all the rights enshrined in the preceding six parts, as well as the ensuing advantages. This paper also clarifies the features of the Civil Code, and summarizes the unique contributions made by the Civil Code to the world.