Incorporation Control of Standard Terms: The Approaches of Chinese Civil Code

With the advantages of governing an enormous range of transactions and improving the efficiency, standard terms are increasingly being applied to commercial transactions nowadays. The standard terms refer to the non-negotiated terms presented to consumers on a take-it-or-leave-it basis and the incorporation control refers to whether the standard terms can become a part of the contract. In this paper, the author adopts the article analysis method, the comparative study method and the case analysis method to interpret the Chinese latest legislation on the incorporation control of standard terms. According to Article 496(2) of the Civil Code of the Peoples Republic of China, the incorporation control includes following five elements: (1) determining rights and obligations in accordance with the principle of fairness, (2) the providers obligation of calling attention, (3) the providers obligation of giving explanations, (4) the commitment of the counterparty, (5) the legal effect of violating the incorporation control.