Chinese Civil Law Codification

In order to re-establish a legal foundation following the legal chaos of the Cultural Revolution, the People's Republic of China initially sought to regulate specific areas of law through the adoption of individual legislative acts, such as the General Principles of Civil Law (1986), the Contract Law (1999), and the Property Law (2007). Several attempts at a comprehensive codification of civil law initially failed. However, relying on the legislative and practical experience of the preceding decades, the efforts toward codification ultimately came to fruition on 28 May 2020 with the adoption of the Civil Code (民法典) by the National People’s Congress. Entering into force on 1 January 2021, the Civil Code replaced the previous individual laws that had been in place.

Since the development of law in the People's Republic of China is still characterized to a great extent by the reception of continental European civil law and has, in particular, been influenced by the model of German civil law, it is a fruitful field for comparative research:

What problems arise with the application of law in China and which political or social conditions can these problems be attributed to?

How have received legal institutions been modified in comparison to their original models and what considerations support these changes?

Where a legal rule has seemingly remained unchanged in its received form, is it based on the same legislative aim and does it have the same effect in practice?