Publications
The Centre's research findings are regularly featured in academic publications, including the Journal of Chinese Law (ZChinR), monographs, and edited volumes on developments in Chinese law.
German Journal of Chinese Law (ZChinR)
The Journal of Chinese Law, published quarterly, features analyses, translations of current Chinese legislation, conference reports, and reviews on Chinese law. It is published by the German-Chinese Association of Jurists (DCJV) in collaboration with the Sino-German Institute for Legal Studies (DCIR) and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law, under the editorship of the German Deputy Director of the Sino-German Institute. The editors of the journal are assisted by an academic advisory committee whose membership includes Knut Benjamin Pißler. Since 2025, the Journal of Chinese Law has been published entirely open access.
Handbuch des chinesischen Zivilrechts
Published in May 2025, the ‘Handbuch des chinesischen Zivilrechts’ (Handbook of Chinese Civil Law), edited by Knut Benjamin Pißler, is the first German-language work to provide a comprehensive overview of the newly codified Chinese civil law that incorporates not only the legislation and case law but also the judicial interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC).
Chinesisches Familien- und Kindschaftsrecht nach dem neuen Zivilgesetzbuch
With a comprehensive revision of the country report on China, Knut Benjamin Pißler and Thomas von Hippel, a family law judge at the Hamburg-Blankenese District Court, have updated the standard reference work ‘Internationales Ehe- und Kindschaftsrecht mit Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht (International Family Law and the Law of Citizenship). Particular attention was paid to the reforms brought by the enactment of the Civil Code on 1 January 2021 as well as by the judicial interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court.
Dieter Henrich, Alexander Bergmann, Murad Ferid, Anatol Dutta, Hans-Georg Ebert (eds.), Internationales Ehe- und Kindschaftsrecht mit Staatsangehörigkeitsrecht, ###. Lf., Verlag für Standesamtswesen, Frankfurt am Main 2026.
Schriften zum chinesischen Recht
Since 2008, the head of the Centre of Expertise has, together with other members of the German-Chinese Association of Jurists (DCJV), been responsible for publication of the series ‘Schriften zum chinesischen Recht’. The series includes monographs and collections of articles authored by scholars from Germany and abroad, addressing selected issues in Chinese private, commercial, and procedural law as well as comparative assessments of developments in Chinese Law.