The Roles of Academic Views and Social News in the Making of the Chinese Civil Code

Till now, the Chinese legislature has gone through four drafts of Books on Property and Contract, and five drafts of Books on Personality Rights and Tort Liabilities. Among major changes to pre-existing separate legislation over the past 20 years, two factors are worth mentioning, namely, academic views and news on social issues. Specifically, academic views took the main role in codifying Books on Property and Contract, exemplified by the expansion of the numerus clausus list with the right of habitation, by the loosening of the rules on the creation and transfer of charge, by the reiteration of the principle of separation, and by the placing of negotiorum gestio and unjust enrichment. By contrast, news on social issues acted as drivers within the process of codifying Books on Personality Rights and Tort Liabilities, exemplified by the legal responses to artificial intelligence, hidden camera and gene editing, and by the limit of the controversial ‘fair liability’. The talk will give a doctrinal and comparative analysis on these modifications, and try to explore some underlying reasons that are special to China.