Abstract: This essay presents the current situation of Contract Law in the People’s Republic of China. First, it demonstrates why, before the end of the Qing Dynasty, no Chinese statute on contracts existed. It then sketches the introduction of a Civil Code in the Kuomintang period, as well as the situation in the first decades of the People’s Republic and the genesis of the Contract Act of 15 March 1999. This Act, in anticipation of a Civil Code, encompasses common Contract Law. It consists of two parts: the provisions on contractual obligations on the one hand and those on specific contracts on the other. This essay briefly deals with a number of important notions (such as the freedom of contract, good faith, public policy, nullities, rescission, force majeure, etc.). This indicates that Contract Law in China belongs to the German Legal Family, with some inroads of international uniform law. The paper devotes some attention to the problem of translation into Chinese of Western legal notions. The Common Law has had virtually no influence on the Law of 15 March 1999. Comparative law teaches us that we therefore should be cautious with English language treatises on the Chinese Act. Finally, the paper suggests that the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party, and possibly also Confucian doctrine, may provide the law of contracts with an autonomous character.
Résumé: Cet article porte sur le droit des contrats de la République Populaire de Chine, offrant tout d’abord une perspective historique précédant la genèse de la Loi sur les contrats de 1999. Sont passées en revue des notions juridiques centrales telles que la liberté contractuelle, la bonne foi, l’ordre public, les nullités, et la force majeure. L’auteur constate que le droit des contrats chinois puise son inspiration dans la tradition juridique allemande, le droit anglo-américain n’ayant que peu d’influence.
European Review of Private Law