General Theory of Private International Law of China

Author: Li Shuangyuan et al.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-18
Features: The "General Theory of Private International Law of China" ( edition) has received widespread acclaim in academia since its publication in 1996, having been reprinted several times but now long out of print. Moreover, with the continuous expansion of international exchanges, the further deepening of China's reform and opening-up, the formation of the "One Country, Four Legal Systems," and China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China has become the fourth-largest economy after the European Union, the United States, and Japan. International civil and commercial relationships have become more developed and complex than seven years ago, and the role of private international law in the legal system has greatly increased. The theoretical research work of private international law, as well as domestic legislation and judicial practice, have also made greater progress. Therefore, we decided to make major revisions to the original book.
First, this second edition further highlights the content and characteristics of China. Looking back at the seven years since the first edition of this book, it is undeniable that China's private international law has made encouraging progress and development in all aspects, including theoretical research, legislation, judicial and arbitration practice. These advancements are not only consistent with the progress of China's reform and opening-up but also align with the contemporary process of globalization. The progress of China's private international law in the aforementioned areas reflects, to some extent, the strengthening of the rule of law in China and the comprehensive revitalization of the legal culture of the Chinese nation. This is the primary motivation for the second edition to devote more attention to these aspects and provide more detailed discussions.
Second, the original edition of this book was supplemented on the basis of the book "Private International Law of China," which was used as a teaching material for law schools in 1990. It remained largely within the framework of a textbook, as evidenced by the dominant proportion of introductory content. This second edition significantly increases the components of theoretical elaboration, evaluation, and discussion, making it more academic, argumentative, and enlightening. Moreover, since these theoretical elaborations, evaluations, and discussions are based on the perspective and stance of Chinese scholars of private international law, they embody many of our own research insights and theoretical viewpoints, thereby greatly enhancing the distinctive characteristics of China and the personalized features of the second edition.
Third, the second edition not only replaces outdated content from the first edition in terms of private international law legislation both within and outside China, as well as international treaties, international customs, and foreign doctrines, but also supplements a considerable amount of very new material. For this revision, we first added a large number of new domestic and international legislative achievements and theoretical research, addressing the shortcomings of the original book and current similar works. This includes the addition of China's "Contract Law," "Special Procedures of Maritime Litigation," "Regulations on the Administration of Technology Import and Export," "Trust Law," and the newly amended "Adoption Law," "Patent Law," "Trademark Law," "Copyright Law," "Regulations on the Protection of Integrated Circuit Layouts," "Regulations on the Protection of Computer Software," and "Law of the Joint Venture between Chinese and Foreign Enterprises." We also added recent judicial interpretations issued by the Supreme People's Court of China concerning judicial assistance, interregional judicial cooperation, jurisdiction over foreign civil and commercial cases, and commercial arbitration, as well as content on interregional legal conflicts, interregional judicial cooperation, and the recognition and enforcement of interregional arbitral awards. Additionally, we introduced the content of the 2000 "Model Law on Private International Law of China," drafted by the Chinese Society of Private International Law, on certain legal issues, further highlighting the distinctive features of this book as "Private International Law of China."
In terms of international legal sources, we added provisions from the 2000 "Incoterms," several conventions passed by the Hague Conference on Private International Law in recent years, the 1999 draft "Hague Convention on Jurisdiction, Applicable Law, and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments," and the 2000 Council of the European Union "Regulation on Jurisdiction and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters." In the analysis of foreign private international law legislation, we reviewed new international private international law legislation from a series of countries such as Louisiana, Quebec, Romania, Italy, the United Kingdom, Vietnam, Liechtenstein, Venezuela, Tunisia, Belarus, and Germany, as well as new arbitration rules from domestic and international arbitration institutions. We also reflected the latest developments in "Dicey and Morris on Conflict of Laws" (13th edition) and "Chisholm and North on Private International Law" (13th edition). We supplemented our own analyses on topics such as reconstructing the international order of civil and commercial law in the context of globalization, the relationship between conflict justice and substantial justice, the impact of the application of "Intemt" on traditional connecting factors and applicable laws in conflict of laws, reasonable restrictions on the application of the lex fori, and legal issues of EDI in international trade. However, to avoid excessive expansion of, some content was also deleted.
Finally, it is also worth emphasizing that the second edition has made appropriate adjustments to the structure of the first edition. For example, the chapter on bankruptcy was revised and incorporated into the part on property rights, and the entire book is divided into five parts, enhancing the organization and hierarchical structure of the content. All of these improvements should significantly contribute to the quality of this book.