Decodification of the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China

This book discusses the codification and decodification of private law in the Chinese context with a specific focus on property management services contracts as a distinct example within the broader category of supply of services contracts.

The book begins by contextualizing codification and decodification within the current literature and legislative developments at the global level. It then turns to the Chinese Civil Code, using property management services contracts as a case study of its decodification. It assesses these contracts both within the Chinese legal system and through a comparative law lens, using the Roman law model of lease and hire and Hong Kong law. The book argues that, due to significant decodification present at the very moment of promulgation, the Civil Code failed to achieve its goal of ensuring coherence in China’s private law system.

These insights will interest scholars of comparative law, Chinese law, Roman law and contract law, as well as policymakers and lawmakers discussing strategies for regulation and transformations of law in other jurisdictions.