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Two Sessions 2020
ChinaPolitics

After six decades, countdown to vote on China’s draft civil code

  • Legislation expected to bring together a range of laws under one umbrella and go to a vote on Thursday
  • Proposed code to underscore Beijing’s commitment to private property but the key to its success will be enforcement, analyst says

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The National People’s Congress will vote on a civil code this week. Photo: Xinhua via AP
William Zheng
A six-decade legislative marathon is coming to a close, with China’s lawmakers preparing to vote on a draft civil code that observers said would reaffirm Beijing’s commitment to people’s property rights.
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On Monday, nearly 3,000 deputies of the National People’s Congress, the country’s top legislature, assembled at the Great Hall of the People to scrutinise the draft legislation described as a centrepiece of the legal reforms undertaken by President Xi Jinping. The NPC deputies will cast their votes on the draft at the closing session of their annual meeting on Thursday.

On Friday, NPC vice-chairman Wang Chen said the draft would directly affect the lives of the country’s 1.4 billion people.

The new law, which covers property, contracts, personal rights, marriage and family, inheritance and torts, has received nearly 900,000 public comments since the NPC started its annual session last week. Most comments focused on issues such as renewal of land leases and how to handle divorces.

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Wang Jiangyu, director of the centre for Chinese and comparative law at City University of Hong Kong, said that while the new civil code was largely an amalgamation of existing laws, its passage would “send a strong message to China’s private sector about [Beijing’s] political will to protect private rights and property”.

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“While China seems to be tightening up on the political front, the enactment of the civil code in China’s most watched political event can still be seen as the Chinese government’s reaffirmation of respect for and protection of private property, a principle that was first officially enshrined in [2008],” Wang said.

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