The People's Republic of China has a type of civil law system led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Although it has roots in the Great Qing Code and various historical systems, the current legal system reflects the influence of continental European legal systems, especially the German civil law system in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and socialist law. Hong Kong and Macau, the two special administrative regions, although required to observe the constitution and the basic laws and the power of the National People's Congress, are able to largely maintain their legal systems from colonial times.
Since the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the country does not have judicial independence or judicial review as the courts do not have authority beyond what is granted to them by the National People's Congress under a system of unified state power. The CCP's Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission maintains effective control over the courts and their personnel.
During the Maoist period (1949–1978), the government had a hostile attitude towards a formalized legal system, because CCP chairman Mao Zedong and the CCP "saw the law as creating constraints upon their power." The legal system was attacked as a counter-revolutionary institution, and the concept of law itself was not accepted. Courts were closed, law schools were shut down and lawyers were forced to change professions or be sent to the countryside.
There was an attempt in the mid-1950s to import a socialist legal system based on that of the Soviet Union. But from the start of the Anti-Rightist Campaign in 1957–1959 to the end of the Cultural Revolution around 1976, the PRC lacked most of the features of what could be described as a formal legal system.
This policy was changed in 1979, and new leader Deng Xiaoping and the CCP put into place an "open door" policy, which took on a utilitarian policy to the reconstruction of the social structure and legal system where the law has been used as useful tool to support economic growth. Proposals to create a system of law separate from the CCP were abandoned after the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. Under the general secretaryship of Xi Jinping, the legal system has become further subordinated to the CCP.
History
China has a tradition of adopting civil law systems. During the Qing dynasty, the Chinese government hired Japanese legal experts to copy legal systems from Japan in order to modernize the Chinese legal system. This stemmed from the German civil law system. After the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911, the Chinese government maintained the civil law system. Although the CCP abolished all legal systems of the ROC after 1949, its legal system was deeply influenced by the legal system of the Soviet Union, which could also be regarded as a civil law system.
The development of the current legal system dates from the late 1970s, after the end of the Cultural Revolution. During the Reform and Opening Up period, the CCP emphasized the rule of law as a basic strategy and method for state management. At the CCP's 13th National Congress in 1987, former CCP general secretary Zhao Ziyang proposed the idea of a system of law independent of the party. The idea was abandoned with the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. In 1997, CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin called for establishing a socialist rule of law at the CCP's 15th National Congress.
On 4 September 1991, China passed the Law of the PRC on Protection of Minors. The law formalised the rights of children under 18 for the first time in China.
In the 2000s, the Weiquan movement began in the PRC, seeking to advance citizens' rights partly by petitioning for enforcement of existing laws, and partly through activism. Lawyers in the movement have seen some court victories, but in other cases they and their families have been ostracized and even tortured for their activities. In 2007, the doctrine of the Three Supremes was introduced under CCP general secretary Hu Jintao, mandating that the judiciary subordinate written law to the interests of the CCP.
On October 27, 2011, the State Council Information Office released the white paper "Socialist Legal System with Chinese Characteristics", announcing that the People's Republic of China has enacted a total of 240 effective laws (including the Constitution), 706 administrative regulations, and more than 8,600 local regulations, and believes that the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics has been formed.
In 2014, the CCP formally adopted a policy of constructing a "socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics." CCP general secretary Xi Jinping describes the leadership of the CCP as essential to upholding the socialist rule of law and opposes judicial independence. During the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the CCP reinforced that the law remains firmly under the party's leadership. Xi states that the two fundamental aspects of the "socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics" are: (1) that the political and legal organs (including courts, the police, and the procuratorate) must believe in the law and uphold the law and (2) all political and legal officials must follow the CCP. Xi's view tends to equate the rule of law with the development of legislation. In his writings, Xi has emphasized traditional Chinese concepts including people as the root of the state (mingben), "the ideal of no lawsuit" (tianxia wusong), "respecting rite and stressing law" (longli zhongfa), "virtue first, penalty second" (dezhu xingfu), and "promoting virtue and being prudent in punishment" (mingde shenfa).
The primary laws regarding personal data security and privacy are the 2017 Cyber Security Law, the 2021 Data Security Law, and the 2021 Personal Information Protection Law.
In 2019, the city of Hangzhou established a pilot program artificial intelligence-based Internet Court to adjudicate disputes related to ecommerce and internet-related intellectual property claims. Parties appear before the court via videoconference and AI evaluates the evidence presented and applies relevant legal standards.
Legal system Governmental directives exist in a hierarchy, which is defined by the Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China. The hierarchy of regulations are The Constitution of the People's Republic of China Nationwide laws (全国性法律), which are issued by the National People's Congress Administrative regulations, which are issued by the State Council Local decrees, which are issued by local People's Congresses Administrative and local rules, which are issued by an administrative agency or by a local People's Government
Major areas of law are substantive laws and procedural laws. The former include administrative law, criminal law, civil law or business law, and economic law. These are separated into different branches. For example, contract law is considered a branch of civil law. The latter includes civil procedure law, criminal procedure law and administrative procedure law.
Sources of law The highest and ultimate source of legal norms in the country is nominally the state constitution. It establishes the framework and principles of government, and lists the fundamental rights and duties of Chinese citizens. In practice, however, although these "fundamental rights" include "freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration" the enforcement of these rights and other elements of the Constitution are subject to the discretion of the CCP's leadership. According to China analyst John Dotson, "[w]hile CCP policy documents are always more important than formal PRC law, the Party-state does use formal laws passed by the National People’s Congress to codify and emphasize Party policies."
Unlike some civil law jurisdictions such as Germany, China does not systematically lay down general principles in its constitution which all administrative regulations and rules must follow. The principles of legislation and the validity and priority of law, rule and administrative regulations are instead listed in the Legislation Law, constitutional provisions, basic laws and laws enacted by the National People's Congress and its standing committee, regulations issued by the State Council and its departments, local laws and regulations, autonomous-zone regulations, legal explanations and treaty norms are all in theory incorporated into domestic law immediately upon promulgation.
Unlike common law jurisdictions, there is no strict precedential concept for case law and no principle of stare decisis. In addition, there is no case or controversy requirement that would require the Supreme People's Court to limit its decisions to actual cases, and the SPC does issue general interpretations of the law. In practice, lower people's court judges attempt to follow the interpretations of the laws decided by the Supreme People's Court. In addition, unlike common law jurisdictions, higher courts have the power of supervision and guidance, which means that on their own initiative they can reopen a case that has been decided at a lower level.
Courts in the PRC do not have a general power of judicial review which enables them to strike down legislation. However under the Administrative Procedure Law of the People's Republic of China, they do have authority to invalidate specific acts of the government. In cases where there is a conflict of laws, the process to resolve this conflict is outlined in the Legislation Law of the People's Republic of China, in which an interpretation is requested by the legislative body that is responsible for the law. This process has been criticized both by Western and Chinese legal scholars for being unwieldy and for not allowing for judicial independence and separation of powers.
Judiciary
Law enforcement
Legal profession The Ministry of Justice governs the prison and Laogai, and it mainly focuses on regulation of the legal profession. Historically the legal profession has been insignificant in the PRC. In the late 1970s, there were no more than a couple of hundred practicing lawyers. Since the 1980s, as China's leadership became cognizant of the importance of the legal system and legal profession to advance economic development, training for lawyers dramatically increased. From 1986 to 1992, the number of lawyers in the country more than doubled from 21,500 to 45,000, and by 2008 had reached 143,000.People's Daily Online. "China has more than 143,000 lawyers" , 16 April 2008.
As of 2012 an oath pledging loyalty to the CCP is required of new and re-licensed Chinese lawyers:I swear to faithfully fulfill the sacred mission of legal workers in socialism with Chinese characteristics. I swear my loyalty to the motherland, to the people, to uphold the leadership of the Communist Party of China and the socialist system, and to protect the dignity of the Constitution and laws.司法部下发建立律师宣誓制度决定的通知 进入律师队伍必须进行宣誓 Ministry of Justice, P.R.C. accessed March 23, 2012CCP general secretary Xi Jinping encourages legal professionals to selectively incorporate aspects of traditional Chinese law into their modern approaches.
Due to the growing sophistication of Chinese laws, the expansion of the rule of law, as well as an influx of foreign law firms, China has also begun to develop a legal-services market. Foreign lawyers have accompanied foreign capital and their clients to China, which has had an immense influence on the promulgation of new Chinese laws based on international norms, especially in regards to intellectual property and corporate and securities law.
In August 2026, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress revised the Law on Lawyers, enhancing legal protections for attorneys against interference from state agencies while explicitly mandating loyalty to the Chinese Communist Party.
Civil law