Jurists highlight preparations for implementing China's Civil Code

BEIJING -- China must make preparations for implementing the country's Civil Code, which will come into force on Jan. 1, 2021, a group of renowned jurists said at a news briefing of the State Council Information Office in Beijing on July 31.

The Civil Code is a fundamental law of the socialist market economy, and it is of great significance to modernizing China's system and capacity for governance, said Zhang Wenxian, chairman of the Academic Committee of the China Law Society.

Certain individual civil laws, such as the property law, the tort liability law, and the marriage law, will be replaced after the Civil Code is implemented, with relevant judicial interpretations to be cleared up, said Sun Xianzhong, a member of the Academic Committee of the China Law Society.

Sun noted that authorities, including the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, are working to improve those judicial interpretations.

There is a seven-month preparation period from the promulgation to implementation of the Civil Code, said Zhang, adding that the legislature will clear up those laws and regulations that are inconsistent with the principles of the Civil Code over that period.

The legislature will also clarify the meaning of legal provisions and the legal basis for their application during the period, Zhang said.

Meanwhile, the judicial organs should improve relevant civil judicial interpretations to make them consistent with the Civil Code, and administrative organs should standardize their management and law-enforcement activities according to the Civil Code, Zhang said.

Zhang also called for intensive efforts to inform the general public about the Civil Code.

The Civil Code was passed at the third session of the 13th National People's Congress on May 28.