THE CODIFICATION OF CIVIL LAW IN THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA (GENERAL PROVISIONS): HISTORY AND MODERNITY
Authors: Fokov A. P. 
Published: December 2018

In this article, the author highlights the main historical stages of the codification of civil legislation in China, reveals the content of the "General provisions of the civil code of the PRC", which entered into force on October 1, 2017, predicts further prospects for the development of Chinese civil law institutions in modern economic conditions The author analyzes the historical stages of codification of a large array of Chinese civil legislation in the twentieth and early TWENTIETH centuries, shows its focus on borrowing Russia's experience in codification and improvement of civil legislation, and also takes into account international obligations related to the participation of the state in the WTO. The current doctrine that the Civil code is a kind of economic Constitution that is constantly evolving, not only in time but also in space, shows that in China the process of reforming civil legislation is slow and haste. Thus, it is significant that the procedures related to the preparation, discussion and adoption of the civil code of the PRC have historically developed over time: from the past to the present and, of course, to the future with the prospect of solving new social and economic problems on the basis of stable codified laws. Until now, the science of Russian civil law has not received full coverage of the processes of reforming the civil legislation after the formation of the people's Republic of China in 1949, and there is no answer to the legitimate question of, and for what reason have not been adopted by scientists developed the Draft Civil code of China (1954), (1962), (1979), (2002)? The author understands the complexity of the topic, but also draws attention to the fact that in recent years, between civil scientists and practitioners of China and Russia there is a tendency to intensify the development of General provisions and institutions of civil law in the context of international cooperation. But the question of whether it is possible to identify the stages of codification of the civil legislation of Russia and China is still open, because the historical features of China, the mentality of its citizens and traditions do not allow full use of the experience of Russia, which at one time proposed a new unified text of the Civil code in the context of WTO accession. The author focuses not only on the problems of understanding the historical stages of reforming China's civil legislation in time, but also its features in the space, when the codification of the General part and institutions of civil law is under the influence of the formation of a common judicial practice in a market economy. In the course of the research the author used analytical, formal and legal methods, abstraction method, which allowed to formulate conclusions on the conducted research. The author comes to the conclusion that the codification of civil legislation in China has a common historical relationship with Russia, but at the same time, and distinctive features, which are expressed in the content of the "General provisions of the civil code of the PRC" (hereinafter - the civil code of the PRC), which entered into force on October 1, 2017.