Codification of Civil Law in China: Contours of the Regional Legal Order

In the article, the author made an attempt to look at the Civil Code of the PRC from the standpoint of an interdisciplinary approach. For this purpose, the work is divided into three parts, the first of which provides an overview of the English-language scientific literature, reflecting both the general state of the civil law of the PRC, the course of its latest codification and the legislative result. The second part is devoted to the substantive pitting of the Civil Code and focuses on the most significant legislative innovations. So, first of all, the author focuses on the fact that this is the second systematization of civil law in this country, making an excursion into the history of the adoption and study by Western scientists of the Civil Code of the Republic of China in 1929-1931, which is now in force in Taiwan. Further, the desire of the modern legislator to get rid of the so-called "Soviet legacy" and, by borrowing the best normative practices of the countries of the continental law family, not to lose its own specifics and make the new normative legal act as practical, modern and effective as possible is noted. A forecast of the impact on the economic sphere, as well as the development of science in the public spheres regulated by the Code, is given. The importance of strengthening the so-called "green principle" and China's claim to the status of a country with a high level of environmental responsibility is emphasized. The third part examines the historical experience of constructing a regional legal order in East Asia at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, when first Japan, and then the Qing Empire, began to introduce the European, mainly French and German, normative material against the background of the modernization of their state system. In conclusion, emphasizing the importance and significance of the Civil Code for the country and its enforcement, the author expresses doubts about the ability of the PRC in modern conditions to form an updated regional legal order, without which the influence of this country on many international and global processes will be incomplete.