In The Limits of the Rule of Law in China, fourteen authors from different academic disciplines reflect on questions that have troubled Chinese and Western scholars of jurisprudence since classical times. Using data from the early 19th century through the contemporary period, they analyze how tension between formal laws and discretionary judgment is discussed and manifested in the Chinese context. The contributions cover a wide range of topics, from interpreting the rationale for and legacy of Qing practices of collective punishment, confession at trial, and bureaucratic supervision to assessing the political and cultural forces that continue to limit the authority of formal legal institutions in the People’s Republic of China.

This insightful book investigates the historical, political, and legal foundations of the Chinese perspectives on the rule of law and the international rule of law. Building upon an understanding of the rule of law as an 'essentially contested concept', this book analyses the interactions between the development of the rule of law within China and the Chinese contribution to the international rule of law, more particularly in the areas of global trade and security governance.

The 'rule of law' is more than the mere existence and application of law within the sphere of state activity. Contemporary Chinese debate on the 'rule of law' underlines the limiting of arbitrary government, the materialisation of 'human rights', legal protection of 'rights and interests' and the principle of equality in the impartial legal mediation of conflicts within society's 'structure of interests'. Based upon China interviews and a comprehensive survey of the domestic press and Chinese-language legal journal materials, this book places pre- and post-Tiananmen Square legal reform in political context. The evolving contents of specific laws across the departments of constitutional, administrative, criminal, civil and economic law are assessed in light of the politics and intellectual dynamic of China's legal circles in their struggle to create a 'rule of law'.

This book studies the practical experience and theoretical development of rule of law in China, and provides fundamental theory for the construction of rule of law in contemporary China. The author examines the rule of law by exploring the entire legal system, and highlighting various aspects including the legislation, law enforcement and supervision systems. Readers will also discover the author’s strong opinions on scientific legislation, legal government, judicial reform, and the culture of rule of law. This highly readable book will appeal to both general readers and researchers interested in rule of law in China.

This article discusses the extent to which rule of law principles have been embraced within the language, principles and practice of China's Company Law. The paper discusses different understandings of the rule of law that are to be found in the wider literature. Whilst China has affirmed the principles of legality, the 1993 Company Law adopted a narrowly prescriptive approach; at the same time, the State took firm control of the degree to which the privileges of limited liability and incorporation will be available. As a result, the balance of power within the company has tended to favour the State rather than the company or its shareholders. In contrast to the broadly non-interventionist approach to the internal affairs of companies of the courts and the State in western countries, in China the State and the Party have played an important role in internal company decision making, such as through the appointment of the company Chairman and the role of the Party Secretary. Whilst acknowledging the limits of the rule of law in Western countries, the article goes on to discuss various challenges to the implementation of the rule of law in China's business relations. The article discusses how China's company laws have in practice been applied; particular attention is given to the handling of the case involving Australian businessman James Peng which was seen at the time by some as a litmus test for the operation of the rule of law in China. Peng had reorganised a former state owned company and generated substantial profits as a result of his efforts to use legal rules to his advantage. Later, Peng had a falling out with his Shenzhen business partners who launched a vendetta against him; he was abducted from his hotel in Macao and taken secretly to Shenzhen where he was incarcerated. The involvement of a 'princeling' or a relative of a senior Chinese political official in Peng's business affairs complicated the matter. Although embezzlement charges against Peng had been thrown out by the local Shenzhen courts, due to a lack of evidence, the central government seemed powerless to prevent local cadres from continuing their vendetta so that the rule of law in this case was severely tested. The paper documents these issues and draws some broader conclusions about the limits of company law ideas in China.

China has enjoyed considerable economic growth in recent years in spite of an immature, albeit rapidly developing, legal system, a system whose nature, evolution and path of development have been poorly understood by scholars. Drawing on his legal and business experience in China as well as his academic background in the field, Peerenboom provides a detailed analysis of China's legal reforms. He argues that China is in transition from rule by law to a version of rule of law, though most likely not a liberal democratic version as found in economically advanced countries in the West. Maintaining that law plays a key role in China's economic growth, Peerenboom assesses reform proposals and makes his own recommendations. In addition to students and scholars of Chinese law, political science, sociology and economics, this will interest business professionals, policy advisors, and governmental and non-governmental agencies as well as comparative legal scholars and philosophers.