Chinese Law Research Guide

China’s Political System in Charts:
A Snapshot Before the 20th Party Congress
November 24, 2021

Includes:

This part contains helpful materials on legal knowledge, including white papers, reports and statistics issued by the Supreme People's Court, Chinese laws, and hot words related to laws.

Legal Procedure

Litigation & Mediation rules etc.

The official Chinese language web site developed by the Supreme People's Court for searching judgments. It contains selected PRC judgments from the Supreme People's Court and local courts since 2013. Judgments can be searched by keywords or case number, or can be browsed by region or subject areas (e.g. civil, criminal, administrative, intellectual property, etc.).

Susan Finder's blog discussing China's highest Court.
Includes:

No. 10 [2018] of the SPC

No. 221 [2016] of the SPC

Interpretation No. 14 [2009] of the SPC

On June 16, 2021, the SPC introduced a new type of Judicial Interpretation.

Discussion of Model Cases

was a ten-year initiative (2011-2021) of Stanford Law School aimed at advancing knowledge and understanding of Chinese law. It allowed judges and legal experts both inside and outside of China to contribute to the evolution of Chinese case law through ongoing dialogue on “Guiding Cases” released by China’s Supreme People’s Court.
This website includes:

- "Guiding Cases represent a constructive step towards judicial autonomy and transparency."
- Started in 2010, "the Guiding Cases System has the potential to move the Chinese legal system closer to the goal set in 1982 by the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China—that “[t]he people’s courts exercise adjudicative power independently, in accordance with the provisions of law, and not subject to interference by any administrative organ, social organization, or individual.”
- "The ultimate value and efficacy of the Guiding Cases System relies on continued participation from all stakeholders, including members of the bench, the bar, and academia."
- "To be certain, the term “Guiding Cases” is something of a misnomer—they are not “cases” as we know them but are, rather, decisions and cases that have been re-constituted into easily-digested adjudicative data. Chinese courts are not ultimately obligated to genuinely consider Guiding Cases in their judgments—they exist for reference, not as binding precedent—and practitioners before these courts are not obligated to cite Guiding Cases in the course of their representation.
- "[T]he Detailed Implementing Rules prohibit a Chinese court from resting a decision solely on the strength of a Guiding Case, and the present composition of the National Judicial Examination means that neophyte Chinese lawyers most likely begin the practice of law with no—or little—familiarity with the Guiding Cases regime."

is not adding new content, but now includes all 13 issues of the bilingual quarterly e-journal China Law Connect with the full-text of many of the Guiding Cases, provisions of the Supreme People’s Court concerning Guiding Cases, expert commentaries on the Guiding Cases, and summaries of selected laws.

Use the filter on the left to locate Guiding Cases from the Supreme People's Court and Guiding Cases from the Supreme People's Procuratorate.

In September 2016 China officially launched this website to live broadcast court trials in an effort to increase judicial transparency.

In 2014 the Supreme People’s Court became the first court in China to disclose information on trial process at this disclosure website. Parties to the case may log on with their ID cards to search and download court records, trial documents, and process information.

In 2013, the Supreme People's Court began making judgment documents from more than 3,000 courts across China accessible and searchable through this website.

The Supreme People’s Court has integrated the disclosed information of all courts in China to develop and construct a uniform China Enforcement Information Disclosure Website.

The NPC website is very good and is updated frequently. This website focuses on reporting all major missions and activities of the congress and its standing committee, releasing the laws, resolution/decisions, and lists of appointments and removals passed by the standing committee.

The NPC Law and Regulations Database allows users to browse, search, and download laws & regulations promulgated by the NPC or the NPC Standing Committee.

NPC Observer provided a detailed explanation of the Database when it was initially released in February 2021.

A description of the organization, function, and history of the NPC.

NPC's compilation of English translations "for reference only".

English and Chinese language e-journal (2007 to current) covering the work of the NPC and it's standing committee.

This free online database contains: the statutes & laws of Hong Kong in English and Chinese; constitutional and other relevant documents, the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the Basic Law of the HKSAR and the PRC national laws that apply in the HKSAR; English-Chinese Glossary of Legal Terms and the Chinese-English Glossary of Legal Terms; Chinese Subject Index of Ordinances; English Subject Index of Ordinances.

An independent English language website covering China's NPC and it's standing committee. NPC Observer is dedicated to improving the accessibility of China’s national legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC) and its Standing Committee (NPCSC), to English readers across the globe and to helping them better understand the institution, through free, independent, and high-quality reporting, analysis, and original research.
This website includes:

See the Laws section

This website was created by U.S. Congress in October 2000 with a legislative mandate [H.R. 4444, 106th Cong. (2000)] to monitor human rights and the development of the rule of law in China, and to submit an annual report to the President and the Congress. The commission consists of nine Senators, nine members of the House of Representatives, and five senior Administration officials appointed by the President. This website includes the annual reports of the commission, the topical papers, and the statements of panelists participating in the roundtables organized by the commission. This is a good place to track current legal issues in China. It includes:

Parallel Chinese and English texts of official PRC documents, including government work reports, government white papers, political reports from Party Congresses, and transcripts of ministry press conferences. The English text is from the official PRC translations of the documents.

Hong Kong Department of Justice's collection of English-Chinese (and Chinese-English) Legal Terms.

A user-generated glossary of searchable Chinese and English legal terms at China Law Translate.

A collection of official Chinese government "White Papers" (in English). These White Papers may be useful research resources on various topics. They are published by the:

SCIO documents include:

This 2016 archived website includes the free Chinalaw.gov.cn database which provides the summaries of English translations of selected laws and regulations, summaries of departmental rules, and summaries of judicial interpretations up to 2007. The LAO was abolished in 2018 and it's functions have been assumed by the reorganized

Chinese language version

China's MOJ website includes information about MOJ policies, departments, and legal services. (English language version).

Includes Foreign Policies, Official Activities, Speeches, Communiqués & Diplomatic Agenda.

This official website is an English language gateway to Chinese government information and services. This website includes:

If you want to do business in China, you need to know about CIETAC. At this website you can find arbitration rules, Chinese laws, case analysis, and reports.

Publishes research reports on issues such as the Chinese workers' movement, migrant workers, health and safety, and trade unions and collective bargaining. Provides overviews on topics like the Chinese dispute resolution system and social security along with links to Chinese laws and empirical data.

State Council of the PRC

The DigiChina Project is a collaborative effort hosted by Stanford University to understand China’s technology policy developments, primarily through translating and analyzing Chinese-language sources.

The CAC undertakes rulemaking, administrative licensing, and punishment activities. It also represents China in international cyber-related activities. The CCAC sometimes co-issues policy documents with state agencies and acts unilaterally or collaborates with state agencies in other initiatives.

The Cyberspace Administration of China and other four departments issued the "Key Points for Improving Digital Literacy and Skills of the Whole People in 2022"

Notice on Further Strengthening the Governance of the "Fan Circle" Chaos

Jamie Horsley (Yale Law School) discusses China's cybersecurity regulation

issued by the CAC and other authorities grant the CCAC legislated leadership and a final approval role in the review process

codified the authority of the “state cybersecurity and information departments” (generally deemed to refer to the CAC and its local branches) to comprehensively plan and coordinate cybersecurity and related management efforts with multiple regulatory agencies having overlapping or complementary jurisdiction.

tasked the CAC with overall coordination of online data security and relevant regulatory matters and again authorized the CAC to regulate the export of important data, together with relevant State Council departments.

then granted the CAC overarching powers for comprehensive planning, coordination, and supervision of personal information protection work and reiterated its authority over outbound personal information.