Reforming the General Provisions of Civil Law on Obligations and Contracts: The Experience of China and Russia

In recent years, reforms of civil law have been actively underway in China and Russia, resulting in the adoption of the 2020 Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China and the modernization of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation as part of the implementation of the Concept for the Development of Civil Legislation in Russia. It was in pursuance of this Concept that amendments were made in 2015 to the general provisions of the Russian Civil Code concerning obligations and contracts. The new provisions of Chinese and Russian contract law have been highly praised by the legal and business communities of both countries as intelligent and mature legal regulations that are well-adapted to the needs of commerce today and, in the context of strengthening economic ties between our countries, they have aroused the mutual, keen interest of Russian and Chinese civil law specialists and businesspeople. What potential is there for applying analogous provisions of the Chinese and Russian civil codes at present? What are the similarities and differences between approaches to the creation of contractual obligations? What are the similarities and differences between the regulation of general issues concerning the performance of obligations? Which problems arise as regards the inability to perform obligations in the context of the new challenges? What prospects are there for the use of methods of ensuring the performance of obligations in relations between business entities in Russia and China?