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This book is an evaluative macro-level survey of the Chinese legal system reform over the last 30 years since China opened its door in 1978. It is made against the Chinese historical background to promote better understanding of China, with its long customary legal culture and present importance in the world, as economic globalisation compels legal compliance to the rule by law, and ideally the rule of law. The scope is narrowed down by examining the milestone steps China took, as illustrated in the three case studies, to show stages of opening, and how each stage led to the other. Legal steps were necessary to give legitimacy to the economic changes in order to attract foreign investment. The guideline for the legal reform was to borrow from the past for today; and to borrow from overseas for China. Throughout the reform, China maintained that it was building Socialism with Chinese Characters to achieve the Four Modernizations. On evaluation, China has succeeded, with initiation, ambition and ingenuity involved in the Chinese legal reform. A projection into its possible future legal landscape remains a difficult task.
About the author
Fei Fei Teh was born in China. She had an earlier exposure to the outside world to the United Kingdom and New Zealand when China was at its early stage of implementing Open Door Policy. As China's role in globalization expands, an understanding of China's history becomes more and more important.
