TIME RIPE FOR CIVIL CODE

The road towards a civil code, a dream for generations of Chinese, has been bumpy.

For millennia, civil rights and civil code were virtually unheard of for Chinese living under imperial autocracy. It was until late Qing Dynasty that the concept of civil code was first put forward, followed by a failed attempt by the Qing government to introduce a code.

Since the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the central authority has strived to build a modern country under the rule of law, of which a civil code is an integral part.

In 1954, 1962, 1979 and 2001, China made separate attempts to draft a civil law, only to halt due to political turmoil and other reasons.

For example, the second attempt was interrupted by the chaotic Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), a dark decade in which human rights were trampled and laws could hardly protect anyone.

In 1986, the General Principles of Civil Law was enacted, establishing basic principles for protecting civil rights and interests, and regulating civil relations.

A draft civil law was submitted to the top legislature for the first reading in December 2002, but then shelved for its complexity and difference of opinions over it.

Nonetheless, the General Principles and other separate civil laws promulgated over the past decades, including the Property Law, the Tort Liability Law and Inheritance Law, have laid good groundwork for a civil code.

In October 2014, the Communist Party of China decided at a key meeting to compile a civil code. It is people's congresses that translate the Party's resolutions into the will of the state through legislative procedures.

The legislative task has since been treated as a necessary move to perfect the country's socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, and significant in modernizing state governance.

In March 2015, the drafting of the general provisions started, marking the beginning of China's journey to a civil code of its own.

According to the top legislature, China's civil code will be born out of the country's realities, target problems in China, address Chinese people's concerns and needs, as well as embody Chinese culture, traditions and values.

One cardinal principle for compiling the civil code is weaving socialist core values, including equality, justice and amicability, into the whole process.

In this spirit, for example, the draft stipulates that a person shall not bear civil responsibilities if he acts voluntarily to help another in emergency and inflicts losses on the one being helped, a move to encourage helping others in danger and protect those who do.