On the afternoon of May 28, 2020, the Third Session of the 13th National People's Congress voted to adopt the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China (hereinafter referred to as the Civil Code). The Civil Code, which comes into force on January 1, 2021, has seven parts and 1260 articles. In order, they are the General Principles, Property Rights, Contracts, Personality Rights, Marriage and Family, Inheritance, Tort Liability, and Supplementary Provisions. After the formal promulgation and implementation of the Civil Code, the well-known "Property Law", "Contract Law", "Guarantee Law", "Tort Liability Law", "Marriage Law", "Inheritance Law", and "Adoption Law" will withdraw from the current effective legal system. Therefore, legal workers have ridiculed themselves as "what they have learned in half their lives is destroyed in a moment." There are also jokes about "choosing a good major, and having the college entrance exam every year!" As a lawyer, we not only need to familiarize ourselves with and master every knowledge point from beginning to end, but also fully understand and absorb its legislative intent and value orientation. We can't help but sigh that there are countless days and nights of desk work and hard work.

In recent years, with the rapid development of China's social economy, the personal property of residents has also increased significantly. At the same time, inheritance disputes caused by the inheritance of personal wealth have become increasingly prominent. In order to properly arrange personal property, the establishment of a will is an effective method, and the most crucial issue is to ensure the legality and effectiveness of the establishment of a will, so as to truly realize the wishes of the testator.

Carrots and sticks are a consistent practice of the United States in international trade exchanges. Especially for non market economy countries, the US trade policy has always been political. After World War II, American law stipulated that the Communist Party countries were not given the most favored nation treatment, but they were treated differently according to their affinity, likes, and dislikes. The most favored nation treatment is the cornerstone of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). Article 1 of the GATT clearly stipulates that members must unconditionally grant each other the most favored nation treatment. When Romania and Hungary joined the General Agreement in the same year, the above provisions of United States domestic law directly conflict with the General Agreement. Therefore, the United States chose not to apply to each other in the General Agreement with these two Eastern European countries.

"The shareholders of limited liability companies and joint stock limited liability companies are responsible for the company to the extent of their subscribed capital contributions or subscribed shares, which is the most basic principle of limited liability in China's company law system.". However, the limited liability system is not absolute and unconditional, and in special circumstances it will break through this principle. If, after the dissolution of the company, the liquidation obligor is negligent in performing its liquidation obligations, resulting in the company being unable to liquidate, causing serious losses to the interests of creditors. In such cases, requiring only the liquidation obligor to bear limited liability can cause an imbalance in social interests, so the law makes special provisions.

Editor's Note



For a long time, in academic and judicial practice, debt accession has not been considered a new legal concept, but before the promulgation of the Civil Code, China's laws did not explicitly provide for debt accession. The functional similarities between debt addition and guarantee, as well as the inconsistent criteria for judgment and adjudication of debt addition in academic and judicial practice, can easily lead to confusion between the two. Article 552 of the Civil Code clearly introduces the concept of "joining debt" for the first time, clarifying the connotation of debt joining. Article 36 of the Supreme People's Court's Interpretation on the Application of the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China on the Guarantee System (hereinafter referred to as the "Interpretation of the Civil Code on the Guarantee System") stipulates the guiding principles for identifying guarantees and debt joining in judicial practice. The introduction of the above legal provisions provides a legal basis for the debt accession system and also guides the practice of debt accession trials. So, from the perspective of the Civil Code, how to determine whether the expression of intent of a third party is a guarantee or a debt accession? The following will attempt to analyze and answer the above questions through relevant cases.

"Betting", as we commonly refer to it, actually refers to a series of financial clauses formulated by investors and financiers in financing agreements to ensure their own interests based on uncertainty about the future. The parties agree on a desired outcome (such as achieving a listing or doubling of performance). If the desired outcome is ultimately achieved, it can be considered that the financing party has successfully wagered, and the parties fulfill their obligations and exercise their rights in accordance with the agreement; If the expected result is not achieved, the financing party fails to bet, and the investor has the right to exercise the corresponding rights agreed in the contract.

On June 2, 2021, Beijing Aiqiyi Technology Co., Ltd. sued Hunan Cable Changsha Network Co., Ltd. for infringement of the information network dissemination right of the film and television drama "Flower Thousand Bones". The second trial judgment ((2021) Jing 73 Min Zhong No. 999) came into effect. The court of first instance and second instance both found that the act of Changsha Cable to broadcast the film and television drama "Flower Thousand Bones" to the public in the "playback" zone of Hunan Changsha Cable TV platform infringed on iQiyi's right to information network communication. Some people feel very puzzled that cable TV playback stations have already obtained the right to broadcast movies and TV dramas. How can they still infringe upon the rights? This case involves issues related to the distribution and broadcast authorization of film and television dramas.

Editor's Note: During the fifteen years from 1986 to 2001, after arduous negotiations, China joined the World Trade Organization. Wang Lei, a lawyer from Gaopeng Law Firm, participated fully and deeply in the negotiation from the beginning, and was a legal person in the negotiation delegation. This year marks the 20th anniversary of China's accession to the WTO. Gao Pengsuo specially invited Lawyer Wang to write a series of articles to recall the details of those eventful years. We also take this opportunity to pay tribute to those who stood at the forefront of reform and opening up and worked hard in the negotiations for the national interests.

As a "private rights law", the Civil Code is affectionately known as the "Declaration of Rights"; As a "power control law", administrative law supervises and controls public power to prevent its abuse and infringement on private power. In the traditional dualistic conceptual system of "public and private law", the proper separation between the two laws has been the mainstream view for half a century. However, looking at the Civil Code, we find that there are more than 150 articles related to administrative law norms. This means that the exercise of certain administrative rights has a comprehensive impact on the realization of citizens' basic rights. The basic rights of citizens determined by the Civil Code constitute the internal margin of the exercise of administrative rights. At the same time, the Civil Code also puts forward more and higher requirements for administrative organs to strengthen administrative law enforcement and protect citizens' rights. Therefore, in order to further understand the essence of the Civil Code, the author summarizes the following aspects from the perspective of administrative law, combined with relevant provisions.