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China’s first Civil Code in force
On January 1st, 2021 came into force the first Civil Code that was approved on May 28th, at the end of the “two sessions” political meetings in Beijing, by the National People’s Congress.
The legislative process to compiling, revising and finally approving the Civil Code started in June 2016. It incorporates existing civil laws, such as those protecting the right to residence and the right to privacy, along with regulations in some new areas of law.
The Civil Code addresses modern fields that need regulation, including new problems emerging from urbanization, environment protection, the application of AI technologies and the development of the digital economy, privacy of personal data online and virtual property protection.
The Civil Code contains 7 parts:
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General Provisions;
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Real Rights;
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Contracts;
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Personality Rights;
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Marriage and family;
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Successions;
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Torts.
A major innovation of China's Civil Code is embodied in the part on personality rights. The part on personality rights includes provisions on a civil subject's rights to life, body, health, name, portrait, reputation and privacy, among others.
The part features stipulations on regulating studies related to human genes or embryos, banning sexual harassment, and, among other prominent issues of public concern, strengthening privacy protection (in the code, the concept of privacy is more clearly defined: the scope of protected personal information has been expanded to include email addresses and location data).
