The Role of Legal Institutions in Dealing with the Financial Crisis in China

Abstract

The dynamic economic reform in the past 30 years has significantly changed China. To a considerable extent, laws and legal decrees have replaced government plans and decisions as the traditional means to regulate the economic life of the country. According to the government, a basic legal framework of a market economy has been established.¹ However, as a socialist market economy, the Party-State at both the central and local levels has still maintained a wide range of powers in market administration and regulation. As Professor Lubman pointed out, in China “policy is the dominant factor,” which constantly changes not only the application of laws but also the course of economic reform.²