Page 14 - 2021 Policy Watch

Policy Watch: A Milestone in Legal Development: China Promulgates a Civil Code

1. Contracts 1. 合同编
There are 526 articles in the chapter on contracts in the
Civil Code19. In the general provisions, the Civil Code 《民法典》合同编共有526条19。《民法典》在
has added the mandatory contract system, the prelimi- 通则部分增加了强制缔约制度、预约合同制度、
nary contract system and the standard clause system, 格式条款制度等，而分则部分在现行合同法规定
while in specific provisions, in addition to the 15 typi- 的买卖合同、租赁合同、借款合同、运输合同等
cal contracts, such as purchase and sales contracts, lease 15种典型合同的基础上，《民法典》增加规定了
contracts, loan contracts and transportation contracts 保证合同、保理合同、物业服务合同、合伙合同
provided in the current Contract Law, the Civil Code 等4种典型合同。本文先探讨强制缔约制度、预
adds 4 more typical contracts: guarantee contracts, fac- 约合同制度及格式条款制度，然后对这些合同进
toring contracts, property service contracts and part- 行具体分析。
nership contracts. We shall discuss these contracts af-
ter we deal with the mandatory contract system, the a. 强制缔约制度
preliminary contract system and the standard clause
system. 强制缔约制度建立的主要目的是保护弱势群体的
a. Mandatory Contract System 利益，但由于强制缔约制度违反了合同的自愿性
The mandatory contract system primarily aims to pro- 原则，必须在法律法规限定明确规定的情形下才
tect the interests of disadvantaged groups. However, 能使用。基于此，合同编规定，依照法律、行政
since the mandatory contract system violates the prin- 法规的规定负有发出要约义务的当事人，应当及
ciple of freedom of contract, the use of such system 时发出合理的要约。依照法律、行政法规的规定
must be subject to limiting conditions specified by 负有作出承诺义务的当事人，不得拒绝对方合理
laws and regulations. Therefore, it provides that a party 的订立合同要求。
obliged to make an offer under laws and administrative
regulations shall, in a timely manner, make a reason- 当事人负有强制缔约义务的情形主要有两种：
able offer. A party obliged to accept an offer under laws
and administrative regulations shall not reject a reason- i. 公共服务企业的强制缔约义务。为保障人民
able offer from the other party. 的基本生活需要，合同编的电、水、气、热力合
Parties are obliged to enter into contracts in two main 同规定，向社会公众供电、水、天然气、热力的
circumstances: 提供者，不得拒绝使用人合理的订立合同要求20
i. that such party is a public service company with obli- 。运输合同规定，从事公共运输的承运人不得拒
gations of mandatory contract. In order to ensure peo- 绝旅客、托运人通常、合理的运输要求21，及
ple’s basic living requirements, this chapter of contract
provides that the suppliers of electricity, water, gas and ii. 完成国家订货任务的强制缔约义务。国家
heat to the public shall not reject a user’s reasonable 根据抢险救灾、疫情防控等需要下达国家订货任
务、指令性任务的，有关民事主体应当依照有关
19 Compared to the Contract Law, 136 articles are added, 37 are 法律、行政法规规定的权利义务订立合同22。例
removed, and 153 are amended. 如，在这次新冠病毒疫情期间，为了保证防疫物

14 19 与现行《合同法》相比，增加了136条，删除了37
条，修改了153条
20 《民法典》第六百四十八条和第六百五十六条
21 《民法典》第八百一十条
22 《民法典》第四百九十四条