chinese legal profession

7/27/2019 Chinese Legal Profession

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HARVARD LAW SCHOOL PROGRAM ON THE LEGAL PROFESSION

THE LEGAL PROFESSIONOF THE PEOPLES REPUBLICOF CHINA

2011bythe Presidentand FellowsofHarvardCollege.All rightsreserved.

law.harvard.edu/programs/plp


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DisclaimerThese reports reflect researchdonebystudentsatHLS in theSpringof2011,andare basedon

secondarysources,asnotedineachreport.Whilewebelievethe informationreflectedinthere

ports tobe true, the informationhasnotbeen independentlyverified,and the reportsare not

meant tobecompletewith respect toanyparticular topic,andparticularlyas regards the legal

system inits entirety,or inpoliticalorconstitutionalcontext.Readersshouldalsorecognizethat

terminologymayvary fromcountry tocountry,whichmaymakenavecomparisonsmisleading.

For example, the conceptof a lawyer varies from country to country, anddataon lawyers

may includepracticingandnonpracticingattorneys.Noone shouldrelyonthe informationcon

tainedinthe reportsforanypurpose.


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The Peoples Republic of China(excluding Hong Kong and Macao)1

Legal Education

Structure of legal education Students complete an integrated four-year bachelor of law

(LL.B.) course directly after secondary school. Graduatesholding bachelors degrees in fields other than law may alsosit for the PRC national judicial examination.2 The nationalcore curriculum consists of 14 courses: legal theory, Chineselegal history, constitutional law, administrative law, criminallaw, law of criminal procedure, civil procedure, civil law,commercial law, economic law, intellectual property, privateinternational law, international law, and internationaleconomic law.3

Three additional degrees are offered, but the completion of

an LL.B. is sufficient to become a practicing attorney. TheMaster of Law (L.L.M.) degree may be completed in two orthree years, depending on the school. A three-year JurisMaster (J.M.) course is also available for graduates whohave obtained bachelors degrees in other fields. Subject tothe completion of an L.L.M or J.M., students may pursue aJuris Science Doctor degree (L.L.D.), which is completedin three to six years depending on the school.

In addition to an academic degree and passage of the nationaljudicial examination, aspiring lawyers must complete a one-year internship in a PRC law firm to qualify as a practicing

lawyer.4

A two-year clerkship with a court or publicprocuratorate (or one year for graduates with masters ordoctoral degrees in law) is required to qualify as a judge orprocurator.5

Typical age of starting lawyer Typical candidates begin the LL.B. course at 18, graduate at22, intern in a law firm for one year, and qualify as a lawyerat 23.

Status hierarchy of law

schools

As of the end of 2009, there were more than 630 lawuniversities, law schools and law academes offering LL.B.courses, among which 333 award Master of Law degrees,115 award Juris Master degrees, and 35 award Juris

Science Doctor degrees.6

China Academic Degrees and Graduate EducationDevelopment Center (affiliated with the PRC Ministry ofEducation) has carried out national ranking surveys of allmajor universities in China twice, in 2002 and 2009. The2009 survey listed Renmin University of China (RUC)Law School, China University of Political Science andLaw (CUPL), Peking University Law School, and


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Wuhan University School of Law as the top-ranked fourChinese universities in the field of law.7

Rough size of top-ranked law

schoolsRUC Law School graduates approximately 200 LL.B.students, 165 L.L.M. students, 175 J.M. students, and 70L.L.D students per year.8 CUPL graduates about 1530

LL.B. students, 625 L.L.M. students, 460 J.M. students, and55 L.L.D. students per year.

9Peking University Law

School graduates around 170 LL.B. students, 108 L.L.M.students, 185 J.M. students, and 44 L.L.D. students peryear.

10Wuhan University School of Law graduates

approximately 225 L.L.B students,11

180 L.L.M. students,190 J.M. students, and 110 L.L.D. students per year.12

How professional (vs.

academic) is the law degree?LL.B. and J.M. degrees are more practical, while L.L.M. andL.L.D degrees are more academic.13 However, clinicalprograms for LL.B. students remain scant. As of 2005, only35 of roughly 560 undergraduate programs offered clinical

opportunities.14 The J.M. was created with the specificintention of training future practitioners, and thus to be lessacademic-oriented than the L.L.M.; however, some observershave questioned the degree to which J.M. programs areaccomplishing this goal, as classes are often taught throughpure lecture with little student discussion or interaction.

15

Traditionally, most university law professors have littlepractice experience; in addition, given the substantialincrease in the number of law students in recent years,many professors are fully occupied by teaching

assignments.

16

Prominent Chinese law professorsacknowledge that Chinas legal education does not meetthe professions demands and law firm employers oftencomplain that law graduates lack necessary professionaland practical knowledge.17

Professional regulation: basic

licensingSince 2002, the PRC Ministry of Justice, in consultation withthe Supreme Peoples Court and the Supreme PeoplesProcuratorate, has administered a uniform national judicialexamination on an annual basis. Anyone who wishes tobecome a judge, procurator, lawyer, or notary public mustpass such examination.18

Passage rates vary each year. According to the Ministry ofJustice, from 2002 to 2010, approximately 2.4 million peopleparticipated in the examination, while approximately440,000 passed,19 with an average passage rate of 18.3%.

Candidates must also be willing to uphold the constitution ofthe PRC, complete a one-year internship with a law firm, andbe a person of good character and conduct.20


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The following documents must be submitted to municipalauthorities: certificate of passage of the National JudicialExamination, documents prepared by the lawyersassociation showing that the applicant has passed theexaminations taken upon completion of the internship, proof

of identity, and proof that a law firm agrees to recruit theapplicant.21

A person may not be granted a license if he or she: haslimited or no capacity for civil conduct, has been subjectedto criminal punishment (with the exception of a crime ofnegligence), has been discharged from public employment,or has previously had his or her lawyers practice certificaterevoked.

22

Length of study for licensure Educational backgrounds of examination participants varywidely, and the preparation time can range from a few weeks

to over one year. Most LL.B. graduates spend one to sixmonths preparing for the examinations.23

Lawyers per population and

lawyers per working

population

There is one lawyer per 8040 people and one lawyer per4700 working population.24

Law Firms

Size of law firms Under PRC law, a general partnership law firm (in whicheach partner shall bear unlimited joint and severableliabilities for the firms debts) shall have at least threepartners,25 a special general partnership law firm (in whichonly one or a few specified partners shall bear unlimited joint

and severable liabilities for the firms debts) shall have atleast 20 partners.26

Solo practitioners are permitted as well.27

In addition, some law firms are operated by the state.28

There are over 15,000 PRC law firms.29 As of September2009, there were approximately 40 PRC law firmsemploying over 100 lawyers, with the largest law firmemploying 725 lawyers in its 21 offices.30 Most of the otherPRC law firms, however, are solo or mini-sized. A 2000survey suggested that 70% of PRC law firms have less than10 lawyers, and 25% of PRC law firms have 10-30lawyers.31

Share of attorneys at largestfirms

As of September 2009, the largest 40 PRC law firmsemployed approximately 8,100 lawyers,32 accounting forapproximately 4.9% of all PRC lawyers.

33

Profitability of law firms A 2009 survey carried out by LawFirm50 suggested that the2008 revenue-per-lawyer at Fangda Partners, one of the mostprofitable law firms in China, was over RMB4.5 million(US$662,000).34 The average is, however, much lower.According to the MOJ Data, the aggregate revenue of


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Chinas legal market in 2008 was approximately RMB30.9billion (US$4.55 billion), with the average revenue-per-lawyer of RMB186,144 (US$27,374).

Leverage of law firms No public data is available. The authors personalobservation and prediction is that the associate to partner

ratios in large PRC law firms may range from 3.5:1 to 10:1.35

Compensation structure Eat-what-you-kill predominates;

36 some large law firms(e.g., Zhong Lun Law Firm and Fangda Partners) employ acombination of eat-what-you-kill and lockstep schemes.

37

Third-year associates at top-ranked law firms in Beijing(non-state-owned) can earn between RMB 180,000-200,000(roughly $26,300-$29,200) per year.

38Partners in top-ranked

firms in Beijing (non-state-owned) can earn over $200,000per year, with select partners at the most top-ranked firmsearning above $1,000,000 per year.39

Lawyers at state-owned firms earn significantly less thantheir counterparts in private firms. Lawyers at these firmsearn in the range of RMB 24,000-36,000 (roughly $3,500-$5,300) per year.40 The disparity in compensation betweenstate-owned and private firms drives the best-credentialedlawyers to choose private firms.41

Law firm retirement age There is no regulatory restriction on the retirement age oflawyers. Since Chinas modern legal market has onlydeveloped over the past 20 years, most prominent partners inlarge law firms are only in their 40s and 50s, so it ispremature to evaluate the average retirement age in themodern Chinese legal market.

Law firm governance Most of the largest PRC firms are a combination of fullequity partners and salaried partners. Managementcommittees or management partners run most large firms.

Most of the other PRC law firms are poorly managed by thesingle firm director who may have very limited influenceon other lawyers in the firm.42

Law/Legal procedure

Punitive damages in civil

casesPRC courts may grant punitive damages in such limitedcases as product liability, consumer rights, food safety, andreal estate transactions.

(1) Effective as of July 1, 2010, if a producer or seller hasclear knowledge that a product contains a defect butnonetheless continues to produce or sell the same,resulting in the death of another or serious harm to thehealth of another, the injured person shall have the rightto demand commensurate punitive damages.

43Since

the new statute on product liability has been effective


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for less than one year, its application by PRC courtsremains to be tested.

(2) A fraud committed against a consumer may subject thebusiness operator to a punitive damage liability in theamount of the prices or fees paid by the consumer.44

(3) Effective as of June 1, 2009, the producer or seller offoods who could not satisfy safety requirements may berequired to pay to the consumer damages covering suchconsumers losses plus 10 times of the purchase pricepaid by the consumer.45

(4) A fraud committed against a real estate purchaser maysubject the real estate seller to a punitive damageliability in the amount of the purchase price paid by thepurchaser.46

Juries in civil cases Like most other civil law jurisdictions, jury is not permitted

in either civil or criminal cases in the PRC.Rules on contingent fee

litigation

Contingent fee arrangement is not permitted in the followinglitigations:

(1) divorce or estate/will litigations;(2) claims for social insurance or minimum living

allowances, alimony, disability pension, welfarepayment, compensation for work-related injuries,employment remuneration;

(3) criminal litigations;(4)

administrative litigations;

(5) state compensation litigations; and(6) class actions and joint actions.In addition, contingency fee arrangement shall be agreed inwriting, and the maximum fee for a given contract-relateddispute shall not exceed 30% of the disputed amount relatedto the contract.

47

Rules on attorneys fees and

other costs in litigationEach side pays its own attorneys fees, subject to contractand the following exceptions where the court may order thelosing party to bear the attorneys fees incurred by the

winning party:

(1) Creditors exercise of right to avoid debtors fraudulenttransfers pursuant to Article 74 of PRC Contract Law; 48

(2) Investigation and discovery expenses incurred by thewinning party whose copyrights or trademark wereinfringed by the losing party; 49

(3) Investigation expenses incurred by the winning party


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with respect to the losing partys anti-unfair competitionbehaviors.50

In civil and administrative litigations, the litigation feespayable to courts shall be born by the losing party or, in thecase of a partial win and loss of each party, by each party at

the percentage determined at the courts discretion based onthe merits of the case.

51

Rules on discovery PRC courts generally prefer documentary evidence towitness testimony. PRC law does not provide for anyprocedure by which a party to a civil litigation could becompelled to produce documents upon the request of theother party. If a party is not able to obtain certain evidence,the court may, at its discretion, conduct its own investigationor collect relevant evidence upon the partys request.52 Inpractice, however, courts rarely conduct such investigations.Alternatively, the party may gain access to evidence held by

the other party by requesting the court preserve the evidencein the possession of the other party if such evidence may bedestroyed, lost, or difficult to obtain later on.

53

Rules on class actions There are two forms of representative actions under PRClaw: if a party to a case has a definite number of multiplemembers, those members could authorize a representative toparticipate in the litigation on their behalves; if the numberof members of such party could not be determined at thetime of commencement of the litigation, the court maypublicize the case to notify the potential interested persons.Under both of these scenarios, all represented members must

approve the representatives amendment to, or waiver of,claims and settlement with the opposing party.54

However, the courts have great discretion on whether toaccept the representative actions or to request the parties tocommence the actions on a separate basis.

55In practice,

primarily due to the lack of judicial independence of PRCcourts, courts have limited resources, powers, and incentivesto resolve large-scale disputes and thus they tend to refuse toaccept representative actions that may have far-reachinginfluences on the society or otherwise involve conflictsbetween private parties and the public entities.

56

Prevalence and prominence of

plaintiffs bar and class

actions brought on behalf of

shareholders or consumers

against large companies

The Supreme Peoples Court issued a judicial interpretationin 2002 directing local courts not to accept class actionsrelating to tort claims resulting from public companies falsestatements in the securities market.

57Such interpretation

effectively stopped all class actions brought on behalf ofshareholders against large public companies.

There is little to no research on the existence of plaintiffs


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bar in China. Given the restrictions on contingent fees andthe limited application of representative actions, it seemssafe to say that no plaintiffs bar exists in China. Indeed, onewestern commentator suggested that, China seems to be farfrom having such a plaintiffs bar.58

1 Each of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan has its own legal and judicial systems, which are distinct, and which differfrom those of mainland China.2 Article 15(4) of the Measures for the Implementation of the National Judicial Examination (Guo Jia Si Fa Kao Shi

Shi Shi Ban Fa) () (hereinafter the Judicial Examination Measures).3 Gerald J. Clark,An Introduction to the Legal Profession in China in the Year 2008, 41 SUFFOLK U. L. REV. 833,841 n.59 (2008).4 Article 5(3) of the Lawyers Law of the PRC (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Lv Shi Fa) (

).5 Article 9(6) of the Judges Law of the PRC (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Fa Guan Fa) (

); Article 10(6) of the Public Procurators Law of the PRC (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Jian Cha Guan

Fa) ().6 China Law Society,Annual Report on Chinas Legal Development Under Rule of Law (2009) (English Version)32,available athttp://www.chinalaw.org.cn/Column/Column_View.aspx?ColumnID=127&InfoID=2536 (hereinafterthe Rule of Law Report).7 China Academic Degrees and Graduate Education Development Center, University Ranking for 2007-2009: Law

(2007-2009 Nian Xue Ke Pai Ming: Fa Xue) (2007-2009) (Chinese version only), available at

http://www.chinadegrees.cn/xwyyjsjyxx/zlpj/xksppm/.8 RUC Law School, Circular Concerning Selection of 2011 Honorable Graduates (Guan Yu Kai Zhan 2011 Jie You

Xiu Bi Ye Sheng Ping Xuan Gong Zuo De Tong Zhi) (2011) (April 16,

2011) (Chinese version only), available athttp://www.law.ruc.edu.cn/xsgz/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=31483.9 Summary of 2011 Graduates of CUPSL (Zhong Guo Zheng Fa Da Xue 2011 Jie Bi Ye Sheng Sheng Yuan Xin

Xi Yi Lan Biao) ( 2011) (October 2010) (Chinese version only),available at http://www.cupljob.net/cn/about.php?syxx.10 Peking University Law School,Arrangements on Selection of 2010 Honorable Graduates(Guan Yu Ping Xuan

2010 Jie You Xiu Bi Ye Sheng De Gong Zuo An Pai) ( 2010) (April 26, 2010)

(Chinese version only), available athttp://student.law.pku.edu.cn/PartyColumn/articledisplay.asp?ID=1108.11 List of 2010 Bachelor Graduates of Wuhan University (Wu Han Da Xue 2010 Nian Bi Ye Sheng) (

2010) (Chinese version only), available athttp://www.job98.com/gaoxiaox/shengyuan/wuda.html.12 List of 2011 Graduate Students of Wuhan University (Wu Han Da Xue 2011 Bi Ye Yan Jiu Sheng Sheng Yuan Ji

Hua Biao) ( 2011) (Chinese version only), available at

http://gsinfo.whu.edu.cn/job/StuInfo/stuinfo1.htm.13 Rule of Law Report, at 33.14 Robert Lancaster & Ding Xiangshun,Addressing the Emergence of Advocacy in the Chinese Criminal JusticeSystem: A Collaboration Between a U.S. and a Chinese Law School, 30 FORDHAM INT'L L.J. 356, 36667 (2007).15 Matthew S. Erie,Legal Education Reform in China Through U.S.-Inspired Transplants, 59 J. LEGAL EDUC. 60,71-72 (2009)16Ji Xiangde (), The Difficulties and Prospects of the Current Legal Education in China (Dui Zhong Guo FaXue Jiao Yu Quan Mian Fan Si Yu Zhan Wang) (), 18 Journal of CUPL (

) 50, 52 (2010).17 See, e.g., Han Dayuan (), Challenges to Chinas Legal Education A Perspective of Globalization (Quan

Qiu Hua Bei Jing Xia Zhong Guo Fa Xue Jiao Yu Mian Lin De Tiao Zhan) (

), Peoples Court Daily (), Sept. 19, 2010, at 007. Professor Han Dayuan currently serves as the dean

of RUC Law School.


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18 Articles 3, 4, 5 and 7 of the Judicial Examination Measures.19 Over 440,000 Persons Passed the National Judicial Examination in the Past 9 Years (9 Ci Guo Jia Si Fa Kao Shi

44 Wan Yu Ren Huo Tong Guo) (9 44) (Feb. 11, 2011) (Chinese version only),

available athttp://www.moj.gov.cn/sfks/content/2011-02/12/content_2471808.htm?node=8018.20 The Law of the Peoples Republic of China on Lawyers, art. 5 (promulgated by the Standing Committee of the

Tenth National Peoples Congress, Oct. 28, 2007, effective June 1, 2008), available athttp://www.npc.gov.cn/englishnpc/Law/2009-02/20/content_1471604.htm [hereinafter Lawyer's Law].21 Lawyers Law, supra note 20, art. 6.22 Lawyers Law, supra note 20, art. 7.23 Since no data is available, the author carried out a survey among all current Chinese LL.M. students studying atHarvard Law School in April 2011. 6 persons responded as of April 19, 2011 and the time they spent to prepare andpass the PRC national judicial examination varies from 4 weeks to six months.24 Calculated by the author based on the following data: according to the PRC National Bureau of Statistics, as of theend of 2009, the mainland Chinas population was approximately 1,334,740,000 and its working population wasapproximately 779,950,000, available athttp://www.stats.gov.cn/tjfx/ztfx/sywcj/t20110302_402706838.htm;according to the PRC Ministry of Justice, there were approximately 166,000 practicing lawyers as of the end of2009, available athttp://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2010-02/15/content_1535534.htm (hereinafter MOJ Data).25 Articles 7 and 38 of the Measures for the Administration of Law Firms (Lv Shi Shi Wu Suo Guan Li Ban Fa) (

) (hereinafter the Law Firms Measures).26 Articles 8 and 38 of the Law Firms Measures.27 Article 9 of the Law Firms Measures.28 DANIEL C.K.CHOW,THE LEGAL SYSTEM OF THE PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF CHINA IN ANUTSHELL 238 (2009); seealso, Lawyers Law, supra note 20, art. 20.29 MOJ Data.30 LawFirm 50, 2009 Ranking of PRC Law Firms (Number of Practicing Lawyers) (2009 Nian Zhong Guo Lv Shi

Shi Wu Suo Pai Ming (Zhi Ye Ren Shu)) (2009()) (November 5, 2010) (Chinese

version only), available athttp://www.lawfirm50.com/index/index.php/2010-05-22-02-39-43/2010-05-22-03-00-04/158-lawfirm502009 (hereinafter the LawFirm 50 2009 Ranking).31 Sun Weixing (), On the Internal Management of Partnership Law Firms (He Huo Zhi Lv Shi Shi Wu Suo

Nei Bu Guan Li Chu Tan) (), Chinese Lawyer (), Nov. 2000, at 54.32 LawFirm 50 2009 Ranking.33

Calculated by the author based on the aggregate number of PRC lawyers (166,000) in the MOJ Data and theaggregate number of lawyers in the largest 40 PRC firms (8,100).34http://www.lawfirm50.com/index/index.php/2010-05-22-02-39-43/2010-05-22-02-57-07/12-lawfirm50-2009-sh-top2-.35 The author had a chance to make an extensive interview with Fangda Partners in late 2010 and was informed thatits partner/associate ratio was approximately 3.5/1. See Rong Guan, Fangda Partners: Managing Chinese LegalTalents and Excelling in Chinas Legal Market7 (2010 HLS Fall tem paper for Prof. Ashish Nandas course ofLeadership in Law Firms, a copy of which is available upon request). The author personally worked in anothermajor PRC firm from 2005 to 2008 which maintained a partner/associate ratio of 6-8/1.36 Zhou Guang (), On the Reform of Compensation Schemes of Partnership Law Firms (Chu Yi He Huo Zhi Lv

Shi Shi Wu Suo Fen Pei Ji Zhi De Gai Ge) (), Research on Rule of Law

(), Aug. 2007, at 34.37 See, e.g., Zhang Xuebing (),Matured Compensations System Is the Foundation for Development of

Partnership Law Firms Experience from Compensation Point System of Zhong Lun Law Firm (Wan Bei De FenPei Ji Zhi Shi He Huo Zhi Shi Wu Suo De Wen Ding Ji Shi Beijing Zhong Lun Jin Tong Lv Shi Shi Wu Suo Ji Dian

Zhi Jie Shao) (-), Chinese

Lawyer (), Jan. 2002, at 31. Mr. Zhang Xuebing is the managing partner of Zhong Lun Law Firm, one of

the largest PRC law firm. According to him, the compensation points granted to each partner of Zhong Lun takeinto consideration his or her tenure as well as performance. See also Guan, supra note 29, at 8.38 CHOW, supra note 28, at 240.39Id.40Id. at 241.


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41Id. at 239-240.42 Quan Jinqiang (),Establishing Standard Internal Administrative System of Law Firms (Jian Li Gui Fan De

Lv Shi Shi Wu Suo Nei Bu Guan Li Ji Zhi) (), Justice of China (),

Nov. 2002, at 33.43 Article 47 of the PRC Tort Liability Law (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Qin Quan Ze Ren Fa) (

).44 Article 49 of the PRC Protection of the Rights and Interests of Consumers Law (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He

Guo Xiao Fei Zhe Quan Yi Bao Hu Fa) ().45 Article 96 of the PRC Food Safety Law (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Shi Pin An Quan Fa) (

).46 Articles 8 and 9 of the Supreme People's Court Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application ofLaw to Trial of Disputes over Commodity Premises Sales and Purchase Contracts (Zui Gao Ren Min Fa Yuan Guan

Yu Shen Li Shang Pin Fang Mai Mai He Tong Jiu Fen An Jian Shi Yong Fa Lv Ruo Gan Wen Ti De Jie Shi) (

).47 Articles 11, 12 and 13 of the Measures for the Administration of Lawyers' Fees (Lv Shi Fu Wu Shou Fei Guan Li

Ban Fa) ().48 Article 26 of Supreme People's Court Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of the PRC

Contract Law (I) (Zui Gao Ren Min Fa Yuan Guan Yu Shi Yong Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo He Tong FaRuo Gan Wen Ti De Jie Shi Yi) (()).49 Article 17 of Supreme People's Court Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Trialof Trademark Civil Dispute Cases (Zui Gao Ren Min Fa Yuan Guan Yu Shen Li Shang Biao Min Shi Jiu Fen An

Jian Shi Yong Fa Lv Ruo Gan Wen Ti De Jie Shi) (

); Article 26 of Supreme People's Court Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law

in Trial of Copyrights Civil Dispute Cases (Zui Gao Ren Min Fa Yuan Guan Yu Shen Li Zhu Zuo Quan Min Shi Jiu

Fen An Jian Shi Yong Fa Lv Ruo Gan Wen Ti De Jie Shi) (

).50 Article 26 of the PRC Anti-unfair Competition Law (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Fan Bu Zheng Dang Jing

Zheng Fa) ().51 Article 29 of the Measures on the Payment of Litigation Fees (Su Song Fei Yong Jiao Na Ban Fa) (

).52 Article 3 of Some Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Evidence in Civil Procedures (Zui Gao Ren Min

Fa Yuan Guan Yu Min Shi Su Song Zheng Ju De Ruo Gan Gui Ding) (

).53See Anna Gilbert et al., Production of Documents in Cross-Border Arbitration: Bridging the Cultural Divide 4,Mayer Browns International Arbitration Perspective (Winter 2011) 1, available athttp://www.mayerbrown.com/publications/article.asp?id=10245; see also Richard W. Wigley & Xu Jing,EvidenceCollection and Alternatives to "Discovery" in P.R.C. Litigation(April 15, 2011), available athttp://www.chinalawinsight.com/2011/04/articles/dispute-resolution/evidence-collection-and-alternatives-to-discovery-in-prc-litigation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChinaLawInsight+%28China+Law+Insight%29.54 Articles 54 and 55 of the PRC Civil Procedural Law (Zhong Hua Ren Min Gong He Guo Min Shi Su Song Fa) (

).55 Article 1 of the Notice of the Supreme People's Court on Accepting Joint Action Cases by the People's Courts (Zui

Gao Ren Min Fa Yuan Guan Yu Ren Min Fa Yuan Shou Li Gong Tong Su Song An Jian Wen Ti De Tong Zhi) (

).56 Yang Yanyan (), Future of Reform of Chinas Class Actions System (Lun Wo Guo Qun Ti Su Song Zhi Du

Gai Ge De Fang Xiang) (), Political Science and Law (), Jan. 2009,at 111.57 Article 4 of the Notice of the Supreme People's Court on the Relevant Issues concerning the Acceptance of Casesof Disputes over Civil Tort Arising from False Statement in the Securities Market (Zui Gao Ren Min Fa Yuan Guan


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Yu Shou Li Zheng Quan Shi Chang Yin Xu Jia Chen Shu Yin Fa De Min Shi Qin Quan Jiu Fen An Jian You Guan

Wen Ti De Tong Zhi) ().58 Tom Chow,Response to Charlie McElwees China Environmental Law Blog(March 28, 2008),http://www.chinaenvironmentallaw.com/2008/03/28/onward-green-warriors/.