Reshaping Private International Law in China: The Statutory Reform of Tort Conflicts

This article reviews the statutory reform of Chinese private international law fromthe perspective of tort conflicts which concludes that notwithstanding the significantimprovement, the new Private International Law Act of China are fraught withvarious defects. In the field of tort, Article 44 are problematic in three aspects: first,the key term‘ habitual residence’lacks an objective definition; second, the rationalityof an automatic preference to the law of the common habitual residence over the lexloci delicti is open to doubt; third, there is little, if any, practicability to introduce thenotion that the parties may choose the applicable law after the tort has happened. Moreover, there are a number of defects or problems with Article 45, Article 46 andArticle 50 of the Act, respectively. What’s more, the Act neglects some otherimportant types of torts which call for special treatment, say, unfair competition, andenvironmental pollution, nuclear damage and traffic accidents. In the end, the articleputs forward the corresponding suggestions for improvement.