What China is doing a great job on is passing laws. No shortage of those. Enforcement, however, still has a ways to go. It’s similar to the situation where we/you tell an employee they are not doing a very good job, but pulling the trigger and firing them …. well, that’s a whole different ball game and there are a lot of people out there in the US that can/t/won’t pull that “enforcement” trigger, and for any number of reasons (too much work, they have to be liked by everybody, the cost of firing will be painful and time consuming to bear, etc.).

What China has done in terms of building and starting a legal system from scratch in 30 years, is amazing. Still has a loooong way to go, but it’s amazing what they have done thus far. A law prof colleague of mine back east who knows China much better than I do likens the current Chinese legal system to the US legal system in the 1920s.

1. The rule of law is a necessary, though not a sufficient condition, for sustained economic growth.

2. Be sure to peruse the below posts from Dan Harris and Steve Dickinson of China Law Blog fame. They are both outstanding attorneys and over the years they have been involved in a number of legal matters on the ground in China. They argue that the the contention by many Westerners that China currently has little or no rule of law is more fact that fiction, including that argument as it applies to business cases and disputes, and especially when put into the context that the Chinese started from scratch 20 to 30 years ago.

See, e.g.:

China’s Courts Are Fair

China Legal: Do Not Try This At Home

China’s Law Enforcement Rising

Steve Dickinson on the State of China’s Law: Common Business Mistakes and Misperceptions

China Moving Towards Rule of Commercial Law