中国合同法英文版

CONTRACT LAW OF P. R. CHINA

Adopted and Promulgated by the Second Session of the Ninth National People‘s Congress on March 15, 1999.

Translated & Compiled by John Jiang & Henry Liu

GENERAL PRINCIPLES

Chapter One: General Provisions

Article 1 Purpose

This Law is formulated in order to protect the lawful rights and interests of contract parties, to safeguard social and economic order, and to promote socialist modernization.

Article 2 Definition of Contract; Exclusions

For purposes of this Law, a contract is an agreement between natural persons, legal persons or other organizations with equal standing, for the purpose of establishing, altering, or discharging a relationship of civil rights and obligations.

An agreement concerning any personal relationship such as marriage, adoption, guardianship, etc. shall be governed by other applicable laws.

Article 3 Equal Standing of Parties

Contract parties enjoy equal legal standing and neither party may impose its will on the other party.

Article 4 Right to Enter into Contract Voluntarily

A party is entitled to enter into a contract voluntarily under the law, and no entity or individual may unlawfully interfere with such right.

Article 5 Fairness

The parties shall abide by the principle of fairness in prescribing their respective rights and obligations.

Article 6 Good Faith

The parties shall abide by the principle of good faith in exercising their rights and performing their obligations.

Article 7 Legality

In concluding or performing a contract, the parties shall abide by the relevant laws and administrative regulations, as well as observe social ethics, and may not disrupt social and economic order or harm the public interests.