Preface to the Revised Edition of 2017
Immediately after the release of the second edition,the “Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court on the Application of the Civil Procedure Law” (hereinafter referred to as Interpretation on CPL) was put into effect.Effective as of February 4,2015,the Interpretation on CPL has made substantial changes in almost every aspect of Chinese civil procedure law including the rules governing international civil litigation.Moreover,since the fourth Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee held in October 2014,judicial reform in China has achieved crucial breakthrough which,inevitably,influences the development of Chinese private international law in many respects.On March 15,2017,the NPC passed the General Provisions of Civil Law,which is regarded as a milestone in China’s legislation.Needless to say,these changes have significant impact on China’s private international law.Hence,I decide to revise the book though the interval between this edition and its predecessor is relatively short.
In order to reflect the changes in private international law both at home and abroad during the past two years,much of the work has been re-written,expanded or revised.The main changes made by this edition are these:
(1) Chapter One in Part Two on the European Continental history contains a new section on Europeanization of private international law,as EU private international law has gathered pace following the establishment of Community competence in private international law by the Treaty of Amsterdam.The influence of EU private international law is now considerable and looks likely to increase.
(2) Chapter Two in Part Four on international civil litigation in Chinese People’s Courts and relevant chapters in Parts Three and Six have been revised and expanded to take account of the Interpretation on CPL,the General Provisions of Civil Law and the latest development of China’s judicial reform.
(3) This edition covers more issues for the purpose of making the textbook more systematic and comprehensive,for instance,Part Five contains a new chapter on mandatory rules as the notion of mandatory rules has excited much attention in the private international law academy; in addition,Chapter Two in Part Five has now been expanded to cover both renvoi and the incidental question.(https://www.daowen.com)
(4) Part Eight on the latest development of private international law legislation in China contained in the previous editions has been eliminated in order to systematise and optimize the structure of the book.The content of this part is not simply discarded; instead,most relevant issues have been incorporated into other parts of the book.
(5) Slips of the pen and the arguments that had invited debate have been either corrected or improved.
The edition endeavours to state the law as on March 15,2017,though it has been possible to include some more recent legislation.
HUO Zhengxin
April 3,2017