Timeline of the drafting process

(China Daily Global) Updated : 2021-03-05

October 2014: The Fourth Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China puts forward the task of compiling the Civil Code.

March 2015: The Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress begins formulating legislation for the code. The process is divided into two parts; the first for the General Provisions and the second for the six other sections.

March 2017: The NPC passes the code's General Provisions.

October 2017: The General Provisions of the Civil Code are unveiled.

August 2018 to December 2019: The NPC Standing Committee reviews six draft sections of the Civil Code and combines them with the General Provisions to provide the full text of the code. It submits the full version of the draft to the NPC for deliberation.

December 2019 to January 2020: The NPC Standing Committee seeks public opinion on the draft code. It receives more than 114,000 comments from 13,000 netizens.

May 2020: The NPC discusses the draft code. It is passed on May 28.

January: The Civil Code comes into effect.