Technology Contracts in the New Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China

Abstract

First formulated in 1987 and later revised in the Contract Act of 1999, Chinese law prescribes special rules for technology contracts. Together with interpretations of the Supreme People’s Court (SPC), these rules form the basis of the technology contract regulations in §§ 843–887 Civil Code. Although of eminent practical importance for the technology-driven economy of China, these regulations contain relatively little in terms of new content, and a further development of technology contract law is (still) left to commentary literature and case law. Both are covered by this article, with special consideration given to the extensive new commentaries of the SPC. Based on the SPC interpretations of technology contracts, the legislature has, for example, adopted regulations on the reimbursement of a contractor’s expenses under consulting or service contracts (§ 886 Civil Code). Important changes in the Civil Code also include a new systematic classification of technology licenses (in line with the prevailing opinion in commentary literature), and § 876 Civil Code provides for a significant extension of the scope of application of intellectual property in cases of a transfer or licensing of technology.