Debt collection in the less developed regions of China: An empirical study from a basic-level court in Shaanxi province

China Quarterly

Volumn , Issue 206, 2011, Pages 253-275

  He, Xin ^a  

^a CITY UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG   (Hong Kong)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

DEBT; EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS; LAW ENFORCEMENT; LEGAL SYSTEM; LEGISLATION;

CHINA; SHAANXI;

EID: 79960206773     PISSN: 03057410     EISSN: 14682648     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0305741011000257     Document Type: Article

References (72)

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2. Half of China's civil court rulings remain on paper," People's Daily, 13 March 2004, available online at http://english.people.com.cn/200403/ 13/eng20040313-137390.shtml, accessed 20 April 2007. The title of the article indicates that half of the civil court rulings are not enforced. The article specifically mentions that according to some official estimates, the enforcement rate on loans borrowed by SOEs from banks is only 12%.
3. Tong Ji, "2003 nian Zhongguo fayue de shenpan he zhixing zhuangkuang" ("The basic situations with regard to adjudication and enforcement of Chinese courts in 2003"), Renmin sifa (People's Judiciary), Vol. 3 (2004), pp. 77-78.
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6. for similar comments, see generally Donald Clarke, "Economic development and the rights hypothesis: The China problem," American Journal Comparative Law, Vol. 51 (2003), pp. 89-111;
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8. Stanley Lubman, Bird in a Cage (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999); Minxin Pei, "Does legal reform protect economic transactions? Commercial disputes in China," in Peter Murrell (ed.), Assessing the Value of Law in Transition Economics (Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2001), pp. 180-210;
9. Michael Moser (ed.), Managing Business Disputes in Today's China: Dueling with Dragons (Leiden: Kluwer Law International, 2007).
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15. Minxin Pei et al., "A survey with corporate litigants in Shanghai," on file with the author (2007);
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21. Douglass C. North, Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990);
22. Oliver Williamson, The Economic Institutions of Capitalism (New York: Free Press, 1985);
23. Xin He, "Enforcing commercial judgments," p. 424.
24. All socio-economic information comes from local annals.
25. Zhu Jing-wen, China Legal Development Report.
26. "Susongfei jiaona banfa" ("Measures for taking litigation fees"), issued on 19 December 2006 by the State Council and implemented on 1 April 2007, available online at http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/ 2006-12/30/content-5549692.htm, accessed 29 December 2009.
27. Yong'an Liao and Shenggang Li, "Woguo minshi susong feiyong zhidu zhi yunxing xianzhuang" ("The current operational status of the system of civil litigation fees in China"), Zhongwai faxue (Peking University Law Journal ), Vol. 3 (2005), pp. 304-27;
28. Xin He, "Enforcing commercial judgments." But some judges noted in court that this practice has already been abandoned since the financial pressure was lightened after the central government started subsidizing courts in the hinterland regions in 2007.
29. A sample containing 60-80 cases would probably present a picture of the normal distribution.
30. Weiying Zhang and Yongzhu Ke, "Susong guocheng zhong de nixiang xuanze jiqi jieshi" ("Reverse choice in the litigation process and its explanation"), Zhongguo shehui kexue (Social Sciences in China), Vol. 2 (2002), pp. 31-43;
31. Xin He, "Enforcing commercial judgments."
32. In September 2002 a judicial policy on mediation was promulgated, re-emphasizing higher mediation and withdrawal rates. See "Guanyu shenli sheji minshi anjian de youguan guiding" ("Several stipulations on adjudicating mediation-related cases"), promulgated by the SPC.
33. Usually the benefits include a lower appeal rate and a simpler court decision.
34. Interview with Judge A, 14 November 2008.
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36. Interviews.
37. Lubman, Bird in a Cage.
38. Jun Ma and Meili Niu, "Modernizing public budgeting and financial management in China," in Howard A. Frank (ed.), Public Financial Management (Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis, 2006), pp. 691-736.
39. This happened when the new measures with regard to litigation fees (effective in 2007) led to serious financial shortage for the courts in less developed regions.
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42. Zhongyang zhengfawei: Dongyuan shehui liliang, qieshi jiejue zhixing nan" ("Central Political-Legal Committee: Mobilize the resources of society, conscientiously solve the problem of court enforcement"), Xinhua, available online at http://news.xinhuanet.com/legal/2006-01/23/content-4090238. htm, accessed 29 December 2008.
43. Article 18 of "Renmin fayuan wu nian gaige de gangyao" ("The five-year reform outlines") states: "The court decisions shall be rendered by the chief adjudicator or the sole adjudicator according to the law by 2000." Promulgated by the SPC on 20 October 1999.
44. Interviews with Judges A and D.
45. Interviews.
46. Not all the plaintiffs were in a position to respond to this question, because some of them withdrew their cases almost immediately after they had filed the lawsuits. Overall, only 18 cases, or 30%, entered into the compulsory enforcement stage. Only this group of plaintiffs experienced the court's enforcement abilities.
47. In the Pearl River Delta study, 71% held positive views on the adjudication phase, and only 32% were negative about the enforcement phase. See Xin He, "Enforcing commercial judgments," p. 455.
48. Michelson, Popular Attitudes towards Dispute Processing.
49. Tom Tyler, Why People Obey the Law (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990).
50. The standard has been replaced with the new one and the court now is completely observant of the new standard issued by the State Council in April 2007.
51. Kathryn Hendley's study on the Russian courts, "Enforcing judgments in Russian economic courts," Post-Soviet Affairs, Vol. 20, No. 1 (2004), pp. 46-82.
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55. Committee on Post-Judgment Collection Procedures in the Special Civil Part, "Report to the Supreme Court of New Jersey," New Jersey Law Journal, No. 2 (1993), quoted in Clarke, "The execution of civil judgments in China," p. 34.
56. Interview with Judge E.
57. Landry, "The institutional diffusion of courts in China," pp. 207-34.
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61. Minxin Pei, "Does legal reform protect economic transactions?" pp. 180-210.
62. Peerenboom, "Seek truth from facts," pp. 249-327
63. Friven Yeoh, "Enforcement and dispute outcomes," discussing the enforcement of foreign-related arbitration awards in China, in Moser, Managing Business Disputes in Today's China, pp. 289-90.
64. From the context of the China Law and Governance Review 2004 and Tong Ji, "The basic situations with regard to adjudication and enforcement," at p. 78, one does not know if the enforcement rate refers to full performance, nor if the remainder was only partially enforced or not enforced at all.
65. Tong Ji, "The basic situations with regard to adjudication and enforcement," at p. 78.
66. Robert Sharlet, "Stalinism and Soviet legal culture," in Robert C. Tucker (ed.), Stalinism: Essays in Historical Interpretation (New York: Norton, 1977), pp. 155-79;
67. Yulin Fu and Randall Peerenboom, "A new analytic framework for understanding and promoting judicial independence in China," in Randall Peerenboom (ed.), Judicial Independence in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010), pp. 95-133.
68. Clarke, "The execution of civil judgments in China," pp. 65-81;
69. Randall Peerenboom, China's Long March toward Rule of Law (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 450-512;
70. Kenneth Dam, The Law-Growth Nexus (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2006);
71. Trebilcock and Leng, "The role of formal contract law and enforcement in economic development," pp. 1517-80;
72. Xin He, "Enforcing commercial judgments," pp. 419-57.