Biweekly Symposium No. 523: The Paradigmatic Innovation of the Economy and Rule of Law

Lecturer: Professor JI Weidong

Host: Professor ZHANG Shuguang, Chairman of Unirule Academic Committee

Commentators: GAO Quanxi, WANG Jianxun, SHENG Hong

Professor JI Weidong thought the development of China’s rule of law was mainly pushed forward by the economic research in China. After the establishment of the socialist market economy in the 1990s, one of the slogans back then was the economy of the rule of law, which later facilitated the civil and commercial laws, and the judicial reforms.

He also emphasized that the power of the state in China was extremely strong. As the rule of law is a restrictive institutional design for the power of the state, then what is the motive and reason for the state to accept such an arrangement? The modernization process of the European countries started from the feudal era where the power of the kings were constrained by the power of the church, which guaranteed the objective conditions for advocating the rule of law. But in China, the modernization process was promoted by the central government and the power and capacity of the government was very strong. Why would the government put constraints on itself? Of course the public pressure works to some extent, but what’s more important was competition.

Professor JI Weidong thought three competitive factors made China go to the rule of law. The first factor is the marketization. Once the competition mechanism comes to work with the market economy, it is of critical important to have a fair order and fair competitions. Then the problem of rules and orders will come into being. So, marketization will push forward China’s rule of law. Secondly, the divergence of the interest groups will occur as the market distinguishes the weak from the strong, the laborers from the investors. The competition between those interest groups will have to be expressed somehow. Certain standards of justice have to be created. Therefore, the objectivity, neutrality, and justice of the government will have to be addressed. A last factor is the democracy within the party.