Dispute Resolution in China

Reviews / Votes

Professor Gu's wonderful study of dispute resolution processes in China explores important issues of procedural law, including the substantial reforms attempted in recent years in response to the economic transformation and social changes that have been taking place in China. The insightful analysis offered by Professor Gu locates developments in the legal and institutional framework of civil litigation, arbitration, mediation and mixed dispute resolution in their social and cultural contexts. Among other key themes, this important book argues that the system which has emerged is more a project of social transformation than it is of legal development, especially in areas of dispute resolution that are less directly linked to the functioning of the economic system.

Michael Palmer, Emeritus Professor of Law, University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS); Senior Research Fellow, University of London Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS). "One of the best works on dispute resolution in China, this timely and insightful study offers an unrivalled account of the changing landscape of commercial dispute resolution in China. Against the background of China's ever-expanding commercial influence, it offers an invaluable and impressively informed guide to the multiplicity of approaches to civil disputes in China, formal and informal, and shines a fresh light on topics which often seem mysterious, and are often misunderstood. Original and rich in its analysis, it is stimulating reading for anyone interested in comparative law, civil procedure, and in how legal institutions are shaped by their social, political and economic context. The author deserves congratulations on a fascinating work, which is scholarly and absorbing and assured of its place in the literature."

Richard Fentiman QC (Cambridge Law Faculty) - Professor of Private International Law and Former Dean

"This is an impressive study of dispute resolution in China covering litigation, arbitration, mediation and mixed processes. A particular strength is its extensive research and its academic contribution and impact on the topic of civil and commercial dispute resolution in China from a comparative, empirical and contextual perspective. There are also law and society and law and economics assessments. This is most certainly now the most comprehensive and definitive analysis on the topic."

Loukas Mistelis (Queen Mary University of London School of Law) - Clive M Schmitthoff Professor of Transnational Commercial Law and Arbitration

"Professor Gu has produced the state-of the-art study of civil dispute resolution in China. Covering the entire dynamic landscape, it chronicles changing developments and continued experimentation, while providing an intelligent roadmap for productive reforms. The book will be essential reading for China law scholars, but also for practitioners and business leaders who work with Chinese partners."

Tom Ginsburg (Chicago Law School) - Leo Spitz Professor of International Law and Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

"Gu's book is a must for scholars and practitioners who really want to understand the development on commercial dispute resolution in China: insightful, resourceful, exhaustive. One of the best works on dispute resolution in China."

Franco Ferrari (NYU Law School) - Professor of Law and Director, Center for Transnational Litigation, Arbitration and Commercial Law

"One of the finest works on dispute resolution in China, this book is essential reading for everyone interested in the evolution of civil and commercial dispute resolution in China. The book blends empirical analysis with a thorough understanding of the economic and social transformation of dispute resolution in China. It highlights China's salient divergence from international dispute resolution systems. Gu's outstanding book is both a compelling manifesto and an indispensable pathway into the future."

Leon Trakman (UNSW Law School) - Professor of Law and Former Dean

"Dr Weixia Gu has produced a highly valuable work that examines the current regime for resolution of civil commercial disputes in China. Dr Gu goes well beyond the existing English language treatments of the subject to fully examine the legal principles, literature and practice relating to dispute resolution in China. The book also considers the topic through the prism of law and development and the immense recent changes in Chinese society. It is an impressive book."

Richard Garnett (Melbourne Law School) - Professor of Law

"Professor Gu's Dispute Resolution in China: Litigation, Arbitration, Mediation and their Cross-Interactions is an outstanding study of how civil litigation, commercial arbitration, and mediation have responded to, reformed, and developed in the context of China's transformational economic growth and societal development of the last two decades. Gu analyzes the different degrees to which mediation and litigation remain politicized and continue to prioritize social stability, often at the expense of rights; the extent to which civil litigation has evolved to address public interest objectives, especially with respect to environmental and consumer issues; and the way in which commercial arbitration, uniquely among the three principal methods of dispute resolution, has transcended traditional socio-political constraints in favor of market-driven international standards, with the support of the Chinese judiciary. Gu offers invaluable comparative assessments of "top down" versus "bottom up" changes in China's dispute resolution discourse, along with compelling empirical analyses in support of her arguments. An indispensable comprehensive study, Gu's book makes an exceptional contribution to the literature on contemporary dispute resolution in China. It is a "must read" for legal scholars, social scientists, lawyers, policymakers and business leaders alike who focus on Chinese law and dispute resolution."

Philip J. McConnaughay (Peking University School of Transnational Law) - Dean and Professor of Law

"Professor Gu's wonderful study of dispute resolution processes in China explores important issues of procedural law, including the substantial reforms attempted in recent years in response to the economic transformation and social changes that have been taking place in China. The insightful analysis offered by Professor Gu locates developments in the legal and institutional framework of civil litigation, arbitration, mediation and mixed dispute resolution in their social and cultural contexts. Among other key themes, this important book argues that the system which has emerged is more a project of social transformation than it is of legal development, especially in areas of dispute resolution that are less directly linked to the functioning of the economic system."

Michael Palmer (University of London School of Oriental and African Studies) - Emeritus Professor of Law and Former Head