MAURO BUSSANI / IVAN CARDILLO / MARTA INFANTINO / JUN XUE
"When discussing about China in the global competition of legal models, lawyers tend to repeat a story that starts at the beginning of the nineteenth century, which revolves around Western legal models and, quite unsurprisingly, is deeply Western- centric. Western- centrism explains the time- frame and point of departure chosen for unfolding this story, as well as the emphasis the story poses on post- Westphalian legal institutions, the downplay of pre- existing alternative legal models, its espousal of the idea that the industrialized West is the acme of civilization, and its delicate silence about the crudest forms of Western imperialism and colonialism. In the limited space available, the chapter aims to tell another version of the same story: a version that begins much before the nineteenth century and takes place on the Eastern side of the Eurasian continent. As such, after summarizing Section 2's contemporary mainstream narratives, Section 3 will briefly recall the significance of Chinese civilization in the world's history from a long- term perspective. Section 4 will confirm such significance through a rapid overview of data historically associated with the Middle Kingdom. As the next two sections will argue, it is against this historical and cultural background that one should appreciate the meaning of the ccc (Section 5) and its contribution to putting China back in its traditional position vis- à- vis the world at large (Section 6). Section 7 will draw some observations on the role that Chinese law is likely to play in what is often dubbed the China century"-
