On China's Market Economy Status And Role Of Public And Private Law

Originated from ancient Roman law, the division between public law and private law isnow universally accepted as an elementary classification of law all over the world, while thedivergence still exists on the classification criteria. The traditional ways of classificationhave their own advantages and disadvantages, and the advisable way is to make a divisionbetween the relations of the power and that of the right, which are the social relationsregulated by law. The division between public law and private law is based on the profoundfoundation of economy, society and legal system. In modern society, there is a tendency thatpublic law and private law are converging. For a period of time, the division between publiclaw and private law are denied by the socialist state where the planned economy is executed.After the reform and opening, along with the establishment of the market economy system, itis necessary for us to admit the division between public law and private law, which is therequirement of the development of the market economy on law. Meanwhile, the developmentof legal system in our country will show that public law tends to have the characteristic ofprivate law. There are not only differences but also connections between public law andprivate law, which have the antagonistic and unitary relations. The market economy emergesfrom the planned economy in China, which decides that we should regard the doctrine of thesupremacy of private law as a guiding principle to improve the legal system of the socialistmarket economy in China. The socialist market economy is executed in China where privatelaw puts emphasis on keeping the basic operation of the market economy order, while publiclaw focuses on guaranteeing the operation of the entire national economy and the order ofthe market competition. So they should cooperate closely and interact positively to promoteour market economy to develop healthily and orderly.