On China's Foreign Trade Agency System

As a method of intentional business agency is prevail in developed country. It is actual demand to adopt agency in our foreign trade. To adopt agency is one content of reform and develop our foreign trade from the middle period of 1980's. But the effect of more than ten years was not very well. Trade Agency is an important mode in our import and export business. With the improvement of our Foreign Trade system, the new Law of Foreign Trade enters in force. But new problems come out and need to be solved during the practice. So it is very important for us to study the Foreign Trade system. And this article makes a simple discussion about our Foreign Trade system.In this article, the writer points out the outstanding problem is the absence of unite and definite laws of Foreign Trade Agency, unable to definite Foreign Trade Agency, and unclear rights and duties among the parties. And these are basic reasons of many disputes in the Foreign Trade Agency business.This article reviewed the history of Foreign Trade Agency. By the method of comparison, it studied the fundamental principles of commercial agency of Civil Law System and Common Law System, compared the their similarities and differences, and explored the international convention on uniform statute and application of laws on commercial agency. Basedon the study of the theory of Civil Law System and Common Law System, this article cleared the meaning of Foreign Trade Agency and studied the relationships among the parties and the improvement of their rights and duties. We can adopt the undisclosed agency from Common Law System. Once one who acts as agent for an undisclosed principal, the principal is bound by and liable for the acts. One who acts as agent but he fails to disclose his agency and identity the principal, the agent makes himself first personally liable to the acts, and then the principal becomes liable to the agent on the contract, but the principal has the right to join in the contract and the third person has the alternative rights. Without the consent of his principal the agent can not engage in competition with the former or gain any unfair advantage or secret profit in agency transaction, and the agent has the duty to clarify it.In order to normalizing Foreign Trade Agency business and protecting the legal rights of each party, it is necessary to unite the laws of Foreign Trade Agency, join in the Convention on Agency in the International Sale of Goods and improve China Foreign Trade Agency. Base on these above mentioned, this article put forward countermeasures and suggestions to improve and refine the agency system in China.