Characteristic Performance Of The Contract In The Conflict Rules Of The Method

In most European countries,"characteristic performance"has been adopted to determine applicable law to contracts for years. The concept of"characteristic performance"itself has been evolving with the development of international trade."1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations"(hereinafter as"Rome Convention") was the first international convention which introduced the concept. It adopts a structure of"presumptions"+"exceptions", aimed to build a clear-cut and stable struction of conflict rules. For all doubts and criticisms,"characteristic performance"was still the choice of Regulation 593/2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligation (hereinafter as "Rome I Regulation"), which is the replacement of Rome Convention.Besides the criticisms which have been existing since the concept of"characteristic performance"was born, e.g. lack of flexibility, there are some other criticisms for its bias against"the weaker party". In fact, the conflict rules regarding contracts resemble those in Europe. This article intends to analyze the concept of"characteristic performance", discuss its merits and flaws, compares the current Chinese conflict rules with mainly those in the European continent, and explores room for future improvement.