Examining the Principle of Good Faith in Chinese Judicial Practice with a Focus on the New Civil Code (Enacted in 2021)

One of the important legal principles in law, especially in the realm of contracts, is the principle of good faith. In the Chinese legal system, both in previous laws and in the new Civil Code enacted in 2021, good faith is recognized. Chinese courts have no specific limitations based on the principle of good faith and sometimes consider the concepts of good faith and fairness to be interchangeable. In the Chinese legal system, the duty of good faith is not limited to the stage of contract execution, but both parties are obliged to observe good faith in all stages of a contractual relationship, from pre-contractual negotiations to contract dissolution and rejection of substitutes. The new Civil Code of China is the first comprehensive and complete law in the field of private law in China, which is derived from numerous past special laws but has many innovations in the field of contracts and contemporary issues such as environmental protection, smart contracts, etc. Therefore, it can be said that it is a pioneering and up-to-date law in this regard.