As we begin to drown in the morass of statutes and
administrative regulations that have spewed forth from China's
law making bureaucracies in the last 30 years, expectations of
China's legal system have increased to the extent that
multinationals are now asking "how is this regulation
interpreted?" or "is there a precedent?" These are
perfectly reasonable questions for business people looking for
certainty in the law, but sadly the answers are rarely
comforting.
The overarching reason for this uncertain state of affairs is
political: the interpretation of laws and regulations is generally
reserved to the bureaucracies that made them and others who are
responsible for enforcing them. The courts thus have little say in
the matter. We could end our discussion here, but the legal
position is obviously more nuanced and worthy of further
investigation.
