The enterprise legislation in China has obtained outstanding development since the reform and opening up policy was established in the Third Meeting of the Eleventh Session of Chinese Communist Party in 1978. Especially after the reform goal of establishing the socialist market economy system was put forward in the Fourteenth Session of Chinese Communist Party in October 1992, the enterprise legislation in China has entered into a new development period, that is transferring from the traditional enterprise legislation method which is based on the categories of ownership and industries to the new method which is based on the categories of different contribution and responsibility bearing methods in market economy.
The Company Law was formulated in December 1993, the Partnership Law was formulated in February 1997, and the Law of Solely Invested Individual Enterprises was formulated in August 1999. At present legislation on the Law of Stock Cooperative Enterprises is in progress. Almost all kinds of enterprises registered with the industrial and commercial registration administration authorities since reform and opening up could be regulated through the Company Law, the Partnership Law, the Law of Solely Invested Individual Enterprises, the Law of Stock Cooperative Enterprises, the Law of State Owned Enterprises, the Law of Collective Enterprises and the Law of Solely Foreign Invested Enterprises. The new structural system of the enterprises law of China in the socialist market economy system could be formed.
China has entered into the WTO, has accumulated experience on the operation of enterprises law in the recent 20 years, and has been pushing forward revision of individual law in the present enterprises law system. After the first revision of the Company Law in December 1999 centering on setting up supervisory committee in solely state owned enterprises, and encouraging the incorporation of stock companies of the high-tech industries and their going public, it is prepared to revise the Company Law extensively to ensure the overall development of Chinese enterprises in global economic system and increase the international competitive strength of Chinese enterprises. The limited liability members are going to be acknowledged in the Partnership Law to encourage the development of venture enterprises. The Law of Foreign Invested Enterprises has been revised after China's entering into the WTO. Many scholars advocate that with the implementation of national treatment, the Law of Foreign Invested Enterprises should finally be abolished, the Chinese enterprises law and the Law of Foreign Invested Enterprises should be consolidated, and the law on encouragement of foreign investment may be formulated.
On the other hand, with the deepening of the reformof incorporation of Chinese enterprises, some scholars advocate to abolish the Law of Industrial Enterprises with Ownership by the Whole People, Regulations on Operation System Transformation of Industrial Enterprises with Ownership by the Whole People, while to formulate Regulations on Solely State Owned Enterprises, Regulations on State Hold Enterprises, the Law on the Implementation and Protection of State Shares, the Law on Administration of State Assets, etc., to change the circumstances that state corporations and state enterprises are existing, and to promote the incorporation of state enterprises. While in practice collective enterprises are mainly transformed to stock cooperative enterprises. However, as for the Law of Stock Cooperative Enterprises, people in the economic circle advocate continuous legislation, which are opposed by many people in the legal circle who maintain to formulate the Cooperative Law. In view of this, we prospect for the structural system of Chinese enterprises law constituted of the Company Law, the Partnership Law, the Law of Solely Invested Individual Enterprises and the Cooperative Law in near future. At present when the economic and trade cooperative relations of China and Korea are developing steadily, the Korean enterprises should pay more attention to the current situation and development trend of Chinese enterprises law, and properly grasp the legal form and operation characteristics of Chinese enterprises law.