Even though China has no rule of law tradition, it has been making rapid progress – since 1978 when the policy of opening-up was adopted – in setting up a legal system that is supportive of a market economy. This paper contains a comprehensive overview of legal reforms in China. Section 2 summarizes the reforms over the last 20 years and describes the prospects for further reform. Section 3 describes constitutional reforms since 1949, including the important reform of March 1999 which has written into the Constitution the principle of the rule of law. This section also describes reforms in various areas of public law, including criminal law and criminal procedure; administrative law; regulatory powers of the government; and describes the changing role of the People’s Congress. Section 4—which is the lengthiest—describes reforms in private law. Successively, the paper reviews corporate legislation, securities, competition, consumer protection, labor law, intellectual property, finance and guarantees. Section 5 covers social security as well as environmental protection. Section 6 discusses legal reforms that affect rural areas. Section 7 covers judicial reform issues, including combating corruption; open trials; the lay assessor system; township courts; dispute resolution issues; and the enforcement of judgements. Finally, section 8 concludes by discussing how to promote legality in China and the role of lawyers. ; Obwohl China keine langfristige Erfahrung mit Gesetzgebung hat, die eine Marktwirtschaft begünstigt, hat es seit der Politik der Öffnung im Jahr 1978 große Fortschritte in diesem Bereich gemacht. Dieser Beitrag bietet einen Überblick über die entsprechenden Gesetzesreformen in China. Teil 2 faßt die Reformen der letzten 20 Jahre zusammen und beschreibt die Aussichten für weitere Reformen. Teil 3 beschreibt die konstitutionellen Reformen seit 1949 einschließlich der wichtigen Reformen vom März 1999, welche in der Verfassung das „Principle of the Rule of Law“ verankerten. Dieser Teil beschreibt auch ...