Xianchu Zhang on Class Action in China (new book chapter)

"A Question of Class Action in China"
Xianchu Zhang
in Robin Hui Huang (ed.), Enforcement of Corporate and Securities Law: China and the World (Cambridge University Press, Aug 2017), pp.123-137

Introduction: Public investor protection has been a serious concern in China's security market.  The recently initiated overhaul of the Securities Law has triggered a new round of debate on introducing class action as a legal mechanism into China to improve the condition of investor protection.  Although the idea was raised a long time ago, and a promise was made in as early as 2005 by Shang Fulin, the then chairman of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) to establish such a system by 2010, the latest draft amendment submitted to the national legislature seems to retreat from the commitment.  Some experts have warned that failure to adopt class action rules this time would be self-defeating to the very purpose of the amendment.  This chapter will briefly examine the practice, policy and debate in this regard in the past two decades and reflect the difficulties and institutional challenges concerning the introduction.