China's legal system is characterized by the gap between law and reality. Focusing on regulatory law, and with reference to the foreign investment area, this book identifies the functional and structural problems within China's administrative legal system that perpetuate this gap. Topics examined in depth include China's unusual hierarchy of legislation, the lack of clear delineation between legal and policy norms, the great scope of discretion accorded to bodies charged with legal interpretation and implementation, the limited scope of judicial review, and the resulting problems of legislative inconsistency and haphazard legal enforcement. The book contends that China's legal system is being built on a faulty and incomplete basis, and that if these problems remain unaddressed, China's legal future is at risk.
