ABSTRACT
13.1 As China is a typical civil law country, statutory law is the main legal source for cargo insurance. The Insurance Law, 2 which was legislated in 1995 and amended twice in 2002 and 2009, is a comprehensive law in the field of insurance that covers every aspect of insurance, ranging from life and property insurance contracts to regulations or rules in respect of insurance business applying to insurers, agents, brokers as well as regulatory bodies. Having realised the important and unique characteristics of marine insurance, the Chinese legislator enacted the Maritime Code, effective 1 July 1993, having an insertion, Chapter 12 “Contract of Marine Insurance”, even before the Insurance Law 1995. This chapter applies to contracts of marine insurance whereby “maritime perils”, including “perils occurring on inland rivers or on land which are related to a maritime adventure”, are covered. 3 As legislators of the same level produce both the Insurance Law and the Maritime Code, the latter would take precedence over the former when it comes to marine insurance, and the former only steps in if no specific rule under the latter can be referred to. 4 Due to the split between the Insurance Law and the Maritime Code, some of the legal rules for marine and non-marine insurance are different to some extent, and these will be pointed out as appropriate in this chapter. It should also be mentioned that there are two more general statutory laws, the Contract Law and the General Principles of the Civil Law, applicable to cargo insurance, although they do not operate very often.
