ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the continuing civilian influence on Chinese law through the specific example of the law on the transfer of ownership of corporeal movable property. In line with a perception that “the fundamental concepts and principles of Chinese civil law originate essentially from the German paradigm”, art. 224–228 of the new Civil Code provide for transfer by delivery, with very similar rules to those found in the German BGB. This chapter will consider two issues. First, it will consider the development of the Chinese law on the transfer of ownership of corporeal movable property up to its present form, as found in the Chinese Civil Code. Second, it will take this development as a starting point to consider the reception process of Western legal ideas in China.
