Study Of Commercial Disputes Between Chinese Merchants And Western Merchants In The Period Of Late Qing

In the period of Co-hong system, the debt disputes between hong merchants and Western merchants were the main original shapes of commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants before or at the beginning of modern China. However, the Qing government's practice of solving these debt disputes obviously slipped to a mistaken idea of diplomacy. After the five ports had been opened, and with the west traders coming to China, the commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants became complicated, which were caused by two important reasons as the following: Firstly, the various kinds of behaviors of causing cases of the foreign traders'. Secondly, the tendency of some Chinese merchants searching for possessing Western nationality. The former had brought out more Commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants, but the latter had expanded the range of these commercial disputes and lawsuits. Moreover, in the choices of the tactics to solve commercial disputes, the foreign traders demonstrated a legal character that was "being liable to lawsuit", yet the Chinese merchants were characterized as a kind of extremely strong sense of "fearing lawsuit" by a completely latent.Investigating from dispute shapes, commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants were mainly the trade disputes and debt disputes in foreign trade in the early stage of late Qing Dynasty. Later, such new dispute shapes as notes, shipping, intellectual property rights, insurance, partnership, etc., appeared. In late Qing, under the official power, there were mainly several modes of solving the commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants as follows: diplomatic mode, the mode of Shanghai concession Mixed Court trying, the mode of Siazi joint hearing system between China and Russia, various levels of Judicial Bureaus trying mode and Western consular court in China trying mode. The carrying on diplomatic mode showed that commercial disputes and lawsuits between Chinese merchants and Western merchants in late Qing hadn't been freed from diplomacy fate from beginning to end. The Shanghai concession Mixed court trying mode, while pressing Chinese businessmen's just rights, formed a good model for modern China judicial transition of mechanism to a certain extent too. Siazi joint hearing system between China and Russia, drawing support from the national common law, was a kind of beneficial exploration of solving criminal and civil disputes, even the commercial disputes took place among the folks between China and Russia. Various levels of Judicial Bureaus were the result that the administration of justice was improved in the latter stage of Qing Dynasty. Its trying to Commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants had a great impact on consularjurisdiction. Western consular court in China, tried the commercial lawsuits regarding foreign traders as the defendants, according to the Western substantive law and procedure law. This trying mode while corroding China's judicial right formed a kind of demonstration effect to modem China judicial changes of system too.In the course of settlement of the commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants, the association of dealers such as the traditional commercial guild and chamber of commerce, etc., played an important role in it. In the period of late Qing, the boycott advocated by Chinese commercial guild to resist foreign traders appeared again and again. It was one of the commercial dispute shapes that magnified as well as a Chinese merchants' behavior of relieving oneself on commercial common law to struggle with foreign traders too. And chamber of commerce as the new-type commercial association in late Qing period solved directly the commercial disputes taking place between Chinese merchants and Western merchants through various kinds of forms too, and formed beneficial interaction with the official system in the commercial action between them.The commercial disputes between Chinese merchants and Western merchants took place in late period of Qing Dynasty, as the social relationships in a kind of legal category had exerted the influence that could not be underestimated on the Chinese law changes in the transformation period. First of all, it has promoted its breaking away from outdated traditional modes of thought of law in the modem Chinese merchants, and has promoted China's modem commercial common law to slough off. Moreover, it has promoted the formulation of the civil law and commercial law in modem China, and played a certain catalysis role in the modem transition of China's traditional judicial system.