China’s Bankruptcy Law Odyssey: Exploration, Promotion, and Reform (2007–2022)

This article examines the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law of the People’s Republicof China (EBL), from its establishment in 2007 through 2022. It builds on theframework of Judge Zhang Hengzhu, segmenting the development into threestages: Exploration, Promotion, and Reform. The analysis commences with theExploration Stage (2007–2011), highlighting initial challenges in establishinga corporate bankruptcy regime. It then transitions to the Promotion Stage(2011–2015), marked by the Wenzhou financial crisis and subsequent effortsto streamline and publicise bankruptcy procedures. The final phase, Reform,is broken into two periods. The early period (2015–2018), observed significantlegal reforms leading to a surge in bankruptcy filings. The next period, (2019–2022) witnessed global reforms with China placing a revised EBL on thelegislative agenda. The article underscores the EBL’s pivotal role in China’seconomic transformation, detailing its influence on corporate restructuring,creditor rights, and the handling of “zombie companies”.