The Legal Dimension of the Relation Between the Chinese Communist Party and the Private Economy: A Perspective of the Article 19 of the Company Law

Chinese economic development has been driven, among other factors, by the gradual expansion of the private economy and the establishment of Chinese-based multinational corporations recognized as “champions” of the Chinese economy. At the same time, the Chinese Communist Party strives to maintain proper coordination mechanisms over the Chinese private economy, in order to ensure the harmonization between private and public interests. Does such policy direction, pursued by the Chinese leadership, rely on legal mechanisms? Does the Chinese Communist Party have legal instruments at its disposal in order to carry out coordinative functions concerning the private economy? The issue, although acknowledged by several scholars, has been rarely the object of a comprehensive legal analysis, taking into account the interactions between the different legal formants of the Chinese system. The purpose of this paper is to sketch an outline of the main legal mechanisms empowering the Chinese Communist Party to supervise and coordinate the activity of private economic operators. Starting from the assessment of some recent developments, embodied in «Opinions on Strengthening the United Front Work in the Private Economy in the New Era» issued in September 2020, the analysis will try to identify some of the most relevant legal provisions aimed at ensuring Party supervision over the private economy, in particular Art. 19 of the Company Law. Such provisions will be analyzed not only within the context of the recent developments of Chinese economic law, but also with regard to its practical applications by courts, in order to define the scope, in concrete, of Party activities in the private economy. The information gathered and analyzed will then be taken as conceptual basis to draw some conclusions regarding the structural role of the Chinese Communist Party in the development of Chinese commercial and economic law.