On 28 October 2010, the Standing Committee of the Eleventh National People's Congress adopted China's first statute on the Conflict of Laws: the ‘Act on the Application of Laws over Foreign-related Civil Relationships’ (‘Conflicts Act’).1 The adoption was an historic event in Chinese legislative history, as it indicates China has modernised its conflict-of-law rules after many years of unremitting efforts made by legislators and scholars. More importantly, it means that ‘a socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics’ has been successfully established, and allows China to claim to have a systematic legal system.2