Rules and laws

摘要

Last October China's Communist Party announced an "extensive and profound revolution" aimed at establishing the rule of law by 2020. It was a tacit admission that the country so far has relied more on connections than on statutes and contracts. China did not permit private firms until 1992, and its legal sector is underdeveloped: it has $7.6 billion in annual revenues, or 0.1% of GDP, compared with more than 1% in big European countries. So scoffers abound. But on January 27th Dentons, a Western firm, merged with Da-cheng of China. Called Dacheng there and Dentons abroad, the new law firm is the world's biggest, displacing Baker & McKen-zie. Its 6,600 lawyers make it 50% bigger than its rival.