Law of the People's Republic of China is the legal regime
of the People's Republic of China, incorporating the separate
legal traditions and systems of Mainland China, Hong Kong
and Macao. Between 1954 and 1978, there was not very much
effort within the People's Republic of China to create a legal
system. The Communist leadership led by Mao Zedong believed
that creating a legal system would restrict the power of the
Communist Party of China and create elites which would ultimately
harm the socialist revolution. (source?)
This policy was changed in 1979, and the PRC has formed
an increasingly sophisticated legal system. Though the PRC
legal system is a large civil law system, reflecting the
influence of Continental Europe legal systems especially
German civil law system in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
By contrast, Hong Kong still retains the common law system
inherited as a former British colony; and Macao employs
a legal system based on that of Portuguese civil law. They
have their own court of final appeals and extradition respectively,
which are not within the legal jurisdiction of most courts
within People's Republic of China, which is only effective
within mainland China. Under the system of One Country,
Two Systems, their judicial system was kept intact and maintain
their independence.