Dubbed an “encyclopedia of social life”, China’s first-ever Civil Code came into force on January 1^st. It legislates on rights ranging from property and contracts, to personality, marriage and family. So what does the new code mean for China’s civil legislation? How will it better protect civil rights and support development? And what are the challenges in implementing the Code? To talk about these issues, we’ve invited Einar Tangen, Independent Current Affairs Commentator; He Jing, Attorney at the GEN Law Firm; Lawrence Ma, Barrister and Chairman of the Hong Kong Legal Exchange Foundation; George Conk, Senior Fellow at Fordham Law School’s Stein Center for Law & Ethics; and Professor Li Jinzhao from Beijing Foreign Studies University.