China's introduction of western laws in the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China was basically based on the laws of civil law countries, including Germany and Japan. New China has formed a legal system with China characteristics because it constantly draws lessons from other countries' laws in the process of legal development. But it belongs to the civil law system in essence.

Continental law system and Anglo-American law system are two major legal systems in the world today, covering some major countries in the world. The representatives of civil law system are German, French, China, etc. The Anglo-American legal system is of course represented by Britain and the United States.

There are four basic legal systems commonly used by jurists and economists, namely, Anglo-American legal system, French legal system, German legal system and Nordic legal system, among which French legal system, German legal system and Nordic legal system belong to continental legal system. Anglo-American legal system is mainly based on precedent, while the other three (namely, civil law system) are written law systems.

Historical background of civil law system

1, in the heyday of Rome, the Roman rulers expanded their territory by force, forcibly applied Roman law, and the residents in the conquered areas adopted Roman law, making Roman law the "first worldwide law of commodity producer society".

2. After the Germanic invasion of Rome, Germanic law adopted the principle of individualism, so that Roman law could be preserved. The code compiled by the Germanic countries was influenced by Roman law. In the 9th century, with the development of feudal system, the personal doctrine of law no longer applied, and Roman law and Germanic law merged.

3. After 12 century, the revival of Roman law rose, and the study of Roman law was combined with the actual needs of society, becoming an authoritative supplementary law in continental countries of Western Europe. Roman law, which has been transformed and developed, has become the common law in Europe, with the same characteristics and legal tradition, thus laying the foundation of civil law system.