Stock corporations, which had been unknown in traditional Chinese law, were first made known in China in the 19th century through European trading companies and initially introduced by way of customary law. After an imperial decree issued a first, very elementary codification in 1904, it was primarily the intensive reform efforts during the Republican period which led to the new codification of stock corporation law in China in 1914, 1931, and 1946. However, the legal form of the stock corporation never achieved a similar importance in China to Europe and the United States of America.

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