A REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW MECHANISMS IN CHINA: BALANCING AUTHORITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

Authors

  • Dayong YU International College, Krirk University, Thailand
  • Mingxun XIE International College, Krirk University, Thailand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14456/acsr.2025.6

Keywords:

Administrative Law, Mechanism, China, Authority, Accountability

Abstract

Administrative law plays an essential role in modern governance, particularly in regulating the actions and decisions of public authorities. The balance between governmental authority and accountability is crucial for successful administration and preserving individual rights in China, as the state has substantial influence over many areas. The review examines China's administrative law system's procedures to preserve this equilibrium, providing insights into the nation's changing legal landscape. The principal-agent model is a framework used to understand the relationship between two parties: the principal (the state or the public) and the agent (the administrators or officials). It investigates how administrators maintain their responsibility and are under observation using both judicial and non-judicial processes, acting as agents of political principles. The review system highlights the role of local governments as subsidiary bodies of the federal government and how administrative law governs their operations by contrasting China's approach to standing in administrative litigation law, administrative procedure law, and state compensation law with that of other one-dominated states. The result revealed that judicial and non-judicial methods are used in China to resolve disputes and hold officials accountable. The review study emphasizes the difficulty of updating government actions through various channels. It concludes that although political theory contributes to understanding some aspects of this system, China's particular legal and political structures necessitate a more sophisticated comprehension of the relationship between authority and accountability.

References

Agama, P., Huamán, O., Casco, R., & Gálvez, R. (2021). Administrative management in procurement processes in a public sector entity. Journal of Business and Entrepreneurial Studie, 5(3), 46-54.

Akhtar, Z. (2022). China's Evolution from Socialist Legality: The Expansion in the Role of Judges and the Redress of Grievances. Journal of Politics and Law, 15(1), 52-65.

Cafaggi, F., & Iamiceli, P. (2021). Uncertainty, Administrative Decision-Making and Judicial Review: The Courts’ Perspectives. European Journal of Risk Regulation, 12(4), 792-824.

Chen, H., & Greitens, S. (2022). Information capacity and social order: The local politics of information integration in China. Governance, 35(2), 497-523.

de Villiers, C., & Dimes, R. (2021). Determinants, mechanisms and consequences of corporate governance reporting: a research framework. Journal of Management and Governance, 25, 7-26.

Ding, C. (2022). Mandarins v. Mandarins: Procuratorate-initiated Administrative Public Interest Litigation in China. Journal of Comparative Law, 17(2), 286-312.

Ding, X., Appolloni, A., & Shahzad, M. (2022). Environmental administrative penalty, corporate environmental disclosures and the cost of debt. Journal of Cleaner Production, 332, 129919.

Howell, J., Fisher, K., & Shang, X. (2020). Accountability and legitimacy of NGOs under authoritarianism: the case of China. Third World Quarterly, 41(1), 113-132.

Huang, V., & Lyu, Y. (2024). The interactive field of open government data: inter-administrative dynamics, trans-local networks, and local geopolitics of environmental data activism in China. In J. Linchuan, P. Yu, & E. Oreglia. (eds.). The Geopolitics of Chinese Internets (pp. 93-112). London: Routledge.

Hyun, J. (2024). Bringing technology into the balance of power politics: ‘network balancing’ between the United States and China. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1-26.

Islam, M., & Xin, X. (2020). Judicial Reforms in China: The Way of Strengthening the Judicial Independence. Diponegoro Law Review, 5(1), 1-18.

Jiang, Y., Xiao, Y., Zhang, Z., & Zhao, S. (2024). How does central-local interaction affect local environmental governance? Insights from the transformation of central environmental protection inspection in China. Environmental Research, 243, 117668.

Jiménez, G. (2021). Non-judicial legal accountability: The case of the Chilean comptroller-general. London: Routledge.

Kang, S. (2020). Analyzing Investor Protection in Chinese State-Owned Enterprises: Law and Economics Approach. Review of Banking & Financial Law, 40, 821-863.

Kim, H., & Park, S. (2024). Expanding China’s Influence via Membership: Examining the Influence of Chinese-Led International Institutions on Responses to Human Rights Issues in China. Journal of Chinese Political Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-024-09886-2.

Li, J., Shi, X., Wu, H., & Liu, L. (2020). Trade-off between economic development and environmental governance in China: An analysis based on the effect of river chief system. China Economic Review, 60, 101403.

Li, R., & Jin, W. (2023). The role of the Yangtze River Protection Law in the emergence of adaptive water governance in China. Ecology and Society, 28(1), Article 32.

Liebman, B., Roberts, M., Stern, R., & Wang, A. (2020). Mass Digitization of Chinese Court Decisions: How to Use Text as Data in the Field of Chinese Law. Journal of Law and Courts, 8, 177-201.

Lin, L. (2020). Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility? Legislative Innovation and Judicial Application in China. The American Journal of Comparative Law, 68(3), 576-615.

Musaev, O., Ruziyeva, R., Muhammadiyeva, O., Makhkamov, U., & Mallaeva, E. (2020). The role of public control in improving the system of public administration. Solid State Technology, 63(6), 96-104.

Saloranta, J. (2021). Establishing a Corporate Responsibility Ombudsman: Enhancing remedy through state-based non-judicial mechanisms?. Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law, 28(1), 102-122.

Sang, T., Liu, P., & Zhao, L. (2022). Judicial Response to Ecological Environment Risk in China—From the Perspective of Social Systems Theory. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(21), 14355.

Schneider, K. (2021). Judicial Review of Good Cause Determinations Under the Administrative Procedure Act. Stanford Law Review, 73, 237-283.

Tang, S. (2021). Rethinking local and regional governance in China: An institutional design and development perspective. Urban Governance, 1(1), 51-58.

Vallejo, R. (2021). The Private Administrative Law of Technical Standardization. Yearbook of European Law, 40, 172-229.

Walker, C., & MacGuidwin, S. (2023). Interpreting the Administrative Procedure Act: A Literature Review. Notre Dame Law Review, 98(5), Article 4.

Wang, C. (2021). Legal and Political Practices in China’s Central–Local Dynamics. Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social Sciences, 14, 523-547.

Wang, Z. (2020). The Balance Theory in Chinese Administrative Law. The Frontiers of Society, Science and Technology, 2(7), 15-17.

Wang, Z., Zhang, Q., & Zhou, L. (2020). Career Incentives of City Leaders and Urban Spatial Expansion in China. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 102(5), 897-911.

Wei, T., Chen, M., Wang, F., & Cheng, S. (2024). The impact of public demands on local environmental governance performance: Evidence from civil environmental complaints placed on leaders at different government levels in China. Journal of Environmental Management, 360, 121216.

Wollenschlager, F. (2024). Judicial Review of Government Pandemic Responses: Emerging Basic Lines in the Federal Administrative Court's First Judgments. Georgia Law Review, 58(3), Article 9.

Wu, K., Sun, M., & Chen, Y. (2023). Central Judicial Inspector: Establishment of Circuit Tribunals and Corporate Innovation in China. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4337058.

Xiang, C., & van Gevelt, T. (2020). Central inspection teams and the enforcement of environmental regulations in China. Environmental Science & Policy, 112, 431-439.

Ying, S. (2023). The National People's Congress in China. In P. Yap, & R. Abeyratne. (eds.). Routledge Handbook of Asian Parliaments (pp. 143-157). London: Routledge.

Yu, X., & Li, Y. (2020). Effect of environmental regulation policy tools on the quality of foreign direct investment: An empirical study of China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 270, 122346.

Zhang, M., Cao, X., & Sun, A. (2024). Applications of satellite technologies within China's legal system – A review. Acta Astronautica, 219, 750-760.

Zhang, P., Wu, F., Guo, Y., & Ma, J. (2022). Does enforcement matter in promoting corporate environmental investment: Evidence from Chinese private firms. Journal of Cleaner Production, 337, 130432.

Zhang, Y., & Liu, Z. (2023). The Rise of the Chinese Judiciary and Its Limits: Administrative Litigation in the Reform Period. Retrieved from https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4696197.

Zhao, B., & Feng, Y. (2021). Mapping the development of China's data protection law: Major actors, core values, and shifting power relations. Computer Law & Security Review, 40, 105498.

Zhao, L., Zhang, L., Sun, J., & He, P. (2022). Can public participation constraints promote green technological innovation of Chinese enterprises? The moderating role of government environmental regulatory enforcement. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 174, 121198.

Downloads

Published

2025-02-15

How to Cite

Yu, D., & Xie, M. (2025). A REVIEW OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW MECHANISMS IN CHINA: BALANCING AUTHORITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Asian Crime and Society Review, 12(1), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.14456/acsr.2025.6