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Political control is not the only potential source of interference with judicial independence and impartiality. As the stakeholders in cases, litigants have perhaps the most significant incentive to influence the outcome of judges' decision-making. Based on introducing the concept in Chinese society of interpersonal relationships known as guanxi into a discussion of the nature of judicial power, this article examines a report released by the Caijing magazine about 200 corrupt judges convicted between 1995 and 2013 and argues that in China's society with guanxi embedded as its cultural roots, social pressure from relatives, friends and acquaintances of judges is a major source of external interference in judicial decision-making. (China/GIGA)

AbstractIn order to portray the true extent of judicial independence in China's judicial practices, this article first clarifies the contested meanings of "judicial independence" within Chinese judicial circles and provides a detailed literature review of the main school of thoughts on the extent of judicial independence in China. In contrast to the existing literature—most of which sees judicial independence in China as stagnant—this thesis suggests employing the strategic interaction approach to study the development of impartial adjudication in China and argues that the extent of adjudicative independence is evolving with the amount of judicial discretion afforded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to judges.

This thesis examines the nature and extent of judicial independence in China. In particular, it focuses on judicial adjudication (sifa shenpan) and explores the factors that affect judicial behaviour and how those factors influence and shape the judges' decision-making process. In contrast to the existing literature - most of which sees judicial independence in China as stagnant, this thesis employs the strategic interaction approach to study the development of impartial adjudication in China and argues that judicial decision-making is more complicated than conventionally appreciated. The extent of adjudicative independence is evolving with the amount of judicial discretion afforded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to judges. This thesis first argues that, allowing for regional variations, and within the authority delegated by the CCP in the context of Party's declared intention to govern according to law (yifa zhiguo), the courts have enjoyed a significant and growing degree of judicial independence. Within the space allowed by the CCP, apart from some politically sensitive cases, the more common external influence on the courts is not from the Party or other government agencies, but from the litigants themselves, chiefly because of the importance of guanxi in China. This thesis further argues that the independence ofjudicial adjudication in China varies with the amount of discretion afforded by theCCP to judges at different times on different issues. Nevertheless, the growth of a 'legal professional community' has the potential to play a significant role in challenging the external, non-legal influences on - and defending the independence of - the judiciary. To support these arguments, this thesis applies the strategic interaction approach as well as relying on historical and cultural research. In particular, it draws on a number of case studies supplemented by field research interviews in different regions in China. The major contribution of this thesis is to reveal a dynamic process in the development of ...

In China, family doctor services originated in 2009. After two years, the Chinese government proposed the establishment of a family doctor contract system suitable for China's national conditions. Then, in 2016, a multi-department jointly issued an important document, which further clarified the development goals of family doctor contract services in the next five years. Zhejiang Province has been exploring responsible doctor contract services since 2012, which was promoted throughout the province in 2015. Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the residents' awareness of Zhejiang Province, China, of family doctor contract services, the status of signing such a contract, and the demand for service items in the contracted service package. Further, we sought to explore the relevant influential factors in order to provide a reference and evidence-based recommendations for the further development of family doctor contract services. Design: We enrolled 3960 residents from nine counties in Zhejiang Province using a multistage stratified random sampling method. A survey using a self-designed questionnaire was used to collect the demographic data, residents' awareness of family doctor contract services, the status of contracting, and demand for different items from October to December 2017. Data were analyzed by SPSS 21.0. Results: In total, 3871 residents returned valid questionnaires, with a response rate of 97.75%. The awareness rate of residents of family doctor contract services was 71.58% (2771/3871). Age, education level, and chronic medical history status were the influencing factors affecting residents' awareness. The contracted rate was 50.43% (1952/3871). Age, education level, personal monthly income, chronic disease history, and awareness of family doctor contract services were the influencing factors. Residents who have a contract with family doctors have a higher demand for family doctor contract services, and different residents have different needs for the project because of their physical ...