Proposals to Establish a Partnership Bankruptcy Regime in China: With Lessons from the UK and USA

摘要

Following in the steps of the USA and UK, China introduced partnerships with limited liability in 2006, the same year that a market-oriented bankruptcy statute was enacted. Although the bankruptcy statute enshrines basic elements of modern bankruptcy law, it fails to stipulate specific rules for partnership bankruptcy. As partnership with limited liability acquires increasing importance, especially limited partnerships as a popular form of private equity firms, a partnership bankruptcy regime becomes indispensable. This article considers the experience of the UK and USA in order to make proposals to establish a partnership bankruptcy regime in China. Although partnership bankruptcy law can be formulated by analogy to corporate bankruptcy law, special considerations must be given to the characteristics of partnership such as unlimited liability and lack of separation of management from ownership. Further, as partnership bankruptcy may lead to partner bankruptcy and vice versa, conflicts between partnership creditors and partners' personal creditors must also be considered.