Weak Protection and Party Autonomy in Private International Law

As the cornerstone of private international law,the doctrine of party autonomy has been widely accepted by most countries to adjust international civil and commercial relations. However, parties are not always entirely on an equal footing in real life and unquestioning adherence to party autonomy would infringe the interests of the weak party. This article analyzes party autonomy weak protection in private international law from the perspective of contract with a discussion about the legal issues related to the weak protection under the Law of the People's Republic of China on Choice of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relationships. The paper concludes that weak protection should be established as one of the principles of private international lawin order to better balance the interests of both parties concerned.