BEIJING -- Experts believe that compiling a civil code is key in China's juridical practice and will promote its rule of law, as lawmakers started deliberating a draft civil code at the annual session of the national legislature, which opened on Friday.

Noting that the civil law is the basic law of a society, Zhang Wenjuan, associate professor and assistant dean for international collaborations of the Jindal Global Law School in India, said that the compilation of the civil code is crucial to the systematization of the Chinese civil laws and will greatly promote the rule of law in China.

The civil code will also establish rules for the protection of property rights to help build confidence of participants in the market, Zhang said, adding that it helps facilitate economic and social development of the country.

Shawki al-Sayyid, former counselor at Egypt's State Council, said the content of China's draft civil code represents a model for all countries to follow.

The civil code will promote the rule of law, he said, and its elements and articles represent a great awakening for humanity, a revival for moral values and the regulation of rights and freedoms, as well as a progressive step toward new fields in the civil life and its regulation.

The civil code addresses modern fields that need regulation, he said, adding that it responds to the actual life, regulates personal rights, and protects the people for the sake of humanity and the future.

Christine Bierre, editor-in-chief of France's Nouvelle Solidarite magazine and an expert at Schiller France Institute, said the civil code is an important symbol of China's modernization of the rule of law.

It will play a positive role in promoting a comprehensive rule of law in China, as well as modernizing the country's governance system and capacity, she said.

Collin Hawes, associate professor in the Law Faculty at University of Technology Sydney, said the new civil code is a milestone, as it is important to have a more detailed and internally consistent legal code to guide Chinese judges when they decide civil law disputes.

"A more significant Chinese reform has been the steady improvement in the quality of Chinese judges and the greater emphasis on transparency, especially the publication of Chinese court judgments online and live video streaming of many trials," Hawes said.