Legal Regulation of Electronic Contracts in Uzbekistan and China: A Comparative Legal Study

Abstract

This article examines the legal regulation of electronic contracts in the Republic of Uzbekistan and the People's Republic of China through a comparative doctrinal method. Electronic contracts are no longer an exceptional technique for online sales; they are a normal form of civil turnover, consumer transactions, platform commerce, digital services, and cross-border trade. The central research question is how two civil-law jurisdictions connect general contract doctrine with special rules on electronic commerce, data messages, electronic signatures, platform duties, evidence, and consumer protection. Uzbekistan has adopted a dedicated Law on Electronic Commerce and a renewed Law on the Electronic Digital Signature in 2022, while China integrates electronic contracting into the Civil Code, the Electronic Signature Law, and the E-Commerce Law. The comparison shows substantial convergence in recognizing electronic form, offer and acceptance, legal equivalence, and evidentiary value, but also important differences in legislative technique, platform governance, judicial guidance, and the treatment of automated and standard-form transactions. The article concludes that Uzbekistan's recent reforms provide a strong framework, but further clarification of platform responsibility, standard terms, automated contracting, cross-border recognition of signatures, and electronic evidence would increase transactional certainty.