关键词: 中国近代, 法制自主性, 领事裁判权, 租界法制, 港澳法制

Abstract: This article is divided into four parts. The first part discusses some general issues concerning the legal independence in modern China, which includes the definition of legal independence, its relationship with regime and sovereignty and its transformation during the Opium War. The second to the fourth parts cover other legal problems closely related to consular jurisdiction, concession, Hongkong and Macao in modern China. The discussion involves the immediate causes of China’s loss in legal independence and the consequences thereof as well as China’s efforts and achievements in restoring its legal independence.