Duan Muzheng was born in July 1920 in Anqing, Anhui. He is a Hui Person. He is a well-known professor of Law in China, former members of several famous law committees and associations, also the former arbitrator of the permanent court of arbitration in Hague. In 28th November 2006, he died in Guangzhou because of a sudden heart attack.
Graduated in the Law School of Wuhan University in 1942 and Tsinghua University in 1947, Duan was granted both bachelor and master degrees. In the year 1950, he earned a Doctor of Laws Degree from Université de Paris. In 1951, he returned to China, since then he had been working as a Law Professor in Lingnan University and Sun Yat-sen University until 1987, after that he became the head of the Institute of Law.
Since the year 1980, Duan started to be elected as NPC Members at different levels. In September 1990 he was assigned as the Vice President and member of the Judicial Committee of the Supreme People's Court of the People's Republic of China. One year later he was granted the title of Vice President in the Chinese Society of International Law and was appointed as Part-time Professor by several domestic academies of higher education.
In 1985, Duan was aoppointed to participate in constructing politic systems for post-colonial Hong Kong, which later became an extremely important section in the Basic Law of Hong Kong. With no relevant precedent to follow and no relevant documents to refer, finishing this task was surely arduous, yet he and his group still managed to accomplish this glorious mission. He also made great contribution to the reform and opening of China by providing guidance for inquisiting legal cases of traffic trails; foreign exchange; international judicial assistance; railway cases; and maritime cases.
Apart from attending all these onerous educational, social, and administrative affairs, Duan also gained great achievements in academic field by translating and authoring 20 books as well as publishing more than 80 translated and original articles both domestic and foreign. He also took part in several important national social science projects, and had been giving lectures; making visits; and attending conferences in nations and regions like France, Holland, United States, Switzerland, Italy, Germay, Thailand, Spain, Mongolia, Nigeria, Turkey, and Hong Kong, through which he made great effort to improve mutual friendships and communications.
