1992年，中国共产党第十四次全国代表大会作出了建立社会主义市场经济体制的重大战略决策，明确提出社会主义市场经济体制的建立和完善必须有完备的法制来规范和保障。中国立法机关按照建立社会主义市场经济体制的要求，加快经济立法，在规范市场主体、维护市场秩序、加强宏观调控、促进对外开放等方面，制定了公司法、合伙企业法、商业银行法、乡镇企业法、反不正当竞争法、消费者权益保护法、产品质量法、拍卖法、担保法、海商法、保险法、票据法、城市房地产管理法、广告法、注册会计师法、仲裁法、审计法、预算法、中国人民银行法、对外贸易法、劳动法等法律。为完善刑事法律，修订刑法，形成了一部统一的、比较完备的刑法；修改刑事诉讼法，完善了刑事诉讼程序；为规范和监督权力的行使，制定了行政处罚法、国家赔偿法、法官法、检察官法、律师法等法律；为进一步加强对环境和资源的保护，制定了固体废物污染环境防治法等法律，修改了矿产资源法等法律。

    1997年，随着社会主义市场经济体制的逐步建立、对外开放水平的不断提高、民主法制建设的深入推进和各项事业的全面发展，为把中国特色社会主义事业全面推向21世纪，中国共产党第十五次全国代表大会提出了21世纪第一个十年国民经济和社会发展的远景目标，确立了“依法治国，建设社会主义法治国家”的基本方略，明确提出到2010年形成中国特色社会主义法律体系。按照这一目标要求，为保障和促进社会主义市场经济的发展，适应加入世界贸易组织的需要，中国继续抓紧开展经济领域立法，制定了证券法、合同法、招标投标法、信托法、个人独资企业法、农村土地承包法、政府采购法等法律，修改了对外贸易法、中外合资经营企业法、中外合作经营企业法、外资企业法、专利法、商标法、著作权法等法律；为规范国家立法活动，健全立法制度，制定了立法法，把实践证明行之有效的立法原则、立法体制、立法权限、立法程序以及法律解释、法律适用和备案等制度系统化、法律化；为发展社会主义民主、繁荣社会主义文化、保护生态环境、发展社会事业，制定了行政复议法、高等教育法、职业病防治法等法律，修改了工会法、文物保护法、海洋环境保护法、药品管理法等法律；为保证法律有效实施，全国人大常委会还对刑法、香港特别行政区基本法等法律的有关规定作出法律解释。经过这个阶段的努力，中国特色社会主义法律体系初步形成。

In 1992 the 14th National Congress of the CPC made an important strategic decision to establish a socialist market economy. It expressly stated that the establishment and improvement of this socialist market economy must be regulated and guaranteed by a complete legal regime. To meet the requirements for establishing a socialist market economy, the Chinese legislature accelerated the pace of enacting economic laws; to regulate market players, maintain market order, strengthen macro-control and promote opening to the outside world, the legislature enacted the Company Law, Partnership Enterprise Law, Law on Commercial Banks, Law on Township Enterprises, Anti-Unfair Competition Law, Law on the Protection of Consumers' Rights and Interests, Product Quality Law, Auction Law, Guaranty Law, Maritime Code, Insurance Law, Negotiable Instruments Law, Law on Urban Real Estate Administration, Advertising Law, Law on Certified Public Accountants, Arbitration Law, Audit Law, Budget Law, Law on the People's Bank of China, Foreign Trade Law, Labor Law, and some other laws. To improve criminal laws, the legislature revised the Criminal Law, making it unified and complete, and revised the Criminal Procedure Law, improving criminal procedure. To regulate and supervise the use of power, the legislature enacted the Law on Administrative Penalty, Law on State Compensation, Judges Law, Public Procurators Law, Law on Lawyers, and some other laws. To strengthen the protection of the environment and resources, the legislature enacted the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Waste, and some other laws while revising the Mineral Resources Law and some other laws.

In 1997 as the socialist market economy was gradually put in place, the level of opening up was constantly enhanced, the efforts to improve democracy and the legal system were advanced, and all undertakings were developing, to advance the cause of building socialism with Chinese characteristics in all aspects in the 21st century, the CPC, at its 15th National Congress, set the first ten-year target for the national economic and social development for the new century, established a basic strategy of "governing the country according to law and building a socialist country ruled by law" and set the goal of completing the socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics by the year 2010. To achieve this goal, to guarantee and promote the socialist market economy, and to meet the requirements of joining the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Chinese legislature kept on making new economic laws. It enacted the Securities Law, Contract Law, Law on Bid Invitation and Bidding, Trust Law, Law on Individual Proprietorship Enterprises, Law on the Contracting of Rural Land, Government Procurement Law, and some other laws, while revising the Foreign Trade Law, Law on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, Law on Chinese-Foreign Cooperative Joint Ventures, Law on Foreign-funded Enterprises, Patent Law, Trademark Law, Copyright Law, and some other laws. To regulate legislative activities and improve the legislation system, the NPC enacted the Law on Legislation, systematizing and codifying the principles, mechanism, extent of power and procedure of legislation, and the systems of legal interpretation, application of law, and registration and other systems. To develop socialist democracy, foster socialist culture, protect the ecological environment, and develop social undertakings, the legislature enacted the Administrative Reconsideration Law, Higher Education Law, Law on Prevention and Control of Occupational Diseases, and some other laws; revised the Trade Union Law, Law on the Protection of Cultural Relics, Marine Environmental Protection Law, Pharmaceuticals Administration Law, and some other laws. And to ensure that the laws are effectively carried out, the NPC Standing Committee made legal interpretations of articles in the Criminal Law, Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and some other laws. These efforts enabled a socialist system of laws with Chinese characteristics to take shape.