The first stage, from 1979 to 1992, is the generation period of China's economic law. During this period, China began to reform the planned economy system which was highly centralized in the past, implemented the system of combining planned economy with market regulation, and attached importance to regulating the economy by legal means. At this time, "economic legislation" has two characteristics: first, economic law is not separated from civil and commercial law and administrative law, and a large number of social relations that should belong to the adjustment scope of civil and commercial law are included in the legislative scope. Second, there is a lack of anti-monopoly law and unfair competition law to regulate the behavior of market participants.

The second stage, from 1992 to now, is a period of rapid development of China's economic law. From the promulgation of Anti-Unfair Competition Law and Consumer Protection Law, it has entered the stage of formulating real economic law. Laws and regulations such as industrial policy, finance, financial macro-control and market supervision have been promulgated one after another, and China's economic law system is rapidly taking shape. There are still the following problems in the development of economic law in this period: first, the understanding of economic law has not completely got rid of the model of big economic law, and it still stays in the understanding of laws related to economic operation, lacking a substantive grasp of economic law. Second, there is a big gap between the legislative planning of economic law and the needs of economic system reform and market economy development. Third, the legislative theoretical basis of economic law is relatively weak. The lack of many important theoretical studies on economic law and the insufficient role of legal experts in the legislative process also make the development of economic law lack theoretical basis.