This chapter situates China under Xi Jinping as a paradigmatic case of legal dualism. It begins by tracing the deep institutional embeddedness of courts in the pre-2012 era and examines how concerns over social stability drove widespread extrajudicial intervention. It then analyzes Xi’s unprecedented political centralization, which restructured center–local relations and created the conditions for judicial reform. Engaging ongoing scholarly debates over whether these reforms signal a “turn toward law” or reinforce courts as order-maintenance tools, the chapter introduces the dual state framework as a more productive alternative. It argues that China’s current legal configuration aims to institutionalize a dual state – enhancing judicial professionalism and autonomy in routine matters while maintaining Party control over politically salient cases.