國際商法作為調(diào)整國際商事關(guān)系的法律規(guī)范的總稱，是有自己特有的調(diào)整對象的，即國際商事關(guān)系。所謂國際商事關(guān)系，是以營利為目的的國際商事主體參與的商品流轉(zhuǎn)關(guān)系，其主體不論是個人、法人、國家政府或國際組織，只要這種商事關(guān)系的當(dāng)事人分屬于兩個以上不同的國家或國際組織，或其所涉及的商事問題超越一國國界的范圍，這種關(guān)系就可稱之為國際商事關(guān)系。

As a general term of legal norms regulating international commercial relations, International Business Law has its own specific regulative objects, namely international commercial relations. International commercial relations is commodity circulation relation that is profit-oriented and that international business entities participate in. Whether the entities is individuals, legal persons, the state government or international organizations, as long as the commercial relationship parties respectively belong to two or more different countries or international organizations, or the commercial issues involved more a country, this relationship can be called international commercial relations.

國際商法的調(diào)整對象不僅在空間上超越了一個國家的國界，而且在內(nèi)容上也以“商事”為質(zhì)的規(guī)定性，從而決定了國際商法既不同于以主權(quán)國家地域內(nèi)的社會關(guān)系為調(diào)整對象的國內(nèi)法體系，也與以國家之間非商事關(guān)系為調(diào)整對象的國際法不同。

Regulative objects of International Business Law not only go beyond a country's borders in space, but also take business affairs as the inherent regularity in content, thus determining the difference between  International Business Law and domestic legal system that takes social relations within sovereign state as regulative objects, and the discrepancy between International Business Law and International Law that takes non-commercial relations among states as regulative objects.

國際商法是國家間商事交往發(fā)展到一定規(guī)模后產(chǎn)生的。11世紀(jì)起，隨著歐洲商業(yè)的復(fù)興和發(fā)展，在地中海沿岸出現(xiàn)了一些國際性的商業(yè)中心城市。這些城市中的商人從封建領(lǐng)主那里買得了自治權(quán)，，組建商人法庭，適用他們在商事交往中形成的習(xí)慣規(guī)則調(diào)整商事交易關(guān)系，由此而形成的法律被稱為“商人法”。

After the business communication among countries developing to a certain scale, International Business Law came into being. From 11th century, with revival and thrive of commerce in Europe, several International commercial centers arose on the Mediterranean coast. Businessmen in this cities bought autonomy right from feudary, formed merchants’ court and applied the custom rule shaped in the commercial intercourse to adjust the commercial transaction relationship. The laws coming into being in this process is called Merchant Law.

后來，隨著歐洲航海貿(mào)易的發(fā)展，商人法逐步擴及到西班牙、法國、德國、英國等國家，實際上成了商人在歐洲各地港口或城市用以調(diào)整他們之間經(jīng)濟貿(mào)易活動的法律和國際慣例。

After that, with the development of European ocean trade, Merchant Law gradually spread to countries, including Spain, France, Germany, and British, turning into the laws and international conventions that businessmen used in ports or cities across Europe to adjust financial and trade activities among them.