This article explores why the economic caseloads in China have declined in recent years. Based on data collected at the national, provincial and local levels, it evaluates four possible explanations – structural changes in dispute resolution, economic development, social transformation and dysfunctional courts. It suggests that all four hypotheses are plausible to a certain extent but none provides a single, straightforward and adequate solution, and the degree of each factor's impact varies across time and region. The cause for decline must lie either in the total volume of disputes generated in society or in the unwillingness of potential litigants to use the courts. The difficulty of locating an overarching explanation in a way suggests that China's case might have imposed a challenge on the relationship between caseload change and socio-economic conditions which has conventionally been regarded as a settled issue.