Procedure for examination and approval of the establishment of representative offices of foreign law firms in China

I Rules concerning the examination and approval

Paragraph 1 of Article 6 of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative offices of Foreign Law firms in China stipulates that foreign law firms must get approval from the judicial administration department of the State Council to set up representative offices in China and dispatch representatives to China.

Article 9 of the Regulations: the judicial administration departments of the governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government should complete the examination within 3 months after receiving the application documents and materials. The State Council’s judicial administration department should make a decision within 6 months. The approved representative office and its representatives should be issued licenses and certificates, while for the unapproved ones, the applicant should be informed of the reasons for the rejection in writing.

Article 1 of the rules released by the Ministry of Justice on the implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative offices of Foreign Law firms in China: the rules are formulated for the implementation of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative offices of Foreign Law firms in China by judicial administrative departments to administrate foreign law services in Chinese territory.

II Application materials

 (1)The list of application materials (Foreign materials should attach a Chinese version)

1. Examination of the establishment of foreign law firms' representative offices in China

2. Review of the changes in Chinese and English names of the representative offices of foreign law firms in China

3. Review of the merger and division of representative offices of foreign law firms in China

4. Review on the suspension of business of representative offices of foreign law firms in China

5. Review on the relocation of the representative office in China of the foreign law firm

6. Review on the cancellation of the representative office in China of the foreign law firm