Legal centers help overseas business operations

Jiangsu province has established seven legal service centers in other countries to meet the rising demand from its overseas enterprises and to offer platforms for enterprises to participate in international economic cooperation.

The seven centers are in Cambodia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Brazil, Angola, Ethiopia and Indonesia, Wang Xiaoqing, vice-president of Jiangsu Lawyers Association, said at a news conference on Aug 27 in Beijing.

"The layout of overseas legal service centers covering the main areas involved in the Belt and Road Initiative has been preliminarily formed," he said.

"Jiangsu is one of the major provinces with an open economy in China and is also an important juncture of the Belt and Road. More than 600 Jiangsu enterprises have, in recent years, gone overseas and invested in more than 7,000 overseas projects, so the demand for foreign legal services is quite strong."

As of the end of June, Jiangsu had 27,459 licensed lawyers, and 635 of them could provide legal services for international legal affairs.

Wang said the centers can provide legal support for Chinese enterprises and citizens overseas involved in major legal disputes. They also alert Chinese enterprises to possible religious conflicts as well as legal, policy and labor risks due to different legal systems.

To further increase the reserve of talent familiar with international laws, the centers have also undertaken the function of organizing training for domestic lawyers and offering them the platform to participate in practicing abroad.

Additionally, the centers promote cultural exchanges and strengthen communication with local governments, business associations, bar associations and law firms to establish good cooperative relationships.

Since 2017, the All China Lawyers Association has trained a group of high-quality lawyers with global vision who are also familiar with international rules.

They would mainly engage in international investment, acquisitions, anti-dumping, antitrust, intellectual property protection, environmental protection and international commercial arbitration.

Training will continue until 2022.

The Ministry of Justice decided in March to establish a national talent bank for foreign legal expertise and released a list of 1,000 lawyers dedicated to international legal services for the reference of overseas companies and institutions.