The Construction of Central Legal Services Districts Is Forthcoming

By Lily Wang

Recently， the Law Forum on Global Central Legal Service Districts Construction and Doing Business Environment Optimization was held in Shanghai. This event was organized by the CCPIT and the ICDPASO （International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement Organization）.

“Legal governance represents the best business environment”

A central legal service district is an area that features multiple premium legal services， including lawyers， judiciary services， arbitration， media- tion， notarization and identification. The construction of central legal service districts will provide professional and international legal services for enterprises and the whole of society in a precise， efficient and convenient manner. It will also help create a sound business environment and facilitate fair competition and stable development for enterprises.

Lu Pengqi， Deputy Chairman of the CCPIT， said that the construction of central legal service districts will improve the legal competitiveness and international influence， and will further build a market-oriented， law-based and international business environment. The CCPIT will further play to its role of connecting government and enterprises， domestic and international resources， supply and demand， in order to further advance the construction of central legal service districts.

Chen Jing， Deputy Director of the Shanghai NPC Standing Committee， said that in the process of serving national strategies， Shanghai has made innovations in terms of both theoretical concepts and working mechanisms， so as to grasp opportunities and promote the construction of the Hongqiao CBD， the international opening-up hub and the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta. The construction of the Hongqiao Central Legal Service District shall serve the Hongqiao international opening-up hub， the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta， national reform and opening-up， and market entities. The legal governance represents the best business environment.

Luo Dongchuan， Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and the secretary of the Politics and Law Committee of Fujian Province， said that the promotion of the Maritime Silk Road central legal service district will make deepening reform and increasing openingup the cutting points and the focus of the optimization of the business environment in order to develop the modern service industry. It will also make explorations with local distinctions to contribute to high-quality Belt and Road construction and an opened-up world economy based on rules and regulations.

Strengthening the training of high-quality foreign-related legal talents

Zhou Hanmin， Standing Member of the CPPCC and Deputy Chairman of CNDCA said， “the optimization of Chinas business environment in the legal area must cover both domestic laws and international regulations and conventions that we have joined.”

Zhou Hanmin emphasized that the construction of central legal service districts should not limit services for the central business district. It should instead show Chinas efforts and determination to improve the legal environment and integrate with the world.

He continued， quoting Chinese President Xi Jinping， “l(fā)egal governance represents the best business environment”， a sentiment which has summarized the history of the optimization of Chinas business environment and provided guidance for optimizing the business environment. Second， Chinas legal efforts have been reflected by its domestic legislation， as well as its engagement in international regulations and conventions. Third， only the law itself cannot have an influence. It is imperative to construct the central legal service districts to show off the great changes in Chinas business environment and increase its social influence.

Pan Jiahuang， Standing Secretary of the Ministry of Law of Singapore， shared Singapores experiences in developing its legal service industry. Commercial disputes are inevitable. In order to tackle various types of commercial disputes， Singapore provides premium， flexible and diversified services to attract talent with professional knowledge about different legal systems and dispute settlement mechanisms： “Singapore implements mild control to allow foreign lawyers and law firms to stay in Singapore to provide international legal services. We also allow them to work with domestic law firms in Singapore，” Pan said.

Huang Jin， Director of the Chinese Society of International Law， mentioned that the value and significance of building central legal service districts mainly include the following aspects. First， it is the product of social and economic development at a certain stage； second， it is a necessity for deepening national reform and opening-up， promoting Belt and Road construction， engaging in the reform of the global governance system and building a community of common destiny for all mankind； third， it is also a requirement for building a legal system with Chinese characteristics. He also stressed that it is important to build a team of legal talent， especially high-quality talent with knowledge about foreign legal governance.

Teresa Cheng， Secretary for Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region， said that Hong Kong has a rich abundance of legal talent. There are more than 1，500 registered foreign lawyers and 85 foreign law firms from 33 legal administrative regions. They know the commercial practices of both the west and China.“Hong Kong is Chinas only judicial district of common law and enjoys‘one country， two systems policies. It will play the role of a bridge between China and the rest of the world， especially in the areas of law and dispute settlement，” she said.

Moreover， Liu Xiao Hong， Head of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law， Lei Xuejie， Deputy Chairman of CCPIT Sichuan， and Wu Shaoying， a member of the Politics and Law Committee of Xiamen issued the Common Declaration of the Construction of Global Central Legal Service Districts and Optimization of the Business Environment.

Liu Chao， Director of the Legal Affairs Department of the CCPIT and Secretary-General of ICDPASO， highlighted the fact that how to construct global central legal service districts and how to allow the central legal service districts play their role in optimizing the business environment are valuable research topics. This forum is only the start， with people from all social walks needing to conduct indepth research to provide theoretical support and practical experiences for the construction of central legal service districts.