On 16 October 2022, Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out in his report at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that “high-quality development is the primary task of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way”. Since the end of 2023, the State Council Information Office (“Office”) has held a series of press conferences on the theme of “Promoting High-quality Development” by inviting officers from various ministries or provinces to participate. On 6 September 2024, the Office held a press conference on the theme introducing the situation of judicial administration work on promoting China’s high-quality development by the officers from the Ministry of Justice. According to the press conference, the Ministry of Justice is accelerating the improvement of a foreign-related legal system currently focusing on legislation, arbitration, legal services, and protection of overseas rights of Chinese citizens and enterprises.
Legislation
Currently, China has more than 50 special foreign-related laws and more than 150 laws containing foreign-related clauses. To improve the foreign-related legal system, the Ministry of Justice is drafting, reviewing, and revising important foreign-related laws and regulations including the Law on Foreign Relations, the Law on Foreign State Immunity, the Foreign Trade Law and the Customs Law, with the purpose to enable these laws to connect with international high-standard economic and trade rules, expand independent opening up, actively respond to the trend of trade digitalization and greening, and promote regulatory innovation. Taking the newly revised Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law as an example, the revision further improves the patent application and examination system, strengthens patent protection and patent services, and adds special provisions for international design applications, strengthening the connection with international rules such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. It helps to promote patent creation, protection, and utilization, and better meet the needs of innovation-driven development and high-level opening up to the outside world.
Arbitration
Arbitration is an internationally accepted commercial dispute resolution mechanism. To cultivate world-class arbitration institutions and promote innovation in maritime arbitration system rules, the Ministry of Justice focuses on promoting arbitration reform in the following three aspects: 1. Accelerating the improvement of arbitration legal system rules: The draft revision of the Arbitration Law has been discussed and approved in principle at the State Council Executive Meeting. The revision mainly focuses on solving outstanding problems in the arbitration system and practice, benchmarking advanced international rules, and improving the relevant content of the foreign-related arbitration system. 2. Promoting the construction of arbitration credibility: At present, China has established 282 arbitration institutions, with more than 80,000 arbitrators and institutional staff, and has handled more than 5 million cases with a total amount of more than RMB 8 trillion (Equivalent to US$ 1.12 trillion). The parties involved involve more than 100 countries and regions around the world. Among them, in 2023 alone, national arbitration institutions handled 607,000 arbitration cases, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%, and the total amount was RMB 1.16 trillion (Equivalent to US$ 0.16 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 17.7%. In the next step, the Ministry of Justice will further improve the construction and operation mechanism of arbitration institutions and strengthen the supervision and management of arbitration institutions and arbitrators. 3. Enhancing the international competitiveness of Chinese arbitration: China is now actively promoting the construction of an International Commercial Arbitration Center. In 2023, the eight arbitration institutions in the pilot areas, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hainan, and other places, handled a total of 79,000 cases with a total amount of RMB 600 billion (Equivalent to US$ 84.3 trillion), accounting for 52% of the total amount of the national case. The number of foreign-related cases handled accounted for 72% of the total number of foreign-related cases in the country, and the amount accounted for 69% of the total amount of foreign-related cases in the country. Next, the Ministry of Justice will further promote the construction of the International Commercial Arbitration Center, focus on cultivating a group of world-class arbitration institutions, and launch the cultivation project of world-class arbitration institutions.
Legal services
Promoting high-quality and high-level legal services is an important part of the Ministry of Justice’s work in promoting the foreign-related legal system. Lawyers are an important part of legal services. In recent years, the Ministry of Justice has actively promoted the cultivation of world-class law firms. It supported and guided foreign-related law firms with strong comprehensive strength to accelerate their entry into the ranks of world-class law firms. So far, Chinese law firms have established 207 branches in 37 countries and regions. Compared with 2018, the number of branches of Chinese law firms abroad has increased by 69.67%. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice continues to strengthen the training of foreign-related lawyers. It has successively held three advanced training courses for foreign-related legal talents, 10 training courses for public lawyers and corporate lawyers for foreign-related legal service talents, and guided the All-China Lawyers Association to hold lawyers’ foreign-related business training courses, training more than 1,400 lawyers in total. In addition, the Ministry of Justice attaches importance to the role of Hong Kong and Macao lawyers in foreign-related legal services. It took the lead in establishing a consultation mechanism for legal services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to promote the training, exchange, and cooperation of legal service talents in the area. In particular, it actively promoted the pilot work of lawyers practicing in the area. In 2024, the Ministry of Justice organized and implemented the first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area lawyers practicing examination after the extension of the pilot period. So far, it has successfully held four examinations, with more than 1,800 Hong Kong and Macao lawyers registering for the examinations, and 482 people obtaining the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area lawyers practicing certificates. Through the pilot, a group of Hong Kong and Macao lawyers with rich experience in cross-border legal services have entered the mainland lawyer team, which has effectively improved the ability and level of foreign-related legal services.
Protection of overseas rights of Chinese citizens and enterprises
As China’s opening up deepens, the number of Chinese citizens and enterprises “going global” continues to increase. To safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese citizens and legal persons overseas, the Ministry of Justice mainly promotes the work in the following four aspects: 1. Improving the foreign-related legal system: At present, China’s foreign-related legal system has some weaknesses and blank areas in safeguarding the overseas rights of Chinese citizens and legal persons. In the next step, the Ministry of Justice will accelerate the formulation and revision of relevant laws and regulations to provide more powerful institutional support for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas. 2. Providing high-quality and efficient legal services for Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas: Since 2023, the Ministry of Justice has promoted the creation of the first batch of more than 150 national foreign-related legal service demonstration institutions, supported Chinese law firms to set up service outlets in countries along the “Belt and Road”, and selected 295 notary agencies to jointly carry out overseas remote video notarization with embassies and consulates abroad. Next, it will accelerate the cultivation of a group of world-class arbitration institutions and law firms, build a comprehensive legal service platform for the “Belt and Road”, and improve the mechanism for ascertaining foreign laws. 3. Deepening international law enforcement and judicial cooperation: At present, China has signed bilateral judicial assistance treaties with 88 countries and treaties on the transfer of sentenced persons with 18 countries. It handles more than 300 international criminal judicial assistance requests and more than 3,000 civil and commercial requests each year. In the next step, the Ministry of Justice will actively promote the signing of bilateral judicial assistance treaties and treaties on the transfer of sentenced persons with more countries to further expand law enforcement and judicial cooperation. 4. Accelerating the training of high-quality legal talents: The Ministry of Justice will accelerate the construction of a national foreign-related legal research base, strengthen the training of foreign-related lawyers, accelerate the reserve of a group of practical high-end foreign-related lawyers, and establish a foreign-related arbitration talent pool.
In conclusion, the Ministry of Justice improves China’s foreign-related legal system in terms of legislation, arbitration, legal services, and protection of overseas rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises. This system not only involves protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign citizens and enterprises in China but also involves protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas.
Legislation
Currently, China has more than 50 special foreign-related laws and more than 150 laws containing foreign-related clauses. To improve the foreign-related legal system, the Ministry of Justice is drafting, reviewing, and revising important foreign-related laws and regulations including the Law on Foreign Relations, the Law on Foreign State Immunity, the Foreign Trade Law and the Customs Law, with the purpose to enable these laws to connect with international high-standard economic and trade rules, expand independent opening up, actively respond to the trend of trade digitalization and greening, and promote regulatory innovation. Taking the newly revised Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Patent Law as an example, the revision further improves the patent application and examination system, strengthens patent protection and patent services, and adds special provisions for international design applications, strengthening the connection with international rules such as the Patent Cooperation Treaty and the Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs. It helps to promote patent creation, protection, and utilization, and better meet the needs of innovation-driven development and high-level opening up to the outside world.
Arbitration
Arbitration is an internationally accepted commercial dispute resolution mechanism. To cultivate world-class arbitration institutions and promote innovation in maritime arbitration system rules, the Ministry of Justice focuses on promoting arbitration reform in the following three aspects: 1. Accelerating the improvement of arbitration legal system rules: The draft revision of the Arbitration Law has been discussed and approved in principle at the State Council Executive Meeting. The revision mainly focuses on solving outstanding problems in the arbitration system and practice, benchmarking advanced international rules, and improving the relevant content of the foreign-related arbitration system. 2. Promoting the construction of arbitration credibility: At present, China has established 282 arbitration institutions, with more than 80,000 arbitrators and institutional staff, and has handled more than 5 million cases with a total amount of more than RMB 8 trillion (Equivalent to US$ 1.12 trillion). The parties involved involve more than 100 countries and regions around the world. Among them, in 2023 alone, national arbitration institutions handled 607,000 arbitration cases, a year-on-year increase of 27.8%, and the total amount was RMB 1.16 trillion (Equivalent to US$ 0.16 trillion), a year-on-year increase of 17.7%. In the next step, the Ministry of Justice will further improve the construction and operation mechanism of arbitration institutions and strengthen the supervision and management of arbitration institutions and arbitrators. 3. Enhancing the international competitiveness of Chinese arbitration: China is now actively promoting the construction of an International Commercial Arbitration Center. In 2023, the eight arbitration institutions in the pilot areas, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Hainan, and other places, handled a total of 79,000 cases with a total amount of RMB 600 billion (Equivalent to US$ 84.3 trillion), accounting for 52% of the total amount of the national case. The number of foreign-related cases handled accounted for 72% of the total number of foreign-related cases in the country, and the amount accounted for 69% of the total amount of foreign-related cases in the country. Next, the Ministry of Justice will further promote the construction of the International Commercial Arbitration Center, focus on cultivating a group of world-class arbitration institutions, and launch the cultivation project of world-class arbitration institutions.
Legal services
Promoting high-quality and high-level legal services is an important part of the Ministry of Justice’s work in promoting the foreign-related legal system. Lawyers are an important part of legal services. In recent years, the Ministry of Justice has actively promoted the cultivation of world-class law firms. It supported and guided foreign-related law firms with strong comprehensive strength to accelerate their entry into the ranks of world-class law firms. So far, Chinese law firms have established 207 branches in 37 countries and regions. Compared with 2018, the number of branches of Chinese law firms abroad has increased by 69.67%. At the same time, the Ministry of Justice continues to strengthen the training of foreign-related lawyers. It has successively held three advanced training courses for foreign-related legal talents, 10 training courses for public lawyers and corporate lawyers for foreign-related legal service talents, and guided the All-China Lawyers Association to hold lawyers’ foreign-related business training courses, training more than 1,400 lawyers in total. In addition, the Ministry of Justice attaches importance to the role of Hong Kong and Macao lawyers in foreign-related legal services. It took the lead in establishing a consultation mechanism for legal services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to promote the training, exchange, and cooperation of legal service talents in the area. In particular, it actively promoted the pilot work of lawyers practicing in the area. In 2024, the Ministry of Justice organized and implemented the first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area lawyers practicing examination after the extension of the pilot period. So far, it has successfully held four examinations, with more than 1,800 Hong Kong and Macao lawyers registering for the examinations, and 482 people obtaining the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area lawyers practicing certificates. Through the pilot, a group of Hong Kong and Macao lawyers with rich experience in cross-border legal services have entered the mainland lawyer team, which has effectively improved the ability and level of foreign-related legal services.
Protection of overseas rights of Chinese citizens and enterprises
As China’s opening up deepens, the number of Chinese citizens and enterprises “going global” continues to increase. To safeguard the legitimate interests of Chinese citizens and legal persons overseas, the Ministry of Justice mainly promotes the work in the following four aspects: 1. Improving the foreign-related legal system: At present, China’s foreign-related legal system has some weaknesses and blank areas in safeguarding the overseas rights of Chinese citizens and legal persons. In the next step, the Ministry of Justice will accelerate the formulation and revision of relevant laws and regulations to provide more powerful institutional support for safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas. 2. Providing high-quality and efficient legal services for Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas: Since 2023, the Ministry of Justice has promoted the creation of the first batch of more than 150 national foreign-related legal service demonstration institutions, supported Chinese law firms to set up service outlets in countries along the “Belt and Road”, and selected 295 notary agencies to jointly carry out overseas remote video notarization with embassies and consulates abroad. Next, it will accelerate the cultivation of a group of world-class arbitration institutions and law firms, build a comprehensive legal service platform for the “Belt and Road”, and improve the mechanism for ascertaining foreign laws. 3. Deepening international law enforcement and judicial cooperation: At present, China has signed bilateral judicial assistance treaties with 88 countries and treaties on the transfer of sentenced persons with 18 countries. It handles more than 300 international criminal judicial assistance requests and more than 3,000 civil and commercial requests each year. In the next step, the Ministry of Justice will actively promote the signing of bilateral judicial assistance treaties and treaties on the transfer of sentenced persons with more countries to further expand law enforcement and judicial cooperation. 4. Accelerating the training of high-quality legal talents: The Ministry of Justice will accelerate the construction of a national foreign-related legal research base, strengthen the training of foreign-related lawyers, accelerate the reserve of a group of practical high-end foreign-related lawyers, and establish a foreign-related arbitration talent pool.
In conclusion, the Ministry of Justice improves China’s foreign-related legal system in terms of legislation, arbitration, legal services, and protection of overseas rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises. This system not only involves protecting the legitimate rights and interests of foreign citizens and enterprises in China but also involves protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and enterprises overseas.