China to Regulate Services of Foreign Law Firms in ChinaThe Chinese judicial departments will take measures to regulate the services of foreign law firms in China and encourage Chinese law firms to compete internationally.Zhang Fusen, just-appointed Minister of Justice, made the remarks Tuesday when addressing the heads of provincial-level judicial departments at a national conference, which opened here Tuesday. With China's impending entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China must standardize the services of foreign and Hong Kong and Macao-based law firms, said Zhang. Zhang pointed out that China will deepen the reform of state- funded law firms and regulate legal services, so as to improve the quality of Chinese lawyers and increase their success in international competition. In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Gao Zongze, president of the All-China Lawyers Association, said that a number of foreign law firms have opened offices in China. However, these offices are merely proficient in foreign laws, not in Chinese laws, said Gao, calling upon judicial departments to map out regulations and qualification standards to put their services in order. Gao said that Chinese lawyers have the ability to compete with foreign law firms, citing an example that many Chinese lawyers have been involved in legal services related to finance, foreign trade and foreign affairs. Zhang Fusen has also given a summary of the achievements in the judicial sector last year and set a guideline for the work of the judicial departments this year. |
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