Zhejiang advances high-level opening-up through rule of law

Over the years, East China's Zhejiang province has stepped up efforts to advance high-level opening-up on the track of the rule of law, promoting the integrated development of legislation, law enforcement, administration of justice, legal publicity and legal services.

In recent years, the province has intensified efforts to promote foreign-related rule of law by establishing a provincial foreign-related legal coordination group to improve the organizational framework of foreign-related legal work.

The province has made a series of landmark achievements in the development of foreign-related rule of law through measures such as improving the foreign-related legal service system, establishing a diversified dispute resolution mechanism for foreign-related commercial disputes, and cultivating foreign-related legal talents. Complementing these efforts, initiatives such as establishing a platform for targeted trade remedy services, releasing legal risk assessment checklists, and forming a pool of foreign-related lawyers have been implemented.

Enhancing legal service supply

In recent years, localities across Zhejiang have been actively promoting foreign-related legal services, providing strong legal guarantees for enterprises’ overseas expansion and introducing foreign investments. Since 2024, Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, has actively implemented the province’s plan for accelerating the construction of its foreign-related legal system and capacity, continuously empowering high-quality economic development with high-quality foreign-related legal services.

Cities across the province have strengthened their legal service supply through multi-faceted efforts. For instance, Jinhua has established a foreign-related legal service alliance and Wenzhou has established a multi-departmental collaboration system for trade remedy responses, while Ningbo has developed an integrated application for overseas legal risk advisories focusing on high-incidence issues.

Promoting diversified resolution of foreign-related disputes

Zhejiang has made continuous efforts in building a robust service network for diversified resolution of foreign-related commercial disputes and exploring ways to become a preferred destination for resolving such disputes.

The provincial administration for market regulation has intensified support for enterprises in overseas intellectual property rights (IPR) protection, and has established eight branch centers for resolving overseas IPR disputes. In 2024 alone, these centers handled 839 guidance cases, helping enterprises recover economic losses of approximately 400 million yuan ($55.22 million) and saving about 37 million yuan ($5.2 million) in response costs.

Furthermore, Hangzhou has made breakthroughs in digitalized dispute resolution, while the provincial trade promotion system handled nearly 1,500 commercial dispute cases throughout 2024.

Strengthening the cultivation of foreign-related legal talents

In recent years, Zhejiang has taken multiple measures to continuously solidify the cultivation of foreign-related legal talents.

In August 2024, a key proposal by the Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference outlined opinions on enhancing the development of qualified foreign legal professionals, thereby strengthening the talent base for the province's foreign-related rule of law.

In addition, the province's lawyers association has established a cooperative partnership with the Hong Kong Bar Association to jointly conduct training to enhance lawyers' capabilities in international dispute resolution, and to cultivate a team of leading foreign-related lawyers with global vision and proficiency in resolving economic and trade disputes.

Meanwhile, Hangzhou has adopted a "policy + cultivation" approach to build an integrated talent team, allowed city-level justice bureaus to independently select 205 high-level lawyers, and fostered partnerships with over 100 overseas legal institutions. Multiple districts and counties have introduced incentives to support local lawyers.

Moreover, local governments have collaborated with universities and enterprises to establish a practice-oriented training mechanism for the cultivation of foreign-related legal talents.