Wuhan advances foreign-related rule of law with integrated resources

As a core city in the Yangtze River Economic Belt and a key junction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Wuhan in Central China's Hubei province has witnessed a growing number of local enterprises participating in international markets in recent years.

To support this trend, Wuhan's justice bureau has advanced the comprehensive development of foreign-related rule of law, aiming to establish the city as an inland hub for opening-up and foster a first-class, law-based business environment. These efforts provide solid legal safeguards for Wuhan to be a key pillar in accelerating Hubei's rise in Central China.

Wuhan has taken the provincial lead in establishing a mechanism for inter-departmental cooperation on foreign-related legal affairs and has outlined key tasks in this field. This has facilitated collaboration among 16 districts and 22 municipal government bodies and their affiliated units.

Moreover, the city has established a dedicated office for legal research and foreign-related legal work within the municipal justice bureau. The office serves as a key department to coordinate the city's collaborative legal framework and provides robust legal support for building Wuhan into an inland hub for opening-up. 

In line with its vision for high-level opening-up, Wuhan has also developed multiple platforms for foreign-related legal services. In April 2025, the municipal justice bureau and the Wuhan Arbitration Commission (WHAC) jointly established the Wuhan Changjiang International Commercial Mediation Center.

The center brings together 597 mediators worldwide with expertise spanning fields such as construction, engineering, finance, and the digital economy. It offers a multidimensional service network covering 20 languages and 30 professional sectors. By innovating a dispute resolution mechanism that integrates litigation, mediation, and arbitration, the center has established pathways for judicial confirmation and green channels for mediation-to-arbitration transitions, offering cross-border enforcement services that extend to over 170 countries and regions.

In November 2025, the WHAC, the People's Court of the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, and the Wuhan Changjiang International Commercial Mediation Center jointly signed a cooperation memorandum to position Wuhan as a preferred destination for resolving foreign-related commercial disputes.

Building on this foundation, Wuhan has established a dedicated corridor for foreign-related legal services, further expanding its platform building to provide professional support for enterprises in overseas expansion and cross-border investment. By the end of 2025, the center had handled 905 cases involving disputes worth more than 1 billion yuan ($143.7 million), reducing the average mediation cycle to 30 days and lowering costs of enterprises' rights protection by over 60 percent.

Alongside developing these service platforms, Wuhan has actively cultivated a pool of foreign-related legal professionals with firm political stances, sound legal proficiency, a good command of international rules, and expertise in foreign-related legal practice.

In February 2025, the city issued the Action Plan for Building a Foreign-Related Legal Talent Team (2025-27), which outlined 18 specific tasks across four areas: cultivation, recruitment, utilization, and management. The plan has provided a clear roadmap for cultivating and expanding the talent pool of high-caliber foreign-related legal professionals.

Furthermore, the Wuhan Lawyers Association has signed letters of intent on cooperation with the Law School of Wuhan University and Zhongnan University of Economics and Law to establish training bases for foreign-related legal experts and young lawyers. As part of these efforts, the association held a specialized training session at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in November 2025, drawing nearly 100 lawyers specializing in or interested in foreign-related legal practice.

At present, Wuhan has built a comprehensive and highly specialized talent pool for foreign-related legal services, including over 70 leading foreign-related lawyers, 20 prominent foreign-related arbitrators, and 100 notaries qualified for foreign-related notarization.

Looking ahead, Wuhan's justice bureau will continue to focus on building the city into an inland hub for opening-up, enhance its capacity to aggregate resources, and expand the city's influence in related fields. It will strengthen coordination through the mechanism for inter-departmental cooperation on foreign-related legal affairs, boost the professional profile of the Wuhan Changjiang International Commercial Mediation Center, and deepen cooperation with universities to accelerate the cultivation of high-level foreign-related legal professionals. These steps will provide strong momentum for supporting local enterprises in going global.