Yunnan launches foreign-related legal service initiatives to safeguard enterprises' cross-border development

A series of foreign-related legal service initiatives — under the theme "Strengthening Foreign-Related Legal Services to Safeguard Enterprises' Cross-Border Development" — were recently launched by the Justice Department of Southwest China's Yunnan province.

The move aims to support local companies in expanding globally and to attract foreign investment, marking a crucial step by Yunnan in the systematic building of a foreign-related legal service system, optimizing the law-based business environment, and supporting its high-level opening-up.

These new initiatives will precisely address the legal needs of enterprises engaged in cross-border operations and focus on their most pressing concerns.

During the launch, business representatives shared practical challenges encountered in overseas activities. Meanwhile, through case studies, legal experts analyzed high-frequency risk areas, such as investment access, labor and taxation, contract compliance and responses to sanctions, offering professional guidance on issues of concern to foreign investors.

As a key department in advancing the rule of law in the province, the Justice Department of Yunnan announced at the launch that it would leverage this series as a pivotal opportunity to work with all co-organizers and partners to enhance the province's overall capacity in foreign-related legal services. Efforts will focus on four major areas.

The department emphasized strengthening platform upgrading by building an integrated legal resource platform for foreign-related legal services in Yunnan. This includes supporting professional institutions such as the Kunming Legal Service Center for South and Southeast Asia in pooling domestic and international resources, deepening country-specific research, providing reliable guidance for local enterprises going global, as well as serving as a think tank for attracting foreign investment.

Talent development will be accelerated by cultivating a core workforce for foreign-related legal services and by nurturing versatile professionals proficient in international rules and foreign laws through multi-party collaboration, the department said.

Furthermore, the department highlighted innovation in service mechanisms by smoothing the "connection chain" of foreign-related legal services, promoting the establishment of a regular feedback and demand collection mechanism, and offering preliminary services such as legal risk assessments and compliance consultations.

The department said efforts will also be made to strengthen the building of a safety net for foreign-related legal services through closer collaboration with departments including commerce, State-owned assets supervision and administration,federations of industry and commerce and returned overseas Chinese associations. This will help build a new foreign-related legal service framework featuring "guidance by judicial administrative departments, support through inter-departmental coordination, services from professional institutions and active participation of enterprises".

In addition, the meeting called on enterprises to raise their compliance awareness, utilize professional expertise and actively voice their needs, so as to jointly build a solid line of defense against legal risks in cross-border operations.

The launch of the series represents a significant step by the Kunming Legal Services District in leveraging the clustering effect of legal services to support Yunnan's open development.

Moving forward, the province will organize a range of activities including tailored matchmaking sessions, targeted guidance and legal outreach campaigns to ensure these initiatives deliver tangible outcomes.

The goal is to make precise, professional foreign-related legal services a source of reassurance for enterprises expanding abroad, effectively address their specific legal needs and build a distinctive Yunnan brand of foreign-related legal services with influence radiating across South and Southeast Asia.

The launch was deemed to have not only established a legal service matching platform for enterprises' cross-border development, but also marked a new phase in the development of Yunnan's foreign-related legal service system.

On the basis of this initiative, all parties will pool the strengths of governments, enterprises and research institutions in a bid to continuously improve the capacity and quality of Yunnan's foreign-related legal services.

By providing high-quality legal support, the moves aim to instill strong legal confidence and professional backing for enterprises steadily going global, to effectively attract foreign investment, provide robust legal safeguards for the province's development of a high-level open economy, and contribute to writing Yunnan's chapter in the story of Chinese modernization.