Weifang advances targeted legal services to support enterprises going global

In recent years, Weifang city in East China's Shandong province has made it a priority to establish itself as a new hub for opening-up. Focusing on the foreign-related legal service needs of enterprises expanding overseas, the city has deepened reforms in foreign-related rule of law and systematically built a comprehensive foreign-related legal service system. This effort has laid a solid legal foundation for the stable overseas expansion of local enterprises and their products.

Building a coordinated service matrix

In terms of service systems, Weifang has established a collaborative mechanism that integrates government departments and industry associations. The city has set up a high-level foreign-related law coordination group, rolled out 60 measures for key tasks for advancing foreign-related rule of law, and built a service network involving nearly 20 municipal-level departments, export-oriented industry associations, chambers of commerce, and the lawyers association. This has formed strong synergy driven by the leadership of the municipal Party committee, inter-departmental coordination, and participation by the associations.

In terms of service layout, the city has built a full-coverage service matrix spanning both domestic and overseas markets. Domestically, arbitration and notarization resources have been integrated into a full-service chain covering mediation, arbitration, and litigation. Internationally, initiatives include the establishment of four overseas branches by three local law firms and strategic partnerships between the city's trade promotion council and 33 legal service institutions across 27 countries, providing comprehensive legal services to overseas enterprises.

Regarding service delivery, Weifang has developed both offline and online service platforms. Six legal service centers have been set up in various foreign-related industrial parks across the city, covering sectors such as agricultural product exports and cross-border e-commerce. Moreover, a regular mechanism has been established for legal professionals to provide on-site services for enterprises and at industrial parks.

Online service platforms such as the "Weifang Enterprises Going Global Service Port" and "Weifang Legal Support Platform: Lawyers at Your Service" have been launched. The city has opened 19 foreign trade service hotlines and dedicated foreign trade desks on the 12345 government service hotline, with 71 selected professional lawyers on rotating duty throughout the year, offering convenient foreign-related legal services to enterprises and the public.

Improving the quality and efficiency of legal services

Addressing high-frequency disputes encountered by enterprises in foreign trade, such as contract breaches and intellectual property rights (IPR) infringements, Weifang has adopted a tiered dispute resolution approach that prioritizes mediation and uses litigation only as a last resort. It has built a one-stop dispute resolution platform bringing together courts, the trade promotion council, arbitration institutions, and law firms. Since 2021, over 20 disputes have been successfully mediated, involving a total value exceeding 14 million yuan ($2.06 million).

To advance risk prevention at the source, Weifang has established a full-process risk prevention system covering information collection, risk alerts, and prevention guidance. It has set up an inter-agency meeting mechanism for promoting compliance in enterprises' international operations, issued industry-specific compliance guides for international operations in sectors such as smart agricultural machinery and advanced chemical manufacturing, and sorted out taxation rules, labor laws and regulations, and IPR protection policies of major trading partners. These efforts have provided targeted guidance for over 1,200 enterprises, helping them shift from passive compliance to proactive risk control.

To date, the municipal trade promotion council has released over 500 risk alerts annually, providing real-time early warning services for more than 7,000 foreign-related enterprises across the city.

Addressing regional and industry-specific challenges in foreign-related rule of law, the city has assembled a legal service team comprising foreign-related legal practice experts, university law professors, and experienced foreign-related lawyers. It has launched a series of themed events on foreign-related rule of law supporting high-level opening-up and enterprises' overseas expansion, and created customized foreign-related legal service solutions that reflect the unique features of each county.  

Since 2025, over 10 themed activities have been held, providing targeted legal publicity lectures, legal consultations, and dispute resolution services for more than 800 foreign-related enterprises, export-oriented industry associations, and chambers of commerce.

Cultivating professional, practice-oriented talent

For the cultivation of foreign-related legal professionals, Weifang has adopted a demand-oriented approach and actively fosters a team of practice-oriented foreign-related legal talent. Focusing on high-frequency legal demands of enterprises in areas such as cross-border investment, international trade, IPR protection and international commercial dispute resolution, the city has formulated targeted work plans for education and training of foreign-related legal talent, and built a multi-tiered talent cultivation framework covering university students, foreign-related lawyers and corporate legal advisers.

The city's justice bureau has partnered with universities to establish collaborative platforms including collaborative training bases for foreign-related legal talent and a dedicated institute for lawyers. It has innovated a dual-mentor system combining university instructors and practice mentors, regularly inviting foreign-related legal experts to serve as on-campus practice mentors.

Furthermore, the city has strengthened cooperation and exchanges with top-tier domestic and foreign universities and legal service institutions in cultivating foreign-related legal talent proficient in both foreign languages and law.

Weifang has built a well-rounded workforce to continuously improve the quality of its foreign-related legal services. To date, the city has formed a foreign-related legal service team of 12 young lawyers, established a talent pool of 36 senior foreign-related lawyers, appointed 63 foreign-related arbitration experts, and cultivated 111 corporate compliance experts.