Changsha bolsters foreign-related legal services to support enterprises' global expansion

In recent years, the Justice Bureau of Changsha in Central China's Hunan province has focused on key priorities such as the development of the China (Hunan) Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Pilot Zone for In-depth China-Africa Economic and Trade Cooperation. By continuously improving foreign-related legal work mechanisms, enhancing the legal service system, strengthening the professional talent pool, and delivering targeted services to support the province's opening-up, Changsha has steadily improved the quality and efficiency of its foreign-related legal services and its capacity for international commercial dispute resolution. These efforts have laid a solid legal foundation for the city's high-quality economic and social development and its high-level opening-up.

Improving working mechanisms

Changsha has integrated foreign-related rule of law development into the overall framework of comprehensive law-based governance. It coordinates the deep integration of rule of law with opening-up, investment promotion, and industrial development. Focusing on building a world-class, market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment, the city has established a coordination group for foreign-related legal work, aiming to position itself as a hub for foreign-related legal services.

To meet the growing demand for foreign-related legal services, the Hunan (Changsha) International Central Legal Service District was launched in February of last year, with the goal of becoming a preferred destination for international commercial dispute resolution. The district has become an innovative legal cluster integrating functions such as legal services, smart legal affairs, legal talent cultivation, and international cooperation and exchanges.

The district has set up eight service windows covering legal consultation, legal aid, outbound direct investment filing, notarization, commercial mediation, international arbitration, foreign-related legal affairs, and finance and taxation, providing full-chain and integrated foreign-related legal services.

With the two core missions of advancing foreign-related rule of law and delivering targeted services for enterprises, the district provides all-round legal services for enterprises and the public. To date, it has held over 60 themed activities and served more than 2,000 enterprises, becoming a recognizable foreign-related legal service brand for Changsha.

Strengthening platform development

Focusing on the dual demands of local enterprises going global and attracting foreign investment, Changsha has comprehensively upgraded its foreign-related legal services to build a service matrix with broader coverage, more targeted services, and higher efficiency.

The city actively guides local law firms to enhance their capacity in foreign-related legal affairs and to accurately align with market demands in areas such as China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, cross-border investment, and international trade. Specific initiatives include compiling legal service guides for business operations in African countries, and providing practical legal guidance for local enterprises expanding overseas.

In a move to promote global expansion, 10 law firms in the city have now set up 17 overseas branches, with a service network spanning Africa, Southeast Asia, and Europe.

Changsha has also made continuous efforts to refine its foreign-related commercial dispute resolution system by forming a professional mediation team composed of lawyers from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, legal experts, and bilingual legal professionals. The team provides one-stop dispute mediation services covering key areas such as cross-border trade, foreign-related intellectual property rights, and cross-border investment and financing.

Other efforts include deepening the mechanisms for litigation-mediation alignment, arbitration-mediation alignment and judicial confirmation. The launch of the Changsha International Arbitration Court in September last year marked a significant improvement in Changsha's capacity to resolve international commercial disputes, bolstering its law-based business environment.

In addition, the city has advanced foreign-related notarization reform, and introduced one-stop services combining notarization and certification. A green channel for foreign-related commercial notarization has been opened, enabling frequently arising matters to be processed online. Moreover, four notary institutions in the city have been selected as national pilots for overseas remote video notarization.

Enhancing talent cultivation

Changsha adopts a multi-pronged approach to cultivate versatile, practice-oriented foreign-related legal professionals. The city also regularly organizes specialized training sessions for foreign-related lawyers on topics such as international commercial adjudication and overseas investment risk prevention and control, providing targeted and practical guidance.

Furthermore, Changsha implements "one enterprise, one policy" targeted services to address enterprises' needs for listings in Hong Kong, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and international investments. Through hands-on experiences, legal service teams have improved their capabilities in cross-border compliance review, risk prevention and control, and dispute resolution, which further contributes to the expansion of the city's pool of high-caliber foreign-related legal professionals.

In addition, Changsha has actively built platforms for international exchange and cooperation on foreign-related legal services. It has organized delegations of core legal talent to study best practices in leading regions and rolled out international exchange programs for legal professionals to broaden their international legal vision.

The city has also held seminars on legal practice for cross-border employment among Hunan enterprises going global, and co-hosted special lectures on international commercial dispute resolution with arbitration institutions, continuously improving legal professionals' practical capabilities in foreign-related legal affairs.

Looking ahead, the Justice Bureau of Changsha will continuously refine interdepartmental coordination mechanisms, strengthen the development of the city's foreign-related legal service district, build a robust team of interdisciplinary legal professionals, and improve foreign-related legal services. By continuously improving the modern foreign-related legal service system, the bureau aims to fully support Changsha's higher-level opening-up and high-quality economic and social development.