May 05, 1999
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| May 05, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| China After WTO entry, lawyer ban may be lifted Beijing - China may lift the current geographic ban on overseas lawyers one year after entering the World Trade Organization (WTO). The overseas law firms will also be allowed to open more than one office in China after the nation gains accession to the WTO, said Wu Mingde, deputy director of the Department of Lawyers and Notation under the Ministry of Justice. However, the setting up of joint venture law firms - co-funded by Chinese and overseas investors - will still have to wait, said Wu. So far, branches of overseas law firms have been set up in only eight cities including Beijing and Shanghai among all the 15 Chinese cities which have government permission to hold overseas law firms. Last month, another 12 overseas law firms were given the green light to open offices in China, increasing the total to 105, of which 26 came from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Another 100 overseas law firms are in the process of applying to enter China's legal service market. The resident overseas lawyers are today mainly involved in representing domestic clients in legal disputes abroad. They are serving as legal counsel to both domestic and foreign clients on matters of trade, technology transfer, real estate, intellectual property rights, bonds and securities. ''The expanding role of overseas lawyers here will pose strong competition for their Chinese counterparts in the short term. But in the long run, they may spur the domestic lawyers to upgrade themselves, in both professional standards and business skills,'' Wu said. (Aisa Pulse/XIC) | |||||||||
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