The Chinese judicial departments will take
measures to regulate the services of foreign law firms in China and encourage Chinese law
firms to compete internationally. Zhang Fusen, just-appointed Minister
of Justice, made the remarks Tuesday when addressing the heads of provincial-level
judicial departments at a national conference, which opened here Tuesday.
With China's impending entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO), China must
standardize the services of foreign and Hong Kong and Macao-based law firms, said Zhang.
Zhang pointed out that China will deepen the reform of state- funded law firms
and regulate legal services, so as to improve the quality of Chinese lawyers and increase
their success in international competition.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Gao Zongze, president of the All-China
Lawyers Association, said that a number of foreign law firms have opened offices in China.
However, these offices are merely proficient in foreign laws, not in Chinese
laws, said Gao, calling upon judicial departments to map out regulations and qualification
standards to put their services in order.
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