Beijing releases supporting measures for the legal services industry to promote the development of the "Two Zones."
Recently, Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice and other departments jointly released the Measures of Beijing Municipality on Reforming and Improving the Environment of the Legal Services Industry (hereinafter referred to as the Measures) to promote the development of the "Two Zones". According to an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, Beijing will build an international commercial arbitration center and the Measures aims to improve services and reduce institutional costs. Foreign high-caliber legal talent will be able to apply for and obtain their work permit and residence permit all at once with one visit to the service window. The approval time will be shortened to 7 working days. Beijing will also explore the possibility of integrating the foreigners' work permit and the residence permit for work into one.
Beijing's legal services industry has been in a leading position in China, with its number of law firms and capacity of non-litigation business ranking at the top nationwide. By the end of 2020, there are 2887 law firms and over 37,000 lawyers in Beijing, accounting for about 8.5% and 7.2% of the national total respectively. In 2019, lawyers in Beijing handled 13.8 % of the total commercial and other non-litigation legal affairs nationwide. At the same time, Beijing's capacity for foreign-related legal services stands out in the whole country. 170 out of 1000 national selected foreign-related lawyers are from Beijing, which is far more than any other city. 25 law firms have established 74 branches in major western countries and the countries along the "Belt and Road".
Faced with increasingly fierce competition in global legal services, Beijing has formulated six specific measures to optimize the environment for its legal services industry, the first three of which aim to improve services and reduce institutional costs. The mentioned measures allow legal service agencies in Beijing to better contribute to China's higher-level opening-up and Beijing's higher-quality development.
According to the Measures, Beijing will further improve its services for the application of the residence permit for work and allow high-caliber foreign talent to apply for and obtain their work permit and residence permit all at once with one visit. It will also explore the possibility of integrating the foreigner's work permit and residence permit for work into one. In addition, it will encourage law firms and arbitration agencies to invite international students from prestigious overseas universities to Beijing for internships and help them obtain short-term private affairs visas.
So far, foreign high-caliber legal talent can apply for and obtain their work permit and residence permit all at once with one visit at Beijing Government Affairs Service Center, Government Affairs Service Center of Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, China Beijing Industrial Park of Human Resources Service (Tongzhou Park), Beijing CBD International Talent One-stop Service Center or Exit-entry Administration Service Center in Chaoyang District. The total processing time for the two permits is shortened to 7 working days.
Cross-border balance of payments for legal business will also become more convenient. To improve the efficiency of approval, the city will enhance the examination of foreign exchange documents for the trade in services of legal service providers, who will no longer need to provide proof of authenticity one by one. The time for lawyers' approval will be significantly reduced by 50 percent, from 30 days to 15 days. Regional restrictions on the establishment of law firms' branch offices in the same city will be lifted. In addition, the materials required for law firm establishment and alteration will be reduced, and the notification and commitment system will be promoted to replace the provision of documentary evidence. Several other measures will also be implemented.
The latter three measures focus on development and better international services. The reporter learned that Beijing would build an international commercial arbitration center. "Arbitration is also an important symbol of a city's influence, as world-class cities all have international commercial arbitration centers," said an official from Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice.
The reporter learned that the Measures encourages well-known arbitration agencies and international commercial mediation organizations to set up offices in the China (Beijing) Pilot Free Trade Zone (BFTZ) and carry out overseas arbitration and mediation in the field of civil and commercial disputes. All kinds of enterprises will be encouraged to choose Beijing-based arbitration bodies in dealing with commercial arbitration and appoint Beijing as the place of arbitration when signing foreign-related contracts.Beijing will establish a safe and convenient channel within the BFTZ dedicated to international Internet data and provide security services for arbitration bodies and other legal service providers within BFTZ to access advanced international academic websites.
In addition, Beijing will support local law firms in establishing branches abroad and expand the city's pool of foreign-related legal talent and reserve talent. According to an official from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, the next step will be to hear from the legal service institutions and legal personnel on a regular basis, to actively implement the national preferential tax measures in the legal services industry and to continuously update and improve policy measures.
