BEIJING, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese lawmakers are set to review a draft amendment to the lawyers law to strengthen foreign-related legal services, a spokesperson said Friday.
The draft amendment seeks to improve the training of lawyers specializing in international legal affairs, Huang Haihua, spokesperson for the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, told a press conference.
It also supports law firms in improving foreign-related services and encourages greater international exchanges and cooperation, Huang said.
Xue Jimin, vice president of the All China Lawyers Association, said the draft amendment comes as Chinese companies and citizens face growing legal risks overseas amid a complex international environment, thus underscoring the need for more professional and internationally capable legal services.
The draft is of great significance in better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and citizens overseas, Xue added.
China's foreign-related legal services sector has expanded rapidly in recent years, with the number of lawyers providing such services growing to 12,000 and Chinese law firms setting up 207 branches in 37 countries and regions, according to a report by the Legal Daily.
The draft amendment will be submitted for a second reading at a session of the NPC Standing Committee from Aug. 25 to 28.
The draft also allows legal practitioners from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and practicing lawyers from the Macao SAR who pass the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) lawyer qualification exam and obtain mainland practicing qualifications, to provide legal services within the prescribed scope in the nine mainland cities of the GBA.
The draft provisions build on an existing pilot program in the GBA. In 2020, the NPC Standing Committee authorized the State Council to launch this pilot program, which was extended in 2023 to Oct. 4, 2026.
Since the pilot program began, more than 600 lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao have practiced in the nine mainland cities of the GBA, providing high-quality legal services to support the region's development.
Xue said the pilot program had produced positive results over nearly six years, demonstrating that the policy was successful and should now become a long-term, well-established arrangement.
The draft amendment encourages and supports law firms and lawyers to participate in public-interest legal services, said Huang.
It also pushes for full lawyer representation in criminal cases.
The measure is expected to strengthen criminal defense and better protect human rights, said Lyu Hongbing, a veteran lawyer and national political advisor.
According to the Legal Daily, relevant authorities have steadily advanced efforts to pilot full lawyer representation in criminal cases in recent years, assigning legal aid lawyers to suspects and defendants who did not hire their own lawyers due to financial difficulties and other reasons.
The rate of lawyer representation in criminal cases has risen significantly, said the newspaper.
Huang said that the draft amendment was open to public opinion from June 26 to July 25 and had received extensive feedback from the public and NPC deputies. Some of their suggestions are reflected in relevant provisions. Enditem
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