Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok (fourth right) and a delegation of representatives from the Hong Kong legal sector visit the Nansha International Arbitration Centre and meet with Secretary of the CPC Guangzhou Nansha District Committee Lu Yixian (fourth left) in Nansha on June 9, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG - Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok concluded his visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen on Saturday, saying the Department of Justice will spare no effort to contribute to the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and further enhance the protection of the rule of law.

Lam said that the visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen together with representatives from the two legal professional bodies and the Intellectual Property Department was very fruitful, with the exchange of views on thematic topics by stakeholders of both places facilitating mutual understanding, according to a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government statement.  

Lam indicated that the Hong Kong legal sector should seize the opportunities brought by innovative technology and proactively explore ways to further enhance the efficiency and standard of professional services by utilizing innovative technology

The DOJ will continue to spare no effort to take forward the alignment of rules and exchanges of talent, with a view to jointly pursuing mutual and win-win cooperation in the construction of the GBA, he added.

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Lam and a delegation of representatives from the HKSAR legal sector visited the Nansha Planning Exhibition Hall on Friday morning to learn about the history and the latest development of Guangzhou Nansha New Area, as well as the prospects of and measures on the deepening of Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macao cooperation.  

Lam and the delegation, accompanied by Secretary of the Communist Party of China Guangzhou Nansha District Committee Lu Yixian, and Deputy District Mayor of Nansha District of Guangzhou Municipality Pang Bo visited the Nansha International Arbitration Centre.

During the meeting, Party Secretary and Director of the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission Chen Simin introduced the latest progress and vision of the Commission.

The representative from the Nansha District Bureau of Justice also introduced the landscape of legal services in Nansha and their work on the taking forward of the interface of the legal regulatory regimes.

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Lam said that the Department of Justice will further encourage stakeholders to contribute to the development and opening up of the Guangzhou Nansha New Area, in particular on exchange of talent in foreign-related arbitration and commercial mediation in various subjects including maritime finance, insurance and dispute resolution.

In the afternoon, Lam visited the First International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court and met with representatives, including its Vice-Presidents Zhao Jinshan and Liu Zheng, to learn about the establishment and operation of the Court's one-stop platform on the organic convergence of litigation, mediation and arbitration for the resolution of diversified international commercial disputes.

Lam also visited the Shenzhen Qianhai Cooperation Zone People's Court to learn about its organization structure. In a roundtable meeting with President of the Qianhai Court Bian Fei and others, Lam discussed the practice of adoption of HKSAR law by HKSAR enterprises in the Qianhai Court and the practice on proof of HKSAR law.

Secretary for Justice Paul Lam Ting-kwok  (front row, seventh right), and a delegation of representatives from the Hong Kong legal sector visit the First International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court and meet with the court's Vice -Presidents Zhao Jinshan (front row, eighth right) and Liu Zheng (front row, fourth right) in Shenzhen on June 9, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

The representatives from the HKSAR legal sector said they hoped to collaborate with the stakeholders in the Chinese mainland to further promote the application of the adoption of HKSAR law by HKSAR enterprises.

They also hoped to deepen the professional exchanges and mutual learning on the proof of HKSAR law. Lam agreed that both sides will explore together the further expansion of the pool of legal talent in the proof of laws, including the strengthening of young legal practitioners' understanding on the needs of legal services and the market in the GBA, contributing to the building of a rule-based business environment in the GBA.

On Saturday morning, Lam and the delegation visited the headquarters of Tencent in Shenzhen to learn about the research and development, and the application of innovative technology by Tencent which contribute to the development of the society and a wide array of industries.

Lam met with Dean of Tencent Research Institute Jason Si and others. Representatives from the Research Institute and the delegation discussed about the ways tools of innovative technology including artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT would affect and bring challenges to different sectors and the legal regulatory regime.

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Lam indicated that the Hong Kong legal sector should seize the opportunities brought by innovative technology and proactively explore ways to further enhance the efficiency and standard of professional services by utilizing innovative technology.