Qianhai will build itself into a national pilot demonstration area of law-based governance by the end of 2022, housing an international legal services center and an international commercial dispute resolution center, as well as being an intellectual property rights protection highland, according to an implementation plan for the construction of the rule of law in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area recently issued by the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC.
As the only demonstration area for the socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics approved by the Central Government, the rule of law in Qianhai differentiates the free trade area from the other domestic development zones and free trade zones. The rule of law is also the core competitiveness and main driving force of Qianhai.
Qianhai also plans to draw on Hong Kong's legislative experience in the fields of industrial development and social governance to promote the convergence of rules between Shenzhen and Hong Kong regarding industry guidance, education, health care, and social organizations.
Reforms of the administrative examination and approval system and the national supervision system are expected to be carried out to realize information sharing and communication between the approval and supervision departments, and the supervision on key areas, important positions, major engineering projects, major capital use, and public resource transactions.
In addition, the implementation plan aims to improve the public credit information platform of Qianhai, build a credit-centered pre-and post-event supervision mechanism, and strive to establish Qianhai as the first national pilot demonstration area of the credit economy.
The plan also emphasized cooperation between Qianhai, Hong Kong and Macao in deepening the comprehensive reform of the judicial system through broadening the channels for Hong Kong and Macao legal professionals to participate in dispute resolution, improving the jurisdictional system for commercial cases relating to Hong Kong and Macao, expanding the scope of foreign-related commercial cases, exploring cross-district case jurisdiction by procuratorial organs, strengthening exchanges with the legal and academic communities in Hong Kong and Macao, and hiring Hong Kong and Macao professionals as special prosecutors or procurator assistants.
Qianhai aims to become an international legal service center and Shenzhen-Hong Kong Legal Service Cooperation Zone. At present, a legal service system integrating arbitration, mediation, lawyers, notarization, judicial appraisal, intellectual property protection and legal identification has been established in Qianhai. Qianhai now has 33 law firms and theirs branches, as well as seven Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao law firm associations in operation.
The plan also proposes to build a talent pool for Shenzhen and Hong Kong legal service organizations, set up the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Legal Service Professional Committee, and employ retired Hong Kong legal professionals as senior legal specialists in Qianhai, strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the International Bar Association, introduce international legal organizations such as branches of the International Association of Prosecutors, and promote the Hague Conference on Private International Law to set up an Asia-Pacific regional office in Qianhai.
Qianhai will also strengthen the construction of the rule of law culture, strive for the establishment of national-level think tanks in Qianhai, and plan to build legal cultural infrastructures such as the Qianhai Legal Service Port, International Arbitration Building, Qianhai Rule of Law Square, Rule of Law Museum and Rule of Law Theme Park.
