This May 4, 2020, photo shows the Victoria Harbor of Hong Kong. (LO PING FAI / XINHUA)
Hong Kong’s legal sector should make full use of the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) to help it integrate into the national development, the city’s political and legal heavyweights said on Monday at a “Policies, Strategies and Opportunities” webinar co-organized by the Department of Justice and the Law Society of Hong Kong.
Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah pledged that the Department of Justice will put more effort into cooperating with the legal sector to explore opportunities under the plan
Speaking at the webinar, Vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Leung Chun-ying said the plan explicitly says the nation will support Hong Kong to be an international shipping and aviation center, which will provide the environment for new legal services.
According to China’s 14th Five-Year Plan unveiled in March, the country will continue to support Hong Kong to enhance its status as an international financial, transportation and trade center; strengthen its status as a global offshore renminbi business hub, an international asset management center and a risk management center; and establish itself as a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific.
Leung said Hong Kong lawyers with institutional and language advantages are “super connectors” between domestic and foreign legal services.
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With the Chinese mainland forging a closer economic bond with the international community and attaching more importance to the rule of law, Leung said there’s an urgent need to improve the quality of legal service on the mainland, which also means great opportunities for Hong Kong’s mature legal service market and legal professionals.
Secretary for Justice Teresa Cheng Yeuk-wah pledged to the webinar that the Department of Justice will put more effort into cooperating with the legal sector to explore opportunities under the plan, consolidate Hong Kong’s status as an international legal hub and promote the city to further integrate into the nation’s overall development.
Cheng also encouraged Hong Kong legal firms to make full use of policies and new programs provided by the government, including applying for the city’s new Greater Bay Area Youth Employment scheme. She said the scheme could offer young legal practitioners a pathway to working in the Chinese mainland cities in the Bay Area.
Maria Tam Wai-chu, a member of the Committee for the Basic Law of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, told the event that young legal professionals in Hong Kong could help the mainland to strengthen the rule of law and establish relevant rules and regulations.
