Zone retools legal system for enterprises

In addition to innovating its financial policies, Qianhai is looking to create a better legal system to establish a fair business environment for enterprises and attract more talent from Hong Kong.

Since the beginning of the year, a number of achievements have been made in the zone's legal system, including the opening of a court in January, the founding of the Free Trade Zone Arbitration Collaboration Alliance in April and the establishment of a maritime and logistics arbitration center in May.

In the Qianhai court, jurors from Hong Kong are allowed to participate in trials. The court, apart from dealing with civil, commercial and administrative cases in the zone, also hears cases involving Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and foreign commercial affairs.

"That jurors from Hong Kong can exercise jurisdiction on the mainland is a big breakthrough," said Guo Yimin, deputy head of Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court.

The court heard its first case on April 8, in which a Hong Kong financial management company filed a lawsuit against a management consultancy for failing to pay back more than a million Hong Kong dollars ($129,000) in commission after a customer the defendant had recommended canceled his insurance scheme.

Lawyers and legal experts praised the hearing.

Defense lawyer Liang Min commended the fact that the court held two meetings before the trial in an effort to find out every point in the dispute.

"The Qianhai court, which breaks the traditional mode of courts, aims to set up a new mode for Chinese courts and become a national example," said Huang Yaying, head of the law school at Shenzhen University.

Through unified hearings for cases of disputes involving parties from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan or foreign countries, Qianhai court allows judges to focus on new types of cases, which will make their judgment more professional, Huang said.

Qianhai has also been making progress in promoting cooperation between mainland and Hong Kong law firms. Since the launch of a pilot program last year, seven Guangdong-Hong Kong joint-venture law firms have been set up, among which five are located in Qianhai. As innovation and entrepreneurship gain increasing momentum in Shenzhen, bringing out more and more high-tech creations, Qianhai has also set up a property rights arbitration center with the aim of protecting the legal rights of high-tech enterprises.

Shenzhen has a number of globally known high-tech enterprises such as Huawei and Tencent. The arbitration center, said Shenzhen Deputy Mayor Chen Biao, will play an active role in protecting enterprises' intellectual property rights.

sally@chinadailyhk.com

(China Daily 12/04/2015 page12)