Shenzhen Municipal Justice Bureau: Municipal Lawyers Association Organizes Law Firms to Participate in the 15th China International Talent Exchange Conference to Recruit Foreign-Related Legal Talent
From April 15 to 16, the 15th Conference on International Exchange of Professionals was held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. To showcase the achievements of Shenzhen's innovative work in international legal talent and attract foreign-related legal professionals, the Shenzhen Municipal Justice Bureau, as the first legal "talent recruitment and intelligence introduction" unit, set up an "International Legal Innovation Achievements and Talent Recruitment" booth in Hall 1 of the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. Jiang Xilin, Director of the Municipal Justice Bureau, and Ren Jiguang, Deputy Director, along with Lin Changchi, President of the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, Vice Presidents Zhang Cheng, Yang Xiao, Yin Chenggang, Zeng Mai, Jiang Dinghang, Han Jun, Wang Tengfeng, Deputy Supervisors Wang Jinsong and Xiao Yinghong, Secretary-General Wang Hong, and some council members and supervisors participated in the event. During the two-day exhibition, the Shenzhen Lawyers Association organized three law firms and 12 lawyers to be on duty.
On the morning of April 15, during an interview with reporters at the exhibition booth, Director Jiang Xilin stated that as Chinese enterprises continue to go global and explore overseas markets, the legal industry is also embracing new development opportunities and challenges. Understanding overseas legal systems, business environments, and regulations has become a fundamental requirement for foreign-related legal professionals. Shenzhen is building a diversified, multi-tiered, comprehensive, and all-encompassing legal service system that meets the needs of different levels—providing community legal services for the daily lives of the public, as well as high-end legal services such as capital securitization, IPO, intellectual property, and foreign-related business to support rapid economic development. Although the total number of lawyers in Shenzhen has exceeded 10,000, there is still significant room for growth compared to the lawyer-to-population ratio in developed countries and regions. The legal profession in Shenzhen must pursue specialization and place greater emphasis on market segmentation. He also stated that building a law-based city in Shenzhen requires a large number of highly qualified legal professionals. He hopes to use this exhibition to advocate the concept of “legal talent,” promote the recruitment and cultivation of foreign-related legal professionals in Shenzhen, attract the best professional legal practitioners from across the country and around the world to serve in Shenzhen, strengthen and expand Shenzhen’s legal professional community, and boost the city’s innovation and entrepreneurial development.
Regarding how to develop foreign-related legal business and cultivate foreign-related legal talent, President Lin Changzhi stated that the Shenzhen Lawyers Association will work with judicial administrative departments to establish a comprehensive legal database platform and build a training system for foreign-related legal talent. He also expressed the hope to establish strategic partnerships with the legal industries in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan, as well as in Europe and the United States, guiding Shenzhen law firms to broaden their international perspectives and further advancing the "bringing in and going global" development strategy for Shenzhen's legal profession.
On the afternoon of April 15, the “Global Talent Forum: Foreign-related Legal Talent Sub-forum” and the “29th Shenzhen Rule of Law Forum” invited legal scholars and experts to discuss “International Legal Talent Cultivation in the Context of Innovation.” This forum was the first to be held at the Conference on International Exchange of Professionals. Zhou Yuansheng, Director of the Lawyers and Notarization Work Guidance Department of the Ministry of Justice; Wang Liming, Executive Vice President of Renmin University of China; Gao Xiqing, Professor at Tsinghua University; and Philip McConnaughay, Dean of Peking University School of Transnational Law, delivered keynote speeches titled “Cultivation of Foreign-related Lawyers,” “Cultivation of International Legal Talent,” “Challenges of Chinese Enterprises’ Overseas Mergers and Acquisitions,” and “Legal Talent Cultivation in the Era of Globalization: The Shenzhen Experience,” respectively.
In the forum dialogue session, moderated by Ye Lu, an international arbitration expert and senior partner at King & Wood Mallesons, President Wang Liming, Professor Gao Xiqing, Dean Philip McConnaughay, and Director Jiang Xilin, along with Ou Yongliang, Vice President of the All China Lawyers Association, and Liu Fengming, Global Vice President of General Electric (GE), Vice President of Greater China, and General Counsel, jointly discussed the issue of cultivating international legal talent in the context of innovation. Director Jiang Xilin stated that Shenzhen's high-tech industry is at a leading level nationwide and even globally. To replicate the growth experience of Shenzhen's high-tech industry in the legal services sector, government funding is needed to cultivate legal talent; platforms that match the growth of high-tech industries must be established to attract legal talent to Shenzhen.
Over the past two days, the three law firms have received a total of 69 resumes, many of which are from applicants with overseas study backgrounds.
Background link:
As of March 31, Shenzhen had 10,513 lawyers and 686 law firms. Among them, 411 lawyers have overseas study backgrounds, accounting for 3.91% of the total number of lawyers. Specifically: 179 are aged 35 and below, 211 are aged 36-55, and 21 are aged 56 and above, with young lawyers aged 35 and below making up 44%. Shenzhen has 7 joint venture law firms, accounting for 1.17% of all law firms. From 2014 to 2016, friendly strategic agreements were signed with 9 countries or regions, including the Law Society of England and Wales, the Law Society of Singapore, the Dai-Ni Tokyo Bar Association, the Osaka Bar Association, the Hong Kong Bar Association, and the Seoul Bar Association. From 2014 to 2016, approximately 65 foreign-related seminars and exchange visits of various types were held, with a total of 87 person-times of overseas lawyers, experts, and scholars delivering keynote speeches at the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, and over 120 person-times of overseas lawyers, experts, and scholars visiting the Shenzhen Lawyers Association for exchanges. In addition, nearly 300 person-times of overseas lawyers, experts, and scholars participated in various activities hosted or co-organized by the Shenzhen Lawyers Association. The fourth session of the Young Lawyers Training Program specifically established a foreign-related legal training seminar, cultivating 34 foreign-related legal professionals.
