Project Team of the Major Innovation Project of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences "Research on the System of Foreign-related Laws and Regulations and the System of Implementation of the Rule of Law"*

Abstract: Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, China achieved remarkable results in the construction of the foreign-related legal system in 2024. The promulgation of foreign-related legislation in key areas such as the Tariff Law and the Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items laid the foundation for maintaining diversified, stable, and secure foreign economic and trade relations. The extraterritorial application mechanism of Chinese laws in the fields of anti-foreign sanctions, trade remedies, telecom fraud, and national security had become more mature, and bilateral and multilateral transnational law enforcement cooperation actions had become more targeted. The trial system and organizational mechanism in the foreign-related judicial field had been continuously innovated, and the "one-stop" diversified platform for the resolution of international commercial disputes had promoted the fair and efficient resolution of international commercial disputes. Remarkable results were achieved in foreign-related legal services, including arbitration, commercial mediation, and lawyer services, and China’s discursive power in resolving foreign-related legal disputes had been continuously improved. In 2025, to make up for the shortcomings and deficiencies in the construction of foreign-related rule of law, China urgently needs to strengthen overall coordination, improve the construction of the system of foreign-related laws and regulations, optimize extraterritorial law enforcement and judicial systems in key fields such as foreign-related legal struggles, overseas interest protection, and foreign-related judicial reform, and further strengthen the training of foreign-related legal professionals and the construction of the foreign-related legal service system.

Keywords: foreign-related legal system, foreign-related legislation, extraterritorial application of Chinese laws, foreign-related legal services

The Resolution of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in July 2024, made important arrangements in a special chapter for improving the socialist legal system with Chinese characteristics, clearly stating that "China will strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law", thereby further demonstrating the vital role of the rule of law in guaranteeing Chinese-style modernization and the great significance of the current efforts of promoting the construction of foreign-related rule of law. The Resolution makes arrangements for the construction of foreign-related rule of law not only in the chapter on “the System of Socialist Rule of Law with Chinese Characteristics”, but also in chapters on "Improving High-level Opening-up Systems and Mechanisms" and "Promoting the Modernization of National Security Systems and Capabilities". In recent years, China has made remarkable achievements in the construction of the foreign-related legal system, gradually establishing anti-sanctions, anti-interference, and anti-"long-arm jurisdiction" legislation and law enforcement mechanisms, diversifying international cooperation in the judicial field, improving dispute resolution mechanisms in foreign-related civil and commercial fields, providing foreign-related legal services, and cultivating a team of foreign-related legal professionals. However, China still has a long way to go in developing the foreign-related legal system due to its low starting point, weak foundation, and short development cycle.

2024 was a pivotal year for achieving the goals and completing the tasks outlined in the "14th Five-Year Plan". The decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly requires the establishment of an integrated working mechanism to promote foreign-related legislation, law enforcement, justice, law compliance, and legal services, as well as the cultivation of foreign-related legal professionals. Foreign-related legislation, law enforcement, justice, and legal services are the foundational projects for constructing the foreign-related legal system, while law compliance and the training of foreign-related legal professionals serve as supporting elements for this construction. In light of the focus of foreign-related rule of law work in 2024, this report systematically summarizes the new achievements and progress made by China in the construction of the foreign-related rule of law system in such aspects as foreign-related legislation, law enforcement, justice and legal services, and looks ahead at the key tasks of the construction of the foreign-related rule of law system at the next stage.

I. Accelerating the Legislation in Foreign-related Fields

1. Basic Formation of the System of Foreign-related Laws and Regulations

The development of the system of foreign-related laws and regulations has been closely tied to the reform and opening up to the outside world. From the 1970s to the late 1980s, China entered the initial stage of foreign-related legislation, adopting a series of basic foreign-related laws in the economic and trade fields, such as the Law on Sino-foreign Joint Ventures, the Law on Foreign-funded Enterprises, the Law on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures, and the Law on Economic Contracts Involving Foreign Interest. From the 1990s to the first decade of the 21st century, China entered a stage of rapid development of foreign-related legislation, formulating the Regulations on Consular Privileges and Immunities, the Law on the Procedure of the Conclusion of Treaties, the Law on Territorial Sea and Contiguous Zone, the Law on Exclusive Economic Zone and Continental Shelf, the Anti-Secession Law, the Extradition Law, the Law on Choice of Law for Foreign-related Civil Relationships, the Income Tax Law for Enterprises with Foreign Investment and Foreign Enterprises, the Maritime Law and the Foreign Trade Law, systematically amending or revising the Law on Chinese-Foreign Equity Joint Ventures, the Law on Chinese-Foreign Contractual Joint Ventures, the Law on Foreign-funded Enterprises, and related laws in the field of intellectual property rights, and making a series of provisions on foreign-related matters in relevant laws and regulations in the civil and commercial, economic, criminal, and administrative fields.

Since the 18th National Congress of the CPC, the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core has attached great importance to the construction of foreign-related rule of law and made a series of important arrangements for foreign-related legislative work and the construction of a foreign-related legal norm system. The pace of foreign-related legislation has accelerated, and its breadth and depth have gradually expanded. In 2018, the Constitution was amended to provide for "the construction of a community of shared future for mankind" and actively promote the reform of the global governance system. In the field of security, the foreign-related legal system of national security has been continuously improved with the successive promulgation of such laws as the Anti-Espionage Law, the National Intelligence Law, the National Security Law, the Anti-Terrorism Law, the Cybersecurity Law, the Biosafety Law, the Data Security Law, the Law on the Administration of Activities of Overseas Non-Governmental Organizations within the Territory of China, and the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Since 2020, China has entered the fast lane of foreign-related legislation and made major achievements in this area. The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has enacted the Foreign Investment Law, the Export Control Law, the Hainan Free Trade Port Law, the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law, the Foreign Relations Law, and the Foreign State Immunity Law, and amended the Civil Procedure Law, the Counterespionage Law, the Securities Law, the Customs Law, the Criminal Law, the Marine Environmental Protection Law, and the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law. The State Council and relevant government departments have promulgated or amended the Regulations on Consular Protection and Assistance, Measures for the Administration of Conclusion of Treaties, Regulations on the Administration of Import and Export of Technologies, Provisions on the Implementation of the International Copyright Treaties, Provisions on the Unreliable Entity List, Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extra-territorial Application of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures, and Regulations on International Ocean Shipping.

2023 was a milestone year for China's legislation in foreign-related fields. In this year, China adopted the Foreign Relations Law, which, as a basic law in the foreign-related field, clarifies for the first time and in the form of a law the relationship between treaties and the Chinese Constitution, and provides legal guarantee for China to develop foreign relations and promote international cooperation; the adoption of the Foreign State Immunity Law shows that China's foreign state immunity policy has shifted from absolute immunity to restricted immunity, which is of great significance for advancing in a coordinated way domestic and foreign-related rule of law, promoting high-level opening up, raising foreign-related judicial efficiency, and upholding national sovereignty; the newly revised Legislation Law stipulates in Article 56 that the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress shall develop the comprehensive legislative plan and annual and special legislative plans “according to the requirements of strengthening legislation in key fields, emerging fields, and foreign-related fields”, so as to ensure the supply of foreign-related legislation through legislative system and procedures; and through the amendment of the Civil Procedure Law, China systematically reviewed and revised the rules on jurisdiction, extraterritorial evidence collection, extraterritorial service of judicial documents, recognition and enforcement of judgments, and optimized the rules of foreign-related civil procedures. According to statistics, by December 25, 2024, among the 305 currently effective laws, 54 were specialized foreign-related laws and 150 contained foreign-related clauses; among the about 600 pieces of administrative regulations, nearly 90 were specialized foreign-related administrative regulations; and many of the 19,000 local regulations were also foreign-related. China has developed a framework of foreign-related laws and regulations with the Constitution as its guidance, the Foreign Relations Law as its foundation, specialized foreign-related laws as its backbone, and laws containing foreign-related clauses as its important content. This framework, comprising multiple levels of legal norms, including laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, local regulations, and the rules of international law governing foreign-related relations recognized by China's current legal system, provides the basic legal norms to be followed in foreign-related fields.

2. Foreign-related Legislation in China in 2024

In 2024, China formulated 6 laws, amended 16 laws, made 4 decisions on legal issues and major issues, adopted 16 administrative regulations, amended 37 administrative regulations, abolished 27 administrative regulations, issued 22 judicial interpretations, amended one judicial interpretation, and abolished 7 judicial interpretations. In foreign-related fields, the Customs Law was adopted, and the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, the Anti-Money Laundering Law, and the State Secrets Law were amended. Together, they accounted for 18.2% of all the laws enacted or amended in 2024; the Regulations on Export Control of Dual-use Items, the Regulations on Network Data Security Management, the Regulations on the Administration of Rare Earth, the Provisions on the Berthing and Supplying of International Cruise Ships at Ports of the People's Republic of China, and the Interim Regulations on the Administration of Carbon Emission Trading were formulated, and the Measures on the Registration of Adoption of Children by Foreigners in the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on Marriage Registration, the Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Law Firms' Representative Offices in China, the Regulations on the Implementation of the Law on Guarding State Secrets, the Interim Provisions on the Administration of International Networking of Computer Information, the Regulations on the Administration of Registration of Resident Representative Offices of Foreign Enterprises, and the Regulations on the Administration of the Import and Export of Goods were amended. Together, they accounted for 22.6% of all the administrative regulations in 2024. The Arrangement by the Supreme People's Court for Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Interpretation by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate of Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Money Laundering Cases, and the Interpretation by the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate of Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases Involving Harm to Tax Collection Administration were formulated, and the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Recognition and Enforcement of the Civil Judgments of Courts of the Taiwan Region was amended. Together, they accounted for 26.7% of the total number of judicial interpretations formulated or amended in 2024.

3. Analysis of Foreign-related Legislation in China in 2024

China made new progress in the field of foreign-related legislation in 2024, maintaining diversified, stable, and secure foreign economic and trade relations and providing a strong legal guarantee for building a higher-level open economic system.

First, China continued to make efforts to build a foreign-related legal system and related capabilities compatible with the requirements of high-quality development and high-level opening up to the outside world, providing a favorable legal guarantee for the stable and long-term development of Chinese-style modernization. One of the priorities of the legislative work in 2024 was the legislation in the field of foreign-related economy and trade, including formulating the Tariff Law and the Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items, amending the Anti-Money Laundering Law and the Regulations on the Administration of the Import and Export of Goods, and improving other foreign-related regulations. The Tariff Law, on the basis of summarizing the experience in the implementation of the Regulations on Import and Export Tariffs, proactively aligns itself with the relevant requirements of high-standard international economic and trade rules, timely upgrades the mature experience and practices of tariff collection and management into legal institutions, and strengthens the role of tariffs as regulators of the dual circulation of domestic and international markets, which is of great significance to developing foreign trade, expanding institutional opening up, and promoting high-quality development. The Regulations on Export Control of Dual-Use Items further refine the specific requirements of control measures in the Export Control Law, which is of great significance in bringing export control of dual-use items onto the track of the rule of law, safeguarding national security and interests, and fulfilling international obligations related to non-proliferation. The revised Anti-Money Laundering Law systematically enhances the anti-money laundering system and related measures, thereby striking a balance between anti-money laundering efforts and the protection of the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations, and further bringing anti-money laundering work under the rule of law. This year, China also focused on reviewing the draft amendments to the Arbitration Law, the Customs Law, the Foreign Trade Law, and the Maritime Law, and accelerated the formulation of regulations on commercial mediation and regulations on the administration of foreign labor cooperation, thereby continuously liberalizing and facilitating trade and investment.

Second, foreign-related legislation had shifted its focus from major pieces of comprehensive law to specialized laws that take minor issues as starting points, and from establishing a framework system to supplementing and refining existing rules and systems, moving towards refinement and precision in legislation. In 2024, with the basic completion of the framework of the top-level design of foreign-related legislation, the focus of foreign-related legislation was shifted to further amending, improving, and interpreting existing rules and systems, such as stopping loopholes and making up for shortboards in such fields as network data security, anti-money laundering, and civil and commercial judicial assistance, thereby enhancing the pertinence, applicability and operability of foreign-related legislation. The revised Frontier Health and Quarantine Law has built a solid legal framework to prevent and resolve major international public health risks, and provided a strong legal guarantee for building a defense line of port quarantine, safeguarding people's health and public health security, and promoting international transportation and trade.

II. Building the Capacity for Foreign-related Law Enforcement

1. New Developments in Foreign-related Law Enforcement Systems and Mechanisms

In the process of promoting the construction of foreign-related rule of law system in recent years, China has strengthened the building of its law enforcement capacity in foreign-related fields, explored the establishment of a legal system for the extraterritorial applicable of Chinese law, clarified the legality of foreign-related law enforcement through legislation in the fields of economy, trade, criminal offences, and national security, and gradually explored the establishment of bilateral and multilateral law enforcement cooperation mechanisms, thereby effectively safeguarding China's sovereignty, security and development interests.

First, China has become more active in extraterritorial law enforcement in economic and trade fields, such as anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition. Since the Anti-Monopoly Law came into effect, the Ministry of Commerce, the State Administration for Market Regulation, and the National Development and Reform Commission have reviewed many mergers and acquisitions by foreign companies outside China and made decisions not to prohibit them under certain conditions. Examples in this respect include the acquisition of AB by InBev, the acquisition of Sanyo by Panasonic, the acquisition of Motorola Mobility by Google, the acquisition of Goodrich by United Technologies, the acquisition of Gambro AB by Baxter, the acquisition of Nokia devices and services by Microsoft, the acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia, the acquisition of St. Jude Medical by Abbott, and the acquisition of Monsanto by Bayer.

Second, administrative organs have expanded the scope of the effect of Chinese laws in an orderly manner to safeguard China’s core interests. On April 25, 2018, in response to United Airlines’ practice of incorrectly listing the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macau Special Administrative Region, and Taiwan Province as "countries" on its website, App and other publicity channels, the Civil Aviation Administration of China issued the Notice on Requiring Foreign Airlines to Immediately Carry out Self-examination of Websites and Other Publicity Channels in accordance with Chinese laws, and sent an official letter to United Airlines, pointing out that it violated the "One China" principle, requiring it to make rectification within a prescribed time limit. Otherwise, such practice will be found to have constituted a serious breach of trust in accordance with the Measures for the Credit Administration of Civil Aviation Industry (for Trial Implementation), recorded in the credit record, and referred to the Cyberspace Administration of China and other departments for administrative punishment. Since the implementation of the Coast Guard Law on February 1, 2021, Chinese coast guard agencies have carried out routine maritime law enforcement activities in and over the waters under China's jurisdiction, effectively safeguarding China's sovereignty, security, and maritime rights and interests.

Third, on the basis of complying with the basic principles of international law, administrative agencies explored the space of extraterritorial enforcement of Chinese laws. In May 2019, the Ministry of Commerce announced the establishment of an "unreliable entity list" system in accordance with the Foreign Trade Law, the Anti-Monopoly Law, the National Security Law, and other laws and regulations to include in the list foreign legal persons, other organizations and individuals that block, cut off supply, or take other discriminatory measures against Chinese entities for non-commercial purposes, causing substantial damage to Chinese-funded enterprises or related industries, and posing a threat or potential threat to China's national security. This is an important measure for China to counter illegal sanctions imposed by the United States, as well as the latest practice of administrative agencies to expand the extraterritorial application of Chinese laws through the exercise of administrative law enforcement power.

2. Foreign-related Law Enforcement in 2024

In 2024, China strengthened law enforcement in foreign-related fields in the following aspects.

First, standardizing actions to counter unilateral sanctions. In recent years, China has successively adopted the Provisions on the Unreliable Entity List, the Rules on Counteracting Unjustified Extra-territorial Application of Foreign Legislation and Other Measures, and the Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law. The implementation of the aforementioned legal norms is a crucial measure for China to counter unilateral sanctions imposed by the United States. Take anti-foreign sanctions law enforcement for example. It is led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which issues a decision on counter-sanctions measures in the form of an order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, clarifying the legal basis of counter-sanctions, the content of sanction measures, and the list of persons or entities on whom the sanctions are imposed. The counter-sanctions measures issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs target foreign individuals or entities that violate China's sovereignty, security, and development interests, such as the then U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who made a provocative visit to China's Taiwan region, and two U.S. companies selling weapons to China's Taiwan region. The sanctions primarily involve freezing the assets of sanctioned persons or entities in China, prohibiting organizations and individuals in China from engaging in relevant trading activities with them, denying them visas, and not allowing them to enter China.

Second, accelerating the process of bringing export control law enforcement under the rule of law. According to the Export Control Law, state export control administrative departments and customs have the authority to conduct administrative investigations and impose administrative penalties for illegal acts related to export control. Based on the Export Control Law, the Regulations on Export Control of Dual-use Items refine the procedures for formulating and adjusting the export control list of dual-use items. The Regulations require the competent commerce department under the State Council to publish the list in a timely manner. In the process of formulating and adjusting the list, opinions from relevant enterprises, chambers of commerce, associations, and other relevant parties should be solicited in an appropriate manner, and industrial investigation and evaluation should be conducted when necessary. Remarkable results had been achieved in the implementation of the Export Control Law, with local customs offices remaining the leading departments for export control-related administrative investigation and law enforcement.

Third, improving the trade relief law enforcement mechanism. According to WTO agreements and the practices of various countries, trade relief measures primarily refer to anti-dumping measures, countervailing measures, safeguard measures, and, in a broad sense, also special safeguard measures. According to data retrieved from the Trade Remedies Information Website of the Ministry of Commerce of China, from January to December 2024, China initiated 11 anti-dumping investigations, one countervailing investigation, one safeguard measure investigation, one trade barrier investigation, and one anti-discrimination investigation. The parties under investigation mainly included the European Union and Canada.

Fourth, strengthening efforts to combat and punish transnational crimes. Transnational cooperation had been carried out to hunt down and punish criminals abroad, effectively reducing the harm caused by crimes to the country and society. For example, China and Myanmar jointly launched crackdowns on cross-border telecom and online fraud gangs in Yangon, Mandalay, and other areas of Myanmar for the first time in history, arresting 20 ringleaders and key members of these gangs and extraditing them to China. This was a landmark achievement in police law enforcement cooperation between China and Myanmar, which fully demonstrated the firm determination of the two countries to jointly combat cross-border telecom and online fraud crimes and work together to maintain security and stability.

Fifth, strengthening bilateral and multilateral law enforcement and security cooperation mechanisms. Pragmatic and efficient bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms had been established, which played an important role in serving economic and social development and supporting the overall national diplomacy. In the field of anti-terrorism, China actively utilized international cooperation mechanisms to combat terrorism, espionage, and secession effectively. By 2024, China had signed and implemented 12 international anti-terrorism conventions and continuously strengthened domestic anti-terrorism legislation. In the field of maritime security, the Chinese Coast Guard and the Vietnamese Coast Guard carried out joint patrols in the Beibu Gulf waters on April 27-29, 2024, conducting observation, recordation, and boarding inspections of ships of the two countries operating in the area, and conducting publicity and education for fishermen and boat people, thereby effectively ensuring the safety and stability of the Beibu Gulf waters. The China-Vietnam joint coast guard patrol in Beibu Gulf was the latest practice of bilateral maritime law enforcement cooperation, which had effectively maintained the order and safety of maritime operations.

3. Analysis of Foreign-related Law Enforcement in 2024

Establishing and perfecting foreign-related law enforcement mechanisms is urgently needed not only for dealing with transnational crimes and meeting security challenges, but also for protecting citizens' rights and interests, safeguarding national interests, promoting international cooperation, and enhancing China’s image. In light of the above objectives, the main characteristics of current law enforcement practice in foreign-related fields can be summarized as follows.

First, China had formed a normalized foreign-related law enforcement mechanism in the fields of anti-foreign sanctions and export controls. The law enforcement capabilities of China's commerce departments and national market supervision and administration departments in foreign-related fields were gradually enhanced.

Second, the degree of inter-departmental law enforcement cooperation in the criminal field continued to deepen. In recent years, criminal activities had become more and more organized, transnational, and internet-based. Some overseas areas had become the birthplaces, transit places, and destinations of many major criminal activities in China. Taking telecom and online fraud as an example, the public security department strengthened international law enforcement and judicial cooperation with the foreign affairs department in accordance with the provisions of the Law on Combating Telecom and Online Fraud.

Third, joint law enforcement had become the key direction of regional police cooperation. Joint law enforcement with neighboring countries had become an important means to promote regional law enforcement, and bilateral police cooperation had become a necessary means to solve difficult problems of cross-regional governance.

III. Improving the Quality and Efficiency of Foreign-related Judicial Work

1. New Achievements in the Field of Foreign-related Judicial Work

Foreign-related judicial work is a systematic project, encompassing foreign-related judicial trials, the establishment of foreign-related judicial organizations, and foreign-related judicial cooperation. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has steadily promoted foreign-related judicial work, effectively guaranteeing the overall situation of opening up to the outside world, and safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and development interests.

First, attaching great importance to foreign-related judicial trials and highlighting the overall function of judicial services in the opening up to the outside world. Since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in 2013, the growth rate of first-instance foreign-related civil and commercial cases accepted by Chinese courts has obviously accelerated, and the significance of foreign-related judicial trials has become increasingly prominent. From 2013 to June 2022, the Supreme People's Court issued 31 judicial interpretations and 9 normative documents on foreign-related civil, commercial, and maritime trials, 12 guiding cases and 137 typical cases, and minutes of many symposiums on foreign-related commercial and maritime trials, answered more than 100 difficult questions, and standardized foreign-related trial procedures, thereby helping courts better resolve foreign-related civil and commercial disputes.

Second, actively promoting the innovation of the foreign-related judicial system and mechanisms, and improving the quality and efficiency of foreign-related judicial trials. By 2024, there were 11 maritime courts and 42 dispatched tribunals across the country, forming a maritime judicial network that covered the main sea areas and marine-related core economic zones. This made China one of the most developed countries in maritime justice. In 2018, the Supreme People's Court established international commercial courts in Xi'an and Shenzhen and implemented innovative measures such as the "one-stop" dispute resolution mechanism and the International Commercial Expert Committee system. In addition to the international commercial courts established by the Supreme People's Court, local international commercial courts had been established in Beijing, Changchun, Qingdao, Suzhou, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Nanjing, Quanzhou, Chengdu, Nanning, Ningbo, Shanghai, and other cities by 2024. The establishment of international commercial courts aims to enhance the capacity for foreign-related commercial trials and foster a law-based and internationalized business environment.

Third, building an effective judicial cooperation network to facilitate cross-border dispute resolution. Chinese courts have consistently implemented the concept of cooperation and openness, and promoted the continuous deepening of international judicial assistance in civil and commercial affairs. More than 130 countries have established civil and commercial judicial cooperation with China, with the forms of cooperation expanding from the service of judicial documents to all forms of civil and commercial judicial assistance, involving various causes of action. By April 2024, China had signed treaties on civil and commercial judicial assistance with more than 30 countries. It had also acceded to influential multilateral mutual legal assistance treaties such as the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters and the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters. The cross-border judicial cooperation mechanism in the criminal field has undergone continuous improvement. By December 2024, China had concluded a total of 61 extradition treaties with 61 countries, of which 44 had already entered into force; a total of 47 treaties/agreements on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters had been concluded with 47 countries, of which 38 had already entered into force; and a total of 17 treaties on the transfer of sentenced persons had been concluded with 17 countries, 15 of which had already entered into force.

Fourth, severely cracking down on transnational organized crimes and protecting the vital interests of Chinese citizens. China actively participates in the implementation of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and promotes the development of regional cooperation mechanisms in this field. In addition, China also attaches importance to the role of bilateral criminal judicial assistance in the cross-border fight against organized crime. In recent years, China has achieved remarkable results in regional criminal justice cooperation (especially cooperation with Southeast Asian countries), focusing on cracking down on cross-border fraud, foreign-related crimes committed by organizations of a gangland nature, and major transnational human trafficking crimes.

Fifth, promoting a cross-border fight against corruption and the pursuit of stolen assets, effectively preventing the spread of corruption, reducing the economic losses to the state and its people, and enhancing China’s reputation and image. China actively participates in global anti-corruption efforts, while strengthening domestic legislation to standardize and bring under the rule of law the international pursuit of fugitives and stolen assets. From 2014 to June 2020, China successfully brought back 7,831 Chinese fugitives from more than 120 countries and regions, including 2,075 Party members and state public officials, 348 on the “red wanted notice” list, and 60 on the “100 most-wanted list”, and recovered RMB 19.654 billion yuan of stolen money.

2. Foreign-related Judicial Work in 2024

First, improving the foreign-related trial system. In 2024, people's courts concluded a total of 26,000 foreign-related civil and commercial cases, which represent a 6.1% year-on-year increase, and continued to optimize the foreign-related trial system. The Law on Foreign State Immunity, the newly amended Civil Procedure Law, and the Provisions of the Supreme People's Court on Several Issues Concerning the Establishment of International Commercial Courts came into effect. The newly amended Civil Procedure Law introduces the jurisdiction rule based on "appropriate connection", deletes the requirement of "actual connection" in the jurisdiction system of foreign-related agreements, and improves the recognition and enforcement rules of foreign-related service of documents, foreign-related evidence collection, and foreign civil and commercial judgments. On this basis, the Supreme People's Court further improved the international commercial court system. The new judicial interpretation abandoned the requirement of "actual connection" for parties to choose an international commercial court by agreement and expanded the methods of foreign law ascertainment in accordance with the latest judicial interpretation on the ascertainment of foreign law. The Work Guidelines of the Supreme People's Court for the One-Stop Diversified International Commercial Dispute Resolution Platform (for Trial Implementation), which came into effect on January 30, 2024, aim to give better play to the potential of "one-stop" dispute resolution by international commercial courts. The establishment of an International Commercial Expert Committee is also a major feature of China's international commercial court system. In September 2024, the Supreme People's Court completed the appointment of the third batch of members of the International Commercial Expert Committee, which currently has 63 members from 26 countries and regions.

Second, strengthening foreign-related procuratorial work. In 2024, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Ministry of Justice jointly issued provisions for implementing the International Criminal Judicial Assistance Law, pursuant to which 49,800 individuals were prosecuted for foreign-related criminal offenses. In November 2024, the Supreme People's Procuratorate held its first meeting on foreign-related procuratorial work. The Opinions on Strengthening Foreign-related Procuratorial Work, issued by the Supreme People's Procuratorate in December 2024, outline plans to enhance foreign-related procuratorial work. To implement the plans, it will strengthen foreign-related procuratorial training and exchanges, and build a more effective procuratorial international communication system; consolidate the foundation of foreign-related procuratorial work and improve the system and norms of foreign-related procuratorial work; strengthen inter-departmental coordination and international cooperation in law enforcement and judicial work, and jointly build a strong legal security chain for protecting China's overseas interests; and strengthen legal supervision over foreign-related administrative trials and enforcement activities, and establish and improve the connection mechanism between procuratorial supervision and administrative law enforcement. All the above will become the focus of foreign-related procuratorial work in the future.

Third, promoting judicial cooperation and exchanges. In 2024, China achieved a major breakthrough in the field of judicial cooperation, handling 5,644 international judicial assistance cases, representing a 15.4% year-on-year increase, of which 293 were criminal judicial assistance cases. Through criminal judicial cooperation, it achieved remarkable results in the cross-border fight against crimes, including the overseas pursuit of criminals in corruption cases and the recovery of their stolen assets, and the crackdown on cross-border telecom and online fraud.

In 2024, China recognized and enforced 319 foreign judgments, representing a 11.2% year-on-year increase. It recognized for the first time the commercial judgments of Singapore courts in accordance with the Memorandum of Guidance Between the Supreme People’s Court of the People’s Republic of China and the Supreme Court of Singapore on Recognition and Enforcement of Money Judgments in Commercial Cases, the commercial judgments of Thai courts in accordance with the principle of reciprocity, and the civil monetary compensation judgments in Kazakhstan's criminal judgments in accordance with bilateral treaties. Relevant Chinese judgments had also been recognized and enforced by courts in the UK, Germany, the United States, Singapore, Israel, South Korea, Australia, and other countries. The BRICS Attorneys General Conference mechanism was expanded, and cooperation mechanisms, such as the Attorneys General Conference of Shanghai Cooperation Organization member states and the Attorneys General Conference of China-ASEAN member states, were further enhanced. China attaches importance to promoting criminal judicial cooperation through the conclusion of bilateral treaties. On September 13, 2024, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress made a decision to ratify the Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and the Treaty on Judicial Assistance in Criminal Matters between the People's Republic of China and the Oriental Republic of Uruguay. In addition, China actively participated in the formulation of conventions in the field of international criminal judicial cooperation. In December 2024, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the United Nations Convention against Cybercrime, which was promoted by China, Russia, and other BRICS countries. The Convention is a significant example of China's active participation in the global fight against crimes and the promotion of multilateral criminal justice cooperation.

3. A Review of Foreign-related Judicial Work in 2024

First, the foreign-related civil and commercial trial system underwent significant innovation, resulting in enhanced quality and efficiency in foreign-related civil and commercial judicial trials. In 2024, the new Civil Procedure Law took effect. This was the first time in more than 30 years that legislators had systematically amended the foreign-related provisions in the Civil Procedure Law. The newly amended Civil Procedure Law effectively expands the jurisdiction of Chinese courts in international civil litigation, respects the autonomy of the parties in matters of jurisdiction as much as possible, and systematically responds to the problems of difficulty in obtaining evidence and service of documents in foreign-related judicial work, providing a clear rule basis for the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. The implementation of the amended Civil Procedure Law opened a new era of foreign-related civil and commercial trials.

Second, the importance of foreign-related procuratorial work was highlighted, and the shortcomings in foreign-related criminal judicial work were gradually addressed. In recent years, cross-border crimes have seriously threatened China's national sovereignty, security, and development interests. In November 2024, the first special conference on foreign-related procuratorial work in Chinese history was held, aiming to clarify the positioning of and the overall arrangement for foreign-related procuratorial work in the new era, correcting the misunderstanding that foreign-related judicial work focuses on foreign-related civil and commercial trials, and giving full attention to the inadequacy of foreign-related criminal judicial work. It is foreseeable that strengthening foreign-related procuratorial work in the future will become a powerful starting point for promoting foreign-related judicial work.

IV. Promoting the High-level Development of Foreign-related Legal Services

1. New Development in Foreign-related Legal Services

Active development of foreign-related legal services is the key link in, as well as a solid support for, the construction of the foreign-related rule of law. The size of China's legal services market had increased significantly from approximately RMB 150 billion yuan in 2017 to RMB 282.04 billion yuan in 2023. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has vigorously promoted innovation in commercial arbitration and mediation systems, standardized and developed the foreign-related legal service industry, and achieved high-quality development of foreign-related legal services.

First, striving to build China into a new destination for international commercial arbitration in the world. Arbitration is a dispute resolution system stipulated by Chinese law as well as an internationally recognized method of dispute resolution. By September 2024, China had established a total of 282 arbitration institutions, with more than 80,000 arbitrators and staff members handling over 5 million cases involving more than RMB 8 trillion yuan. In 2023 alone, arbitration institutions across the country handled 607,000 arbitration cases, a 27.8% year-on-year increase, with a total target amount of RMB 1.16 trillion yuan, a 17.7% year-on-year increase. Since its accession to the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, China had recognized and enforced a large number of foreign arbitral awards. Between 2011 and 2022, Chinese courts accepted more than 20 applications for the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards annually, with over 90% of these applications being successfully recognized and enforced in China. In 2023, courts across the country recognized and enforced 69 overseas arbitral awards, including 32 awards from Hong Kong. China had become internationally recognized as a country friendly to the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

Second, actively aligning the Chinese international commercial mediation system with international rules. Currently, there is no specific legislation on commercial mediation in China, and relevant provisions are scattered throughout the Civil Procedure Law, the People's Mediation Law, the Arbitration Law, and other applicable laws. The establishment and development of the commercial mediation system in China mainly depended on the guiding opinions and provisions issued by the Supreme People's Court. Since the Mediation Center of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Shanghai Commercial Mediation Center became the first batch of international commercial arbitration and mediation institutions incorporated by the Supreme People's Court into the “one-stop” mechanism for the diversified resolution of international commercial disputes in 2018, China's commercial mediation system has begun to align itself with international standards and develop rapidly. Currently, all major arbitration institutions in China have established mediation centers, and mediation has become a primary means of resolving commercial disputes. In 2019, China signed the United Nations Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (hereinafter referred to as the Singapore Mediation Convention). As one of the first signatories to the Convention, China played a crucial role in the introduction of the Singapore Mediation Convention and developed relevant supporting systems after signing it.

Third, comprehensively accelerating the high-quality development of legal services by foreign-related lawyers. Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the top-level design of legal services provided by foreign-related lawyers has been gradually enhanced, the professional team of foreign-related lawyers and the scope of their services have been continuously expanded, and the quality of their services has been steadily improved. On May 20, 2016, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council jointly issued the Opinions on the Development of the Sector of International Legal Services, which pointed out the direction for improving the socialist system of legal service by foreign-related lawyers with Chinese characteristics. Since 2018, the Ministry of Justice has begun building a talent pool of foreign-related lawyers and has received positive responses from local lawyers' associations. The number of foreign-related lawyers nationwide has now surpassed 12,000. To improve the professional ability of foreign-related lawyers and implement the central government's instruction of "cultivating foreign-related legal professionals firm in political stance, excellent in professional qualities, knowledgeable about international rules, and proficient in foreign-related legal practice", local lawyers' associations carried out targeted training for foreign-related lawyers, cultivating a large number of foreign-related lawyers with excellent professional quality for the construction of foreign-related rule of law in China.

2. Foreign-related Legal Services in 2024

Currently, as China advances towards the decisive stage of building a well-off society in an all-round manner, it faces new situations and tasks in opening up to the outside world. Consequently, the role of foreign-related legal services has become increasingly crucial in comprehensive law-based governance and economic and social development. Therefore, China has made significant efforts to enhance the quality of foreign-related legal services, intensifying its focus on areas such as lawyers’ services, arbitration, and commercial mediation.

First, speeding up the top-level design and local exploration of the development of foreign-related legal services. The decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly points out that the rule of law is an essential guarantee for Chinese-style modernization. China needs to develop world-class arbitration institutions and law firms and actively participate in the making of relevant international rules.

It was clearly stated at the Central Economic Work Conference in December 2024 that China would promote the high-quality joint construction of the Belt and Road in a thorough and steadfast manner, and enhance the corresponding comprehensive overseas service system. To implement the requirements for strengthening the construction of foreign-related legal services and cope with the growing demand for such services, the governments of Heilongjiang Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Shanxi Province had successively issued relevant documents.

Second, promoting local arbitration legislation and establishing international commercial arbitration centers. By January 2024, arbitration institutions throughout the country had handled foreign-related cases involving parties from more than 100 countries and regions worldwide, and the quality and efficiency of international commercial arbitration services continued to improve. The Legislation Law, amended in 2023, replaced the term "arbitration system" in matters of legal reservation with “the basic arbitration system”, creating space for local arbitration legislation, which had been advanced by various local governments. In May 2024, the Government of Hainan Province promulgated the Several Provisions on the Development of International Commercial Arbitration in the Hainan Free Trade Port, making full use of the power to formulate regulations granted to the Hainan Free Trade Port by the Hainan Free Trade Port Law and the Legislation Law to make appropriate accommodations and innovations to such provisions in the current Arbitration Law as ad hoc arbitration and selection of arbitrators outside the roster. In terms of the construction of international commercial arbitration centers, after the Commission for Comprehensive Law-based Governance of the CPC Central Committee made arrangements for pilot projects on the construction of international commercial arbitration centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hainan Province, the governments of Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and other pilot cities implemented the arrangements in a comprehensive way and actively built international commercial arbitration centers with high credibility and international influence.

Third, exploring the legislative model and institutional improvement of international commercial mediation. In 2024, the formulation of regulations on commercial mediation was included in the preparatory projects of the State Council's legislative plan, and local regulations on mediation were introduced by various local governments. In November 2024, the country's first local regulations governing commercial mediation activities, the Regulations on Commercial Mediation in the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, were promulgated. These regulations aim to establish a diversified commercial dispute resolution mechanism, with the coordinated development of litigation, arbitration, and mediation. In the same month, the Provisions on Commercial Mediation in the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Several Provisions of Shanghai Municipality on Promoting Commercial Mediation in Pudong New Area were promulgated, clarifying the responsibilities of commercial mediation departments, encouraging and supporting the development of commercial mediation, standardizing the management of commercial mediation services, and strengthening the implementation of commercial mediation agreements, while, at the same time, reserving space for strengthening the alignment with international rules such as the Singapore Mediation Convention. To enhance the diversified dispute resolution mechanism in the international commercial mediation system, it is necessary to establish linkages between mediation and arbitration, as well as between litigation and mediation. The Sixth Five-Year People's Court Reform Program (2024-2028), made in December 2024, states that China will "enhance the mechanisms for the coordination between international commercial mediation and arbitration". A few days ago, the Supreme People's Court and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade jointly issued the Notice on Establishing the “Headquarters to Headquarters” Online Litigation and Mediation Linkage Mechanism for Commercial Disputes, which put forward clear requirements for the establishment of the online litigation and mediation linkage system.

Fourth, optimizing the international and inter-regional arrangements for legal services by foreign-related lawyers. At present, Chinese law firms have set up 207 branches and several representative offices in 37 countries and regions, including 73 branches in countries and regions within the framework of the BRI. Since the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress authorized the State Council in 2020 to carry out the pilot work of allowing Hong Kong legal practitioners and Macau practicing lawyers to obtain mainland practicing qualifications and practice law in nine mainland cities within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, the number of lawyers in Greater Bay Area had been continuously growing and the system of joint operation and cooperation between law firms from Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macau had been further developed through continuous exploration and innovation. Among them, mainland law firms had actively expanded their business in the Hong Kong market, while their development in Macau was relatively slow. In addition, 26 joint venture law firms between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau had been established in Guangdong, with more than 100 lawyers from Hong Kong and Macau stationed and employed. Furthermore, 24 Hong Kong law firms had set up representative offices in Guangdong.

3. Analysis of the Development of Foreign-related Legal Services in 2024

First, attaching importance to the top-level design of foreign-related legal services. Rath than following the previous practice of making a general overview of foreign-related legal services in the framework of foreign-related legal construction, the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided at its Third Plenary Session to make arrangements for the establishment of world-class arbitration institutions, law firms, etc., expand the connotation of foreign-related legal services, and improve the "overseas comprehensive service system", so as to build a solid and reliable mechanism for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded enterprises and citizens going abroad.

Second, carrying out local practices first to drive the development and innovation of the foreign-related legal service system. Various local governments issued a series of documents on practical measures for promoting the development of foreign-related legal services. For example, the governments of Heilongjiang Province, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, and Shanxi Province adopted measures and action plans to strengthen foreign-related legal work, providing a strong guarantee for foreign-related legal services. At the same time, local governments conducted valuable explorations in the innovation of international commercial arbitration and mediation systems, as well as the organization and construction of arbitration and mediation institutions and law firms. These practices not only improved the efficiency, fairness, and international influence of foreign-related legal services but also provided more convenient and efficient ways for parties to resolve their disputes.

Third, accelerating the local legislation in the field of commercial arbitration and mediation. The newly amended Legislation Law created space for local arbitration legislation, and various local governments began to actively carry out local legislation, making appropriate accommodations and innovations to the current arbitration law. The local legislation on mediation was accelerated, and the promulgation of local regulations such as the Regulations on Commercial Mediation in the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and the Provisions on Commercial Mediation in the Hainan Free Trade Port provided a legal guarantee for the development of local commercial mediation systems. However, top-level design for deepening the reform of the "big mediation work pattern" and the special legislation on mediation at the national level were still urgently needed.

V. Prospect of the Construction of the Foreign-related Rule of Law in 2025

1. Promote High-quality Development of Foreign-related Legislative Work

In 2025, China will further strengthen the supply of foreign-related laws and regulations in key fields and improve the systematicness, synergy, integrity, and effectiveness of foreign-related legislation. It will further promote the amendment or revision of laws and regulations such as the Arbitration Law, the Foreign Trade Law, the Maritime Law, the Customs Law, the Supervision Law, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, the Fisheries Law, the Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Labor Cooperation, and the Regulations on the Use of the Pattern of National Emblem in External Activities, speed up the formulation of such laws as the Private Economy Promotion Law and the Hazardous Chemicals Safety Law, and prepare for the formulation of the regulations on commercial mediation.

2. Establishing and Improving Foreign-related Law Enforcement Mechanisms

Compared with those in the United States and European countries, the research and practice in foreign-related law enforcement in China still urgently need improvement. In 2025, legislative organs should appropriately improve the allocation of foreign-related legal jurisdiction of administrative agencies, adopting such measures as giving administrative agencies greater foreign-related law enforcement powers in the fields of anti-corruption, anti-terrorism, labor law, social law, fiscal and taxation law, etc., and supporting administrative agencies in imposing effective punishments for illegal acts abroad. China should also strengthen the connection between law enforcement jurisdiction and judicial jurisdiction by such measures as establishing cross-border law enforcement mechanisms based on mutual legal assistance agreements.

3. Accelerate the Innovation of Foreign-related Judicial System and Mechanism

The decision of the Third Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly states that China will deepen international judicial cooperation, improve the judicial trial system regarding matters such as the lawful agreement on jurisdiction and choice of foreign laws by parties in foreign-related civil legal relations. In 2025, China should take the formulation of judicial interpretations of the foreign-related part of the Civil Procedure Law as the starting point to promote the further improvement of the foreign-related civil and commercial trial system and mechanism; pay close attention to the study and formulation of supporting rules and relevant judicial interpretations for anti-sanctions litigation, and truly ensure the effectiveness of China's "toolbox" of anti-sanctions laws through effective anti-sanctions litigation rules; adhere to high-quality foreign-related rule of law to ensure the construction of the Belt and Road, and continue to improve the "one-stop" diversified resolution mechanism for international commercial disputes; further coordinate the domestic rule of law and the foreign-related rule of law, and effectively crack down on cross-border telecom fraud, human trafficking and other transnational crimes; and promote the establishment of institutionalized and normalized criminal justice cooperation mechanisms with neighboring countries, strengthen the linkage between administration and justice, and effectively track and combat transnational crimes.

4. Improving the Capacity for and Level of Foreign-related Legal Services

In 2025, China should prioritize safeguarding national sovereignty, security, and major interests as the core goal of developing foreign-related legal services, and focus on strengthening the construction of a foreign-related legal service system dominated by public legal services and supported by socialized legal services; formulate commercial mediation regulations that incorporate the contents of the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Conciliation to the greatest extent possible, align its own mediation rules and practices with relevant international rules and practices as much as possible, and make legislative preparations for the future ratification and implementation of the Singapore Mediation Convention; further strengthen the construction of centers for the settlement of BRI-related disputes and build a diversified and efficient dispute settlement platform; and speed up the construction of world-class law firms, encourage and support domestic law firms and legal service institutions to actively carry out business cooperation with overseas legal service institutions, ensure that legal services closely follow Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese citizens "going global", and build a foreign-related legal service network to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese-funded enterprises and Chinese citizens overseas.

5. Strengthening the Cultivation and Introduction of Foreign-related Legal Professionals

The key to promoting the development of a foreign-related legal system is to build a high-quality team of foreign-related legal professionals. High-quality foreign-related legal professionals need to possess not only a solid understanding of legal knowledge and foreign language skills, but also effective international communication skills. Currently, the shortage of foreign-related legal professionals has become a bottleneck in the development of the foreign-related rule of law in China. In 2025, the training and introduction of foreign-related legal professionals should be strengthened. This includes not only strengthening the education and training in professional knowledge, such as domestic law, international law, national law, and foreign languages, but also improving the international vision and cross-cultural communication skills of foreign-related legal service personnel. At the same time, China should deepen its opening up to the outside world, open up domestic and international legal service markets, and attract overseas high-end legal professionals to work in China, so as to enhance the internationalization of China's legal service market and provide a platform for the cultivation and development of foreign-related legal professionals.

* Authors: Liu Xiaomei, research fellow, Institute of International Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS); Sun Nanxiang, associate research fellow, CASS Institute of International Law; and Shen Qian, Wang Huiru, Lin Qiang, and Tan Guanfu, assistant research fellows, CASS Institute of International Law. This report is the research result of the Major Innovation Project of CASS "Research on the System of Foreign-related Laws and Regulations and the System of Implementation of the Rule of Law" (2024YZD012) and Center for Foreign-related Rule of Law Studies of the Institute of International Law of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(1)See "The Head of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Answers Reporters' Questions on the Foreign Relations Law", Xinhuanet, http://www.npc.gov.cn/c2/c30834/202306/t20230630 _ 430377. html, last visited on September 30, 2025.

(2)See "Implementing the Principle of Law-based Taxation and Promoting High-level Opening up - Relevant Persons in Charge of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Answer Reporters' Questions on the Tariff Law", Xinhuanet, https://baijiahao.baidu.com/s? id = 1797414574664129348&wfr = spider&for = pc, last visited September 30, 2025.

(3)China Trade Remedies Information at https://cacs.mofcom.gov.cn/index.shtml, last visited September 30, 2025.

(4)China and Myanmar achieved major results in police law enforcement cooperation: 20 ringleaders and backbones of criminal gangs of cross-border telecom network fraud in northern Myanmar extradited back to China", official website of the Ministry of Public Security, https://www.mps.gov.cn/n2253534/n2253535/c9786632/content.html, last visited September 30, 2025.

(5)Shi Yang: "Cooperation, innovation, the rule of law, and win-win results: joint efforts to carry out global security governance", China Police Daily, May 3, 2022, page 1.

(6)"China and Vietnam Coast Guard Carry out the First Joint Patrol of Beibu Gulf in 2024", China Coast Guard, https://www.ccg.gov.cn/gjhz/202405/t20240515 _ 334. html, last visited September 30, 2025.

(7)Source: Database of Treaties Concluded by the PRC, at http://treaty.mfa.gov.cn/Treaty/web/index.jsp, last visited September 30, 2025.

(8)See “The Report of the National Supervisory Commission on International Anti-corruption Efforts to Track Down and Pursue Fugitives and Stolen Assets Overseas, made at the 21st meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress on August 10, 2020, available on the official website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China and the State Supervision Commission, at https://www.ccdi.gov.cn/ldhd/wbld/202008/t20200811_223604.html, last visited September 30, 2025.

(9)"Work Report of the Supreme People's Court at the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 8, 2025", China Court Network, https://www.chinacourt.org/article/detail/2025/03/id/8732555.shtml, Last visited September 30, 2025.

(10)The Work Report of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate (Abstract), available on Xinhuanet, at https://www.news.cn/politics/20250309/8dcd058a9ede4e32a578b9cba643e50e/c.html, last visited September 30, 2025.

(11)See "The Supreme People's Procuratorate issues the Opinions on Strengthening Foreign-related Procuratorial Work: Foreign-related procuratorial work must serve the major country diplomacy, high-level security, high-quality development, and high-level opening up to the outside world", official website of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, at https://www.spp.gov.cn/xwfbh/wsfbt/202412/t20241230_677994.shtml#1, last visited September 30, 2025.

(12)"Work Report of the Supreme People's Court at the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress on March 8, 2025", China Court Network, https://www.chinacourt.org/article/detail/2025/03/id/8732555.shtml, Last visited September 30, 2025.

(13)See the "Report on China's Legal Services Market Segments in 2024: In-depth Analysis of the Current Situation and Forecast of Future Development Trend", https://www.chinairn.com/news/20240914/174835697.shtml, last visited September 30, 2025.

(14)"Ministry of Justice: Up to now, China has established 282 arbitration institutions", China News Network, https://www.chinanews.com.cn/gn/2024/09-09/10282710.shtml, last visited September 30, 2025.

(15)Sam (Ronghui) Li, Michael (Haomin) Zhang, Lucas (Zhouquan) Lu, Tina (Yanfei) Qian, “Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in China between 2012-2022: Review and Remarks (Part I)”, Kluwer Arbitration Post (September 12, 2023).

(16)"Chinese courts recognized and enforced 69 overseas arbitration awards in 2023", China News Network, https://wap.chinanews.com/wap/detail/chs/zw/10282862.shtml, last visited September 30, 2025.

(17)"China accelerates the improvement of foreign-related legal service to build the Belt and Road and protect Chinese enterprises going overseas", People's Daily, January 24, 2025, p. 11.

(18)"Xi Jinping emphasizes strengthening the construction of foreign-related legal systems to create favorable legal conditions and external environment during the 10th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee", China Court Network, at https://www.chinacourt.org/article/detail/2023/11/id/7661448.shtml, last visited September 30, 2025.

(19)For example, the "Sail Plan for Talent Development" of the Beijing Lawyers Association has trained more than 17,000 foreign-related lawyers in batches. The Shanghai Lawyers Association focuses on developing the "Pilot Plan" (a foreign-related lawyer training camp project), aiming to create a foreign-related legal service talent pool with Shanghai-style characteristics.

(20)For example, the Government of Heilongjiang Province adopted the Measures for Strengthening Foreign-related Rule of Law, requiring the establishment of foreign-related legal service workstations, the formulation of guidelines for the construction of foreign-related law firms, and the promotion of internationalization and specialization of arbitration business; the Government of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region issued the Three-Year Action Plan to Promote the Innovative Development of an ASEAN-oriented Foreign-related Legal Service Industry in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (2024-2026) to actively built a foreign-related legal protection and legal service platform and established a funding guarantee system to support the innovative development of foreign-related legal service industries; the Government of Shanxi Province issued the Five-Year Action Plan for Accelerating the Promotion of Foreign-related Legal Services (2024-2028), which defines the work objectives and tasks in three aspects: exploring the mechanism for the promotion of foreign-related legal services, consolidating the foundation of foreign-related legal services, and establishing a long-term mechanism for foreign-related legal services.

(21)For example, in March 2024, the Shanghai Government issued and implemented the "Action Plan for Further Strengthening Capacity Building and Accelerating the Cultivation of World-class Arbitration Institutions", striving to enhance the core competitiveness, comprehensive service capabilities, international influence, and sustainable development capabilities of arbitration institutions. The Beijing Government has included the formulation of the Regulations on the Construction of the Beijing International Commercial Arbitration Center" in the 2024 legislative work plan review items of the Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress with a view to giving full play to its advantages of intensive legal resources, active international exchanges and cooperation, and a concentration of leading arbitration institutions.

(22)See "China accelerates the improvement of foreign-related legal services to build the Belt and Road and protect Chinese enterprises going overseas", People's Daily, January 24, 2025, p.11.

(23)Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress to Authorize the State Council to Carry out the Pilot Program of Allowing Hong Kong Legal Practitioners and Macau Practicing Lawyers to Obtain Mainland Practicing Qualifications and Practice Law in Nine Mainland Cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, https://www.gov.cn/xinwen/2020-08/11/content_5534159.htm, last visited September 30, 2025.

(24)By the end of December 2024, a total of 533 lawyers from Hong Kong and Macau had received lawyer practice certificates and become lawyers in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. They included 448 Hong Kong legal practitioners and 85 Macau practicing lawyers, distributed across more than 160 law firms, achieving full coverage of the nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area. See "Guangdong Province empowers enterprises to go overseas with high-quality foreign-related rule of law", official website of the Ministry of Justice, https://www.moj.gov.cn/pub/sfbgw/fzgz/fzgzggflfwx/fzgzggflfw/202501/t20250127_513720.html, last visited September 30, 2025.

(25)According to the statistics published by the Law Society of Hong Kong, 19 Mainland-Hong Kong partnership joint venture law firms have been set up in Hong Kong. See "Legal Profession Directory", official website of the Law Society of Hong Kong, https://www.hklawsoc.org.hk/en/Serve-the-Public/The-Law-List/Registered-Association-of-Law-Firms, last visited September 30, 2025.

(26)See "Fruitful Results Achieved in Soft Connectivity of Legal Services Between Guangdong and Hong Kong", official website of Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice, at http://sft.gd.gov.cn/sfw/xwdt/sfxz/content/post_4612340.html, last visited September 30, 2025.