The International Forum on the Belt and Road Legal Services was held in Xiamen from March 30 to 31, bringing together legal professionals from 25 Belt and Road partner countries. The event also welcomed officials from judicial departments of various provinces and municipalities, and experts and scholars from relevant legal institutions, with a total of around 300 participants.
Prior to the opening of the forum, the newly established the Belt and Road International Lawyers Association (BRILA) elected its first council, president, vice-president, and secretary-general.
The BRILA is composed of lawyers, arbitrators, commercial mediators, industry associations, legal institutions, and individuals from Belt and Road partner countries. It is the first international professional organization in the legal field named after the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The association aims to integrate legal service resources across the full spectrum of lawyers, arbitrators, and mediators, fostering a more efficient legal coordination mechanism. It seeks to provide professional legal support for economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges among participating countries. This marks a new institutionalized stage in the collaborative legal efforts of the BRI.
During the keynote speeches, both domestic and international guests emphasized the crucial role of the rule of law in ensuring the high-quality development of the BRI.
In addition to the keynote addresses, the forum also featured four-panel discussions covering key topics such as legal services and the facilitation of trade and investment liberalization under the BRI, arbitration and international commercial dispute resolution along the BRI, innovation, and practices of foreign-related legal services in AI, and the international development trends of commercial mediation and China's approach.
Those achieving an outstanding rating in the annual performance evaluation of provincial-level or national-level will receive rewards of 50,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan respectively.
Furthermore, in the comprehensive evaluation process, bases will be rewarded based on performance tiers, with the highest possible support of 1 million yuan in operating funds. The evaluation criteria include construction planning, management and operation, and Taiwan youth and enterprises.
The 240-hour visa-free transit policy, which has led to a surge in interest among prospective tourists, is a clear sign of China's continued opening-up and has been included in this year's Government Work Report.
