The RCEP Provides New Opportunities forr Legal Cooperationn Between China and ASEANN

By Audrey Guo

On September 11， the Symposium on Commercial Legal Cooperation was held in Nanning， Guangxi. More than 2，000 business and industry delegates， legal experts and representatives from all walks of society in China and ASEAN countries voiced their opinions and suggested all member countries to let the RCEP play to its strength in commodity trade， dispute settlement， service trade and investment and improve commercial legal cooperation between China and the ASEAN under the background of the RCEP. The purpose here was to improve the sustainable， stable and healthy development of trade cooperation between China and the ASEAN.

Upgrade commercial legal cooperation between China and ASEAN Zhang Shaogang， Vice Chairman of the CCPIT， said that to promote sustained， stable and healthy development of economic and trade cooperation between China and the ASEAN， both sides shall continuously strengthen and enhance commercial legal cooperation. He suggested that RCEP member countries should speed up reform of their domestic management systems related to the RCEP to ensure that the agreement can be implemented immediately when it comes into force； should strengthen international cooperation， select key areas and industries to formulate implementation plans， and promote consultations among member countries on the transposition of tariff commitment form， so as to ensure the implementation of the agreement； RCEP member countries should use the power of legal governance to provide long-term institutional guarantee for the implementation of the RCEP agreement in their countries.

The signing of the RCEP is one of the most important achievements in foreign trade since China became one of the WTOs member countries 20 years ago. It not only reflects Chinas determination to continuously integrate within international high-standard trade and investment rules， and build an open economic system， but this also will have a far-reaching influence on Chinas promotion of the rule of law in the new era and the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity under the framework of the rule of law.

Mr. Thanongsinh Kanlaya， Vice President of the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry， said that the key to advancing the settlement of bilateral commercial disputes of the region is to jointly promote the establishment of commercial legal cooperation mechanisms between China and ASEAN countries. He said： “we need to promote ‘soft links in policies， laws， regulations， human resources， customs and border management systems to speed up the transportation and transit of goods in RCEP areas.” He believes that the RCEP will not only promote commodity trade， service trade， the formulation of rules of origin and optimizing of customs procedures trade， but also will include clauses that aim to support small and medium-sized enter- prises， develop e-commerce， formulate competition rules and regulate government procurement.

“The RCEP provides efficient and transparent rules and procedures to settle disputes. The improved legal suggestions and practical solutions will ensure the formulation of a comprehensive legal framework， to help RCEP member countries to pursue goals they have long pursued，” said Achmad Basuni， legal expert of the National Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Brunei.

Wu Qian， Associate Counsel of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre， said that the RCEP covers the worlds largest free trade zone， and that economic prosperity will inevi-tably be accompanied by an increase of cross-border disputes. How to help customers quickly resolve cross-border disputes is the main responsibility of the Singapore International Arbitration Center.

Cross-border Legal Services are more convenient for ASEAN countries

Compared with the WTO and the ASEAN-China free trade agreement， the RCEP has made further progress in terms of market access principles for service trade. The RCEP has brought more transparent and predictable principles， and opened up a larger market for legal service cooperation.

Peishi Pingjiang， Deputy Director of the legal department of Vietnams Ministry of Industry and Trade， welcomed citizens of RCEP member countries to enjoy legal services in Vietnam. Foreign lawyer organizations are allowed to set up branch companies， affiliated institutions and offices in Vietnam.

“Under the background of the RCEP， Vietnam has made commitments on legal services. There are no restrictions on market access and national treatment for the provision of legal services across borders. We also welcome citizens of other RCEP member countries to obtain legal services in Vietnam. Foreign lawyersorganizations are allowed to establish commercial presence in Vietnam in the following forms： first， branches of foreign lawyers organizations； Second， the subsidiary institutions of foreign lawyers organizations； the third includes foreign law firms offices and partnership between foreign law firms and their Vietnamese legal service partners，” he said.

Jessie Vareira， Deputy Director of the American Business Department of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry， said that the RCEP allows foreign law firms that set up offices in the Shanghai Free Trade Experiment Zone to sign contracts about foreign legal affairs with Chinese law firms. China provided such clause outside the RCEP framework to allow Chinese and foreign law firms to enhance cooperation by sending lawyers to each other as legal advisers.

As the RCEP Agreement marks the first commitment of major ASEAN countries improving transparency and cooperation of central government procurement and cross-border activities， many meeting participants said that legal services in this field will increase accordingly in the future. Legal practitioners are able to guide and recommend companies to review their supply chain distribution channels and operations in favor of trade and market.

Long Chuanhong， Head of patent and trademark affairs department of the CCPIT， said that Chinese companies shall shoulder social responsibilities to publicize the knowledge of intellectual property protection in countries where intellectual property protection is weak， to raise local awareness of protecting intellectual property rights， help governments and companies set up mechanism with regards to intellectual property rights and grow with local companies in the spirit of mutual benefits.

“When it comes to the Chinese market， we expect that after the RCEP takes effect， companies of RCEP member countries will grow rapidly in Chinas patent and trademark market， which is closely related to trade and investment. Experienced Chinese patent service institutions can provide professional services for intellectual property rights protection of companies from RCEP member countries in China. This is the precondition for China to obtain high-quality intellectual property rights，” said Long Chuanhong.

Jia Huaiyuan， Senior Partner of Beijing Deheng Law Offices and director of Dubai branch office， said that when it comes to foreign commercial legal disputes， China and ASEAN countries shall study the mechanism to integrate litigation with international commercial arbitration， to promote the cooperation between court decision and arbitration awards， to help China and ASEAN countries optimize their business environments and promote trade and investment.

Guangxi establishes multilateral mechanisms to resolve foreign business disputes

On September 7， the High Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region issued the White Paper of Maritime Laws of Guangxi Court during 2018-2020， and commercial and maritime judicial cases of Guangxi， to display the achievements of Guangxi commercial and maritime judicial work， and introduce experiences to promote a market-oriented， legal and international business environment.

Huang Hailong， head of the High Court of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， said that Guangxi is willing to work with all parties to raise the cooperation consensus， explore cooperation potential and enhance legal policy integration， to create a sound business environment for the region and better advance the sustainable and healthy development of China-ASEAN trade and economic cooperation.

According to Lu Shangxu， deputy head of the High Court of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， between 2018 to 2020， Guangxi courts accepted 6，006 foreign-related commercial and maritime cases， with 2，520 new cases accepted in 2020 alone， showing a significant trend of growth. For example， the peoples Court of Dongxing City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region， established a special circuit court for China-Vietnam commercial disputes， appointed judges with rich trial experience and proficiency in Vietnamese to hear cases， and properly resolved a large number of China-Vietnam cross-border commercial disputes. Beihai Maritime Court published a bilingual white paper of maritime trials for two consecutive years， to display the application and achievements of the Belt and Road maritime trial working mechanism.

With the rapid upgrading and development of the China-ASEAN free trade area， especially Chinas signing and approval of the regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement， Guangxi is bound to become a new focus of regional economic cooperation as it is the only province bordering an ASEAN country by land and sea. This will also bring many new requirements and opportunities for protecting foreign trade， investment and labor in Guangxi courts.

Jiang Hui， Dean of the Law School of Guangxi University for Nationalities and consular of the China Law Society， said from the perspective of human resource construction that thanks to geographical advantages， the universities of Guangxi shall also act as a spring board to ASEAN. For example， the Guangxi University for Nationalities excels in teaching languages of ASEAN countries. The law faculty leverages these advantages in language skills to create a “law+ASEAN” academic synergy， including “Chinese+English+ASEAN languages”， and also “Chinese law + ASEAN law”.

Guangxis geographical advantages also bring many new opportunities for Guangxi courts services when it comes to protecting foreign investment and trade， and increasing labor exchanges. Lu Shangxu said that Guangxi courts will provide high-quality judicial services and guarantees for the development of China-ASEAN economic and trade relations and the implementation of the RCEP agreement by ensuring legal and fair judgement of foreign-related commercial and maritime cases， constructing a multi-lateral mechanism to resolve disputes and enhancing international judicial exchanges and cooperation.

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The symposium reached a number of practical results. The participants jointly signed the memorandum on the establishment of the China-Laos commercial legal cooperation committee and the memorandum on the establishment of a docking mechanism for litigation and mediation of foreign-related commercial disputes. During the symposium， the unveiling ceremony of the commercial legal service offices of the Guangxi International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and Malaysia was also held. The white paper “Research on China-ASEAN Commercial Arbitration Coordination Mechanism in the Context of the RCEP” was also released during the event.

According to the memorandum of cooperation， the two sides will give full play to the systematic functions of the peoples court and the CCPIT， build a docking platform for litigation and mediation of foreign-related commercial disputes， and jointly coordinate and promote the docking of litigation and mediation of foreign-related commercial disputes.

In addition， the commercial legal service offices of the Guangxi International Chamber of Commerce in Singapore and Malaysia were officially established. The operation of the two service offices relies on the offices of Guangxi Wanyi law firm in Singapore and Malaysia. The two sides will give full play to the functional， professional， overseas business and service network ad- vantages of chambers of commerce and law firms， and use platforms such as the China-ASEAN commercial legal cooperation symposium under the framework of the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit to provide enterprises with one-stop， diversified and wholechain commercial legal services in the realms of business promotion， business training， legal counsel and intellectual property rights. This will help member enterprises prevent and resolve legal risks and foreign-related legal disputes when they go overseas.

The white paper unveils the path of innovating commercial dispute resolution mechanisms and making better use of commercial arbitration to serve the construction of a free trade zone under the background of the RCEP. Jiang Hui， Dean of the Law School of Guangxi University for Nationalities， believes that in order to realize the coordination between the arbitration mechanisms of China and ASEAN countries， it is important to start with reform in both domestic and international dimensions. Domestic reform should follow the rules of the market economy， respect the involving partys autonomy and further improve the credibility of arbitration； international reform should focus on the promotion and standardization of the online arbitration mechanism， and develop commercial arbitration through new technologies to further enhance the international influence of arbitration.