The Secretary for Justice, Ms Teresa Cheng, SC, welcomed the "Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Long-Range Objectives Through the Year 2035" (the 14th Five-Year Plan) approved by the fourth session of the 13th National People's Congress today (March 11). The 14th Five-Year Plan demonstrates staunch support of the Central Government towards the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and explicitly supports Hong Kong to establish itself as the centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region.

     The Department of Justice (DoJ) will continue to liaise and work closely with its Mainland counterparts with a view to implementing more liberalisation measures and other new measures on legal services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) to the benefit of Hong Kong's legal and dispute resolution service sector. Some of the recent achievements include the GBA Legal Professional Examination, the signing of the Supplemental Arrangement Concerning Mutual Enforcement of Arbitral Awards between the Mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the amendment to the Regulations of the Qianhai Shenzhen - Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.

     The DoJ will also continue to further enhance the work with the Mainland on judicial and dispute resolution matters in civil and commercial cases, as well as strengthen international and regional co-operation, fostering the city's irreplaceable position as a leading international legal hub for deal-making and dispute resolution services.
 
     Ms Cheng said that the DoJ will join hands with the legal and dispute resolution profession and other stakeholders to work dedicatedly on fully utilising Hong Kong's unique advantages in legal and dispute resolution services to support and complement the country's development.

Ends/Thursday, March 11, 2021
Issued at HKT 16:28

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