Secretary for Justice Paul Lam today concluded his visit to Guangzhou and Shenzhen, noting that the exchange of views on thematic topics facilitated mutual understanding on the relevant practice.

Mr Lam added that the Department of Justice will continue to spare no effort to take forward the rules alignment and talent exchanges, with a view to jointly pursuing mutual and win-win co-operation in the Greater Bay Area’s construction.

The justice chief and the delegation comprising representatives from the Hong Kong legal sector visited the Nansha Planning Exhibition Hall yesterday to learn about the history and latest developments of the Guangzhou Nansha New Area as well as the prospects of and measures on the deepening of Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Macao co-operation.

Accompanied by CPC Guangzhou Nansha District Committee Secretary Lu Yixian and Deputy District Mayor of Guangzhou Municipality’s Nansha District Pang Bo, Mr Lam then visited the Nansha International Arbitration Centre.

During the meeting, Guangzhou Arbitration Commission Party Secretary & Director Chen Simin introduced the commission’s latest progress and vision.

A representative from the Nansha District Bureau of Justice introduced the landscape of Nansha’s legal services and work on taking forward the interface of the legal regulatory regimes.

Mr Lam said that the Department of Justice will further encourage stakeholders to contribute to the development and opening up of the Guangzhou Nansha New Area, in particular on talent exchange in foreign-related arbitration and commercial mediation in various subjects including maritime finance, insurance and dispute resolution, so as to contribute to Nansha and the bay area’s high-quality development and further enhance protection of the rule of law.

He visited the First International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court yesterday and met its Vice Presidents Zhao Jinshan and Liu Zheng to learn about the establishment and operation of its one-stop platform on the organic convergence of litigation, mediation and arbitration for the resolution of diversified international commercial disputes.

Mr Lam also called on the Shenzhen Qianhai Cooperation Zone People's Court to learn about its organisation structure.

In a roundtable meeting with the court’s President Bian Fei and others, Mr Lam discussed the practice of adopting Hong Kong law by Hong Kong enterprises in the court and the practice on proof of Hong Kong law.

Hong Kong’s legal sector representatives said they hoped to collaborate with Mainland stakeholders to further promote the application of adopting Hong Kong law by Hong Kong enterprises as well as deepen the professional exchanges and mutual learning on the proof of Hong Kong law.

Mr Lam agreed that both sides will explore together the further expansion of the pool of legal talent in the proof of laws, including strengthening young legal practitioners' understanding on the needs of legal services and the bay area market to further enhance the proof of Hong Kong law’s effectiveness, with a view to building up the confidence of users in choosing Hong Kong law as applicable law, thereby contributing to the building of a rule-based business environment in the bay area.

He paid a visit to the headquarters of Tencent in Shenzhen this morning, to learn about its research and development and its application of innovative technology which contribute to the development of society and a wide array of industries.

The justice chief met Tencent Research Institute Dean Jason Si and its representatives to discuss ways innovative technology tools including artificial intelligence instruments such as ChatGPT would affect and bring challenges to different sectors and the legal regulatory regime.

Mr Lam indicated that the Hong Kong legal sector should seize the opportunities brought by innovative technology and proactively explore ways to further enhance the efficiency and standard of professional services.

He returned to Hong Kong today.