Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan and his delegation of young lawyers today called on the Foshan Lawyers Association and met a Foshan justice official, before concluding their visit to the city.

Mr Cheung and the delegation visited the Foshan Hong Kong-Macao Youth Entrepreneurship Center and exchanged views with young entrepreneurs this morning. Through the representatives' sharing of their startup experiences, the delegation gained a deeper understanding of the opportunities brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) for Hong Kong as a centre for legal and dispute resolution services.

The delegation then called on the Foshan Lawyers Association and met Chief of Justice Bureau of Foshan Municipality and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Justice Bureau Liu Zuhui.

They discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by Hong Kong legal practitioners practising in the GBA, and learnt more about the collaboration between Hong Kong lawyers in the GBA and Mainland lawyers in handling different types of foreign-related cases.

Mr Cheung said Foshan has been striving to enhance its foreign-related legal services to support the upgrading and transformation of the city’s manufacturing sector, adding that the Policy Address this year announced that Hong Kong will endeavour to establish the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy.

Capitalising on Hong Kong's bilingual common law system and international status, he noted the academy will provide training for talent in the practice of foreign-related legal affairs for the country.

Mr Cheung thanked the Justice Bureau of Foshan Municipality and the Foshan Lawyers Association for their strong support to Hong Kong legal practitioners in setting up practice there, and their facilitation and support measures for Hong Kong solicitors and barristers who have obtained the qualification to practise in the GBA to practise in Foshan.

He hoped to strengthen co-operation between Hong Kong and Foshan to assist enterprises to go global and to attract foreign investment to the city, thereby fostering robust growth in the GBA.

Yesterday, the delegation toured the Midea Group's headquarters and had dinner with CPC Foshan Municipal Committee Standing Committee Member and CPC Foshan Municipal Committee United Front Work Department Head Ding Xifeng.

In concluding the GBA trip, Mr Cheung said that together with the visit to Huizhou in September, the Department of Justice's first delegation of young lawyers visited three Mainland cities in the GBA.

He trusted that the visits would enable Hong Kong young lawyers to better understand that the high-quality national development offers the best opportunities for Hong Kong.

Mr Cheung stressed that the department would continue to take forward measures to promote interfaces of the legal systems and exchanges of talent in the GBA, with a view to jointly pursuing win-win co-operation in the construction of the bay area.

He also wished Hong Kong young lawyers would broaden their horizons and better understand the impact of technology on how legal services would support the development of different industries.

Mr Cheung urged them to connect their career development with the overall national development and maintain close liaison with the Mainland legal sector, so as to support the development of the GBA's first-class internationalised business environment based on the rule of law and jointly promote high-quality national development.