Deputy Secretary for Justice Cheung Kwok-kwan concluded his visit to Beijing today by calling on the Ministry of Justice and meeting Vice-Minister of Justice Hu Weilie.

Mr Cheung had in-depth discussions with Mr Hu on the construction of rule of law in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and related issues, nurturing foreign-related legal talent and developing Hong Kong as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region and more.

He thanked the ministry for its full and continuous support for Hong Kong's legal sector in better integrating into the overall national development and for its tremendous efforts to extend the period of the pilot scheme for Hong Kong and Macau legal practitioners to practise in the nine Mainland municipalities in the Greater Bay Area until 2026 and lower the practice experience threshold to three years.

Mr Cheung also highlighted that the GBA Legal Professional Examination has been held three times, with the latest exam to be held by the end of this month.

He said the Department of Justice (DoJ) will work closely with the relevant Mainland authorities to provide practical legal training for GBA lawyers and promote the establishment of a platform in Hong Kong for them so as to empower the professional development of GBA lawyers systematically to nurture more foreign-related legal talent with dual qualifications for the country.

The DoJ will spare no effort in promoting the establishment of a GBA Legal Information Platform to provide a reliable and comprehensive information platform for stakeholders to contribute to the construction of rule of law in the bay area, Mr Cheung noted.

Additionally, the department is actively taking forward the establishment of the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy to leverage the unique advantages of Hong Kong's common law system to contribute to the country's nurturing of foreign-related legal talent.

Mr Cheung added that he was grateful for the strong support of the Ministry of Justice which attaches great importance to the DoJ's initiatives.