Trade and Industry Department Liberalization Measures under CEPA

	Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement >> Information Database on CEPA Service Sectors (By Service Sector)

Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA)

Legal Services

Liberalization Measures under CEPA

　

CEPA I

Sectors or sub-sectors 1. Business services

A. Professional services

a. Legal services (CPC861)

Specific commitments
1.
To allow Hong Kong law firms (offices) that have set up representative offices in the Mainland to operate in association with Mainland law firms, except in the form of partnership. Hong Kong lawyers participating in such association may not handle matters of Mainland law.

2.
To allow Mainland law firms to employ Hong Kong legal practitioners¹. Such practitioners who are employed by Mainland law firms must not handle matters of Mainland law.

3.
To allow the 15 Hong Kong lawyers who have already acquired Mainland lawyer qualifications to intern and practise on non-litigation legal work in the Mainland.

4.
To allow Hong Kong permanent residents with Chinese citizenship to sit the legal qualifying examination in the Mainland and acquire Mainland legal professional qualification in accordance with the “State Judicial Examination Implementation Measures”.

5.
To allow those who have acquired Mainland legal professional qualification under item 4 above to engage in non-litigation legal work in Mainland law firms in accordance with the “Law of the People's Republic of China on Lawyers”.

6.
The minimum residency requirement is waived for all Hong Kong representatives stationed in the Mainland representative offices of Hong Kong law firms (offices) located in Shenzhen and Guangzhou. For the Hong Kong representatives stationed in the Mainland representative offices of Hong Kong law firms (offices) located in places other than Shenzhen and Guangzhou, their minimum residency requirement is 2 months each year.

¹Hong Kong legal practitioners here refer to solicitors and barristers of Hong Kong.

CEPA II
Sectors or sub-sectors	1. Business services
	A. Professional services
	a. Legal services (CPC861)
Specific commitments		Hong Kong lawyers providing professional assistance at the request of Mainland law firms on the basis of individual cases will not be required to apply for a Hong Kong legal consultant permit.

CEPA III
Sectors or sub-sectors	1. Business services
	A. Professional services
	a. Legal services (CPC861)
Specific commitments		1.	To allow a Hong Kong law firm (office) that has set up a representative office in the Mainland to operate in association with one Mainland law firm situated in the province, autonomous region or municipality where its representative office is situated.
		2.	A Hong Kong resident who is allowed to practise in the Mainland will practise in one Mainland law firm only, and will not simultaneously be employed by the representative office set up by a law firm of a foreign country in China, or the representative office set up by a law firm of Hong Kong or Macao in the Mainland.

2006 Liberalization Measures
Sectors or sub-sectors	1. Business services
	A. Professional services
	a. Legal services (CPC861)
Specific commitments		1.	To waive the requirement on the number of full-time lawyers employed by Mainland law firms that operate in association with Hong Kong law firms (offices).
		2.	To waive the residency requirement in the Mainland for representatives stationed in representative offices of Hong Kong law firms (offices) in the Mainland.
		3.	To allow Hong Kong residents who have acquired Mainland lawyer qualifications or legal professional qualifications and hold a Mainland lawyer's practice certificate to engage in activities as agents in matrimonial and succession cases relating to Hong Kong in the capacity of Mainland lawyers
		4.	To allow Hong Kong barristers to act as agents in civil litigation cases in the Mainland in the capacity of citizens.
		5.	To allow Hong Kong residents who have acquired Mainland lawyer qualifications or legal professional qualifications to undergo internship in a branch office of a Mainland law firm set up in Hong Kong in accordance with the Outline for Practical Training and the Guidelines on Practical Training as required in the Mainland.

2007 Liberalization Measures
Sectors or sub-sectors	1. Business services
	A. Professional services
	a. Legal services (CPC861)
Specific commitments		To allow a Hong Kong law firm (office) that has set up a representative office in the Mainland to operate in association with one Mainland law firm. There is no geographic restriction on the Mainland law firm in association.

Last revision date: 11 October 2007