With the development and construction of the North Bund in an all-round way, a high-quality industrial ecosystem in finance, shipping, commerce and trade, science and technology innovation and other fields has gathered here, and the demand for legal services has become increasingly refined, personalized and high-end.
On November 6, 2023, at the CIIE, the North Bund International Legal Service Port was unveiled. The release of the "Several Measures of Hongkou District on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Legal Service Industry and Building the North Bund International Legal Service Port" has fired the "first shot" to promote the construction of the North Bund International Legal Service Port. With the official release of the Three-Year Action Plan for the North Bund International Legal Service Port (2024-2026), this year, the North Bund International Legal Service Port has officially entered the first year of construction. From the establishment of the Diversified Commercial Mediation Center to the inauguration of the Out-of-Court Restructuring Center for Enterprises, and then to the establishment of the Shipping Dispute Prevention and Resolution Center, the North Bund International Legal Service Port, which has been "accelerating" its construction at the beginning of the year, is showing a strong starting image.
The North Bund Shipping Dispute Prevention and Resolution Center was established
Industrial agglomeration
Legal service institutions, functional institutions
and upstream and downstream enterprises to take root and settle in
Located on the North Bund, Magnolia Plaza is home to Shanghai Zhihe Law Firm, DeHeng Shanghai Law Firm, Beijing East & Concord (Shanghai) Law Firm, Guangdong Huashang (Shanghai) Law Firm and Shandong Guoyao Qindao (Shanghai) Law Firm. In the North Bund, the "Characteristic Law Firm" and the "Arbitration Building" have already taken shape. Entering its thirtieth year this year, Guangdong Huashang (Shanghai) Law Firm "settles" the North Bund, which further highlights the attractiveness of the North Bund. "The location advantage of Hongkou North Bund and the market potential behind it are important reasons for us to settle down. Wu Bo, executive director of China Commercial (Shanghai) Law Firm, said.
In November 2020, the trial workstation of the Shanghai Maritime Court was established in the North Bund Shipping Service Center, in April 2021, the North Bund Special Window of the Hongkou Notary Office was unveiled at the North Bund Street Party and Mass Service Station, in December 2023, the North Bund Multi-Commercial Mediation Center was registered and established, in January 2024, the North Bund Enterprise Out-of-Court Restructuring Center was unveiled, and in March 2024, the North Bund Shipping Dispute Prevention and Resolution Center was officially launched. In the future, a number of functional institutions such as the International Shipping Law Research Center of East China University of Political Science and Law and the Logistics Committee of Shanghai Arbitration Association will be settled here. Within the planning territory of the North Bund, legal institutions in different fields, different formats and different functions are adjacent to each other and complement each other's advantages, forming a legal service community and realizing one-stop "entry into Hong Kong" of legal services.
A foreign-funded enterprise decided to place its "first investment" in Shanghai, and the "package" of legal services provided by the law firm located in the North Bund became an important driving force behind it. In the North Bund, not only can the settled enterprises enjoy high-quality legal services, but also the suppliers of legal service resources also have a stage to show their talents. In 2022, the Hongkou Notary Office upgraded its remote video application for bank loan notarization business, which has helped a number of small, medium and micro enterprises successfully raise funds in a timely manner, while Shanghai Besitong Public Legal Service Co., Ltd., which is deeply engaged in the field of public legal services, has also empowered the construction of the North Bund International Legal Service Port with its mature information technology. In addition, a number of legal technology companies are also interested in settling in the North Bund, and this hot spot for the development of the legal services industry will soon usher in a new round of institutions that have sprung up. Provide one-stop shipping solutions, work closely with various shipping companies, have good freight advantages, reliable space guarantee and strong local operation capabilities.
Serving the enterprise
Build a "full life cycle" of an enterprise
and the "whole industry chain" guarantee system
In recent years, with the development of the North Bund as the engine, finance and shipping have taken off together, becoming the two leading industries in Hongkou. In 2023, the North Bund will introduce 87 new financial enterprises and institutions, with a total of more than 2,100 with assets under management of 8 trillion yuan, and 223 new key shipping enterprises and institutions, with a total of more than 4,600 and nearly 40 respectively. At the same time, Hongkou actively lays out cutting-edge emerging industries represented by the metaverse and artificial intelligence, and the development of enterprises is thriving.
Enterprises of all stages and forms gathered at the North Bund, and the wave of enterprise rebirth, transformation and restructuring spawned by development also swept in. From the birth to the thriving, from the transformation and upgrading to the rebirth, the demand for legal services accompanies the whole process of enterprise development. With the proposition that the rule of law escorts the whole life cycle of enterprises "establishment, maturity, recession, and rebirth", and extends the whole chain of corporate legal services, the North Bund International Legal Service Port has built a number of functional platform institutions to accurately meet the legal service needs of enterprises and provide legal protection for the whole life cycle of enterprises.
The North Bund Multi-Commercial Mediation Center is the first non-governmental organization born here. As a diversified legal dispute resolution service organization jointly initiated by the Shanghai Arbitration Commission, the Shanghai Enterprise Confederation, the Shanghai Association of Corporate Legal Counsel and other enterprise organizations, the Center takes the advantages of "one-stop, diversified, full-cycle and comprehensive" to realize the commercial dispute resolution model featuring "mediation, evaluation, adjudication, adjudication and enforcement". At present, the first batch of 50 expert mediators, including more than 10 foreign mediators, have participated in the resolution of foreign-related commercial disputes, and 5 courts, 6 industry associations and more than 50 domestic and foreign enterprises have established cooperative relations with the Center through cooperation agreements and proposals.
At the beginning of the year, the "Action Plan for Shanghai to Adhere to the Benchmarking Reform and Continue to Build a World-class Business Environment" proposed to study and explore the market-oriented support mechanism for out-of-court restructuring. On January 20, 2024, Shanghai's first special asset disposal platform promoted by the local government, the "North Bund Enterprise Out-of-Court Restructuring Center", was unveiled. On the one hand, the center connects with relevant market entities to recruit investors through marketization and increases the effective supply of financial services, and on the other hand, it joins hands with distressed enterprises with reorganization value and willingness to provide legal advice, policy guidance, due diligence, professional consultation and negotiation services, helps distressed enterprises select, link and aggregate investor resources, and promotes the optimal disposal of special assets and out-of-court restructuring of distressed enterprises.
Not long ago, the third center of the North Bund International Legal Services Port, the North Bund Shipping Dispute Prevention and Resolution Center, was inaugurated in Hongkou. The Center will strengthen its cooperation with organizations such as the Shanghai Maritime Court, the North Bund Multi-Commercial Mediation Center, the Shanghai Arbitration Commission and the Shanghai Headquarters of the CMAC, and actively play an active role in the "Shanghai Shipping Legal Community", relying on the comprehensive and professional commercial dispute resolution mechanism of "professional mediation organization + shipping arbitration institution + specialized court", to help build the North Bund into a preferred place for international shipping dispute resolution.
In the future, the Legal Service Port will also set up a Financial Dispute Prevention and Resolution Center, an Intellectual Property Legal Service Center, a Family Wealth Management Legal Service Center, a Legal Service Center for Overseas Compliance, and a Legal Technology Alliance.
Hongkou District revolves around "one core", "one belt" and "multiple points"
Build a high-quality legal service ecosystem
Ecological integration
Build "government, enterprise and social school" and "industry-university-research-innovation"
A symbiotic legal service ecosystem
Today's North Bund, where commercial buildings and natural ecology are integrated, artistic beauty and the fragrance of birds and flowers are contrasted, legal service institutions are dotted on the land, and the atmosphere of rule of law culture shuttles between buildings.
Metamorphosis always comes from within. In 2022, the Hongkou District Bureau of Justice issued the "Implementation Plan for Promoting the High-quality Development of Party Building in the Lawyer Industry in Hongkou District with the Concept of Grid". The new party building model of the lawyer industry activates the new red engine of lawyers serving social governance, and the active participation of lawyers in the "three linkages" multiple contradiction and dispute resolution mechanism initiated by Hongkou and selected as the national "Fengqiao-style work method" is the most vivid practice. Relying on the party building of the lawyer industry, lawyers are deeply involved in grassroots social governance, and the rule of law thinking and the mass line resonate at the same frequency. In October last year, a volunteer team of 200 lawyers from Hongkou District was stationed in the district court, and after half a year of practice, the rate of lawyers participating in cases was increased from 10% to 15%. Legal service organizations with law firms as the main position actively integrate into the overall work of local party committees and governments, and accelerate the formation of a benign interactive pattern of mutual integration and mutual promotion between the legal service industry and local development.
The rule of law is the best place to do business. Hongkou actively builds an ecosystem of integration of law and business, relying on the characteristics of the upstream and downstream business clusters of the North Bund industrial chain, to open up the link channels between legal service institutions and between legal service institutions and enterprises. In 2023, the concept of "North Bund International Legal Service Port" was born, and the rule of law IP forum activities with the distinctive characteristics of the North Bund were staged one after another, injecting new vitality into the integration of law and business. Brand activities such as the North Bund Lawyer Industry Management and Development Forum, the Hongkou Sub-forum of Shanghai Arbitration Week, the Hongkou Forum on Legal Services to Guarantee the High-quality Development of the North Bund, the Moot Court (Arbitration Tribunal) Competition for Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao University Students, and the Spectronico International Legal Exchange and Cooperation Forum attracted a number of practicing lawyers, corporate law generals, university scholars and industry experts at home and abroad, and became a grand gathering of law and business. This year, the "Choose the North Bund" series of activities has also been opened, and the amplification effect of the activities is even more across inter-city and cross-border industries. On March 15, 2024, the Shanghai Hongkou District Bureau of Justice and the Shenzhen Futian District Bureau of Justice signed a strategic agreement on the joint construction of a foreign-related legal service system to build an integrated intercity legal alliance.
Shanghai Hongkou District Bureau of Justice and Shenzhen Futian District Bureau of Justice signed a strategic cooperation agreement
As a result, the legal service industry in Shanghai and Shenzhen will accelerate the connection, and the two-way flow of legal service elements between the Yangtze River Delta and the Greater Bay Area will be accelerated. On March 28, 2024, the "Monthly Signing" event for major projects in Hongkou District was held in the Shanghai International Arbitration Lounge, and representatives of institutions that have made outstanding contributions to the introduction of law firms to Hongkou District were hired as "North Bund Investment Promotion and Investment Ambassadors" during the event. Representatives of institutions interact with the elites of the legal profession to develop a new model for attracting investment. Enterprises build nests to attract phoenixes, attracting law firms to attract birds and phoenixes, and law firms to feed back and develop, introducing customers to settle in Hongkou. Enterprises and law firms are both investment partners, and the ecology of legal and business integration allows the two parties to cooperate for a win-win situation.
In the North Bund, there used to be a well-known school in modern China's legal education circles, the Soochow University Law School, from which the first batch of legal talents from the mainland came out. Through the past 100 years, the academic heritage here has provided soil for the innovation and transformation of industry, education and research in the legal community. On November 16, 2023, the Hongkou District Government of Shanghai and East China University of Political Science and Law signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement, in which the two sides clearly stated that they will carry out practical cooperation in deepening the new model of the "Fengqiao Experience" in the new era, building the North Bund International Legal Service Port, and promoting the construction of foreign-related rule of law. In addition, Fudan University Law School, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Law School, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics Law School, Shanghai Wai Chinese University Law School, Shanghai Maritime University and other universities are also on the cooperation list. The cooperation between law firms and universities in the research field in Hongkou District is also getting closer and closer. Shanghai Zhihe Law Firm cooperated with East China University of Political Science and Law to establish the Institute of Financial Rule of Law; Shanghai Landing Law Firm cooperated with East China University of Political Science and Law and Shanghai Foreign Chinese University to jointly build the Metaverse Foreign-related Legal Practice Base, the Metaverse International Lawyers College and the Overseas Practice Base; and Beijing Jingshi (Shanghai) Law Firm established the city's first legal service center for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements in Hongkou. The in-depth integration of industry, academia and research between the government, industry and universities continued to burst out with innovative vitality, and a number of law firms, including East & Concord (Shanghai) Law Firm, launched legal technology application products. Law firms are also racing to be the pacesetters on the legaltech track.
Roundtable discussion after the inauguration ceremony of the North Bund Multi-Commercial Mediation Center
Talent cultivation
From strengthening the brand of the law firm to
Strengthen the construction of a team of lawyers
At the end of 2023, the General Office of the Shanghai Municipal Government issued the "Several Measures to Give Play to the Functional Advantages of the City, Strengthen the Brand of Law Firms, and Accelerate the Construction of Shanghai International Legal Service Center". In February this year, the main leaders of the Hongkou District Party Committee and the Hongkou District Government held a symposium for the heads of some law firms, inviting the heads of 10 law firms in the district to discuss how to give full play to the professional advantages of law firms, serve the construction of "Shanghai North Bund, a new benchmark for the city", and promote the high-quality development of Hongkou.
So far in 2023, the number of law firms and practicing lawyers in Hongkou has increased significantly. In the first quarter of this year, the revenue generated by the legal service industry nearly doubled year-on-year. This excellent result is due to the implementation of Hongkou's "Strengthening and Cultivating Excellence" plan and the global expansion of law firms in Hongkou District. Hongkou's high-quality industrial policy has attracted a number of outstanding law firms to settle in the North Bund, adding strong momentum to the development of the legal service industry in Hongkou District. At the same time, the pace of Hongkou District Law Firm's departure from the North Bund to the world has not stopped. Up to now, a total of 16 law firms in Hongkou have foreign-related legal services, and 3 law firms have set up contact points and offices overseas to serve domestic clients "going global" and acting as agents for cross-border legal affairs. In addition, Guantao Zhongmao Law Firm will hold a joint forum with Saudi Arabian and Oman law firms to help Chinese enterprises develop business in the Middle East, and Shanghai Everbright Law Firm is also actively applying to set up a branch office in Hong Kong to develop a broader range of foreign-related business. Connecting at home and abroad, law firms can find different growth channels in the North Bund.
Talent is the primary productive force. The Measures of Hongkou District on Promoting the High-quality Development of the Legal Service Industry and Building the North Bund International Legal Service Port covers five major sections: encouraging settlement and development, strengthening talent support, professional development rewards, comprehensive contribution rewards and optimizing the development environment, providing a full set of support policies for the introduction of high-quality legal talents, and creating a "soft environment" for all-round talent training and growth. On October 13, 2023, under the guidance of the Office of the Talent Work Leading Group of the Hongkou District Party Committee, sponsored by the District Justice Bureau, and undertaken by the District Legal Work Committee, the "Professional, Dedicated and Exhibited Business - Hongkou District Lawyer Talent Salon" activity was successfully held in the rule of law meeting room on the 20th floor of Magnolia Plaza on the North Bund. By announcing specific rules for talent settlement, talent training, housing security, and supporting services, Hongkou continues to recruit talents for the lawyer industry.
The introduction of talent policies is only one aspect, and the construction of a systematic lawyer training mechanism is also crucial. The "Honglu Zhixing" forum is a lawyer business training brand carefully created by the Hongkou Legal Working Committee. On March 4, 2024, Mr. Yang Liangyi, member of the Expert Committee of the International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court, Chairman of the Shanghai Institute of International Arbitration and Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, invited Mr. Yang Liangyi, a member of the Expert Committee of the International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court, Chairman of the Shanghai Institute of International Arbitration and Honorary Chairman of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, to give a lecture on the theme of international commercial arbitration to the lawyers and teachers and students of the Law School of Shanghai Wai Chinese University. Upgrading from a domestic scholar to an international expert, taking advantage of the expansion of high-level opening up, Hongkou is also moving forward on the road of strengthening the cultivation of foreign-related legal talents. In 2023, Hongkou will hold a high-end foreign-related legal talent training camp, with 5 lawyers going to Hong Kong for training, and the "Huazheng 100 Students Overseas Legal Practice Project" and "100 Lawyers Going Overseas Program" planned by Shanghai Landing Law Firm will also be officially launched, and 4 students and 4 lawyers will embark on the journey. In 2024, Hongkou will continue to promote exchanges and cooperation between the legal service industry of the North Bund and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. In addition, deepening the cooperative relationship with major universities, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the "Belt and Road" Lawyers Alliance, and the establishment of the North Bund International Legal Talent Training Base are also in the promotion plan.
The main leaders of the Hongkou District Party Committee and the District Government held a symposium for the heads of some law firms
Strive to set sail for a new chapter and ride the wind and waves to start a new game. In the near future, the physical hub of the North Bund International Legal Service Port will be built into a "one-stop dispute resolution center" integrating mediation, arbitration, litigation and other dispute resolution functions, and a comprehensive legal service platform integrating notarization, judicial appraisal, extraterritorial legal identification and other functions.
Backed by the vast hinterland of the Yangtze River Delta, along one river and one river, facing the intercontinental sea, the giant ship of legal services docked at the North Bund International Legal Service Port is now setting sail and speeding up. Connecting China and the World - North Bund International Legal Service Port, the future is promising!
Source: Jiefang Daily, Hongkou District Judicial Bureau
Editor: Feng Xiaoyu