Female entrepreneur Chen Lifang, the chairman of Zhan Ji China-Hong Kong Logistics Co., Ltd., has been doing business in the mainland from Hong Kong since the 1990s, running 3 enterprises in Guangzhou, and the company has more than 100 employees at the most.
In November 2014, in order to deepen the innovation of the trial mechanism of Hong Kong and Macao-related cases and expand the channels for judicial participation of Hong Kong and Macao personnel, the Nansha District People's Court of Guangzhou took the lead in hiring a number of Hong Kong and Macao people's assessors in the country, and Chen Lifang became one of them.
Recently, Chen Lifang was interviewed by Nandu reporters and talked about her seven years of experience as a people's assessor in the Nansha Court (Nansha Free Trade Zone Court), saying that she had learned and gained a lot. On the one hand, as a Hong Kong investor, she has continuously publicized the judicial system of the mainland courts in Nansha and the Greater Bay Area to her fellow entrepreneurs through her personal experience, so that everyone can have more confidence in the business environment in the Bay Area; on the other hand, she has "strived to be a judge without a legal robe" by constantly participating in cases.
Hong Kong people's assessor Chen Lifang.
<h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > a Hong Kong female boss</h1>
< h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > people's assessor of the Nansha Court</h1>
Chen Lifang is a Hong Kong native, in the early 1990s began to invest in Guangzhou to set up factories, in Nansha and other places to run 3 enterprises, business involved in trade processing, warehousing, logistics and other fields, the annual output value of more than 100 million yuan. She also serves as a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference of Nansha District and the president of the Nansha Friendship Association in Hong Kong and Guangzhou.
In 2014, Nansha District officially implemented the Regulations of Guangzhou Nansha New Area, article 36 of which stipulates that Chinese citizens who meet the requirements for serving as people's assessors may participate in the trial of civil and commercial cases involving Hong Kong and Macao in Nansha New Area as people's assessors after being appointed in accordance with law. Accordingly, on November 25, 2014, the Nansha Court, with the consent of the District People's Congress, selected five Hong Kong and Macao residents as people's assessors for the first time, and Chen Lifang became one of them.
"The court should need a group of Hong Kong nationals, people with business experience and different perspectives." Chen Lifang said that of the five Hong Kong and Macao people's assessors in the same batch as her, 3 were internationally renowned university graduates.
<h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > was heard in the same room as the president</h1>
< h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > a major case involving LV intellectual property</h1> rights
When I received the letter of appointment from the Nansha District People's Court, "I was very excited and felt a sense of mission in my heart." Chen Lifang said that the Nansha court dared to break through and dare to fight, and at that time, it was the first in the country to introduce the Hong Kong and Macao people's assessor system, and she became the first batch of Hong Kong people's assessors, "feeling very lucky." Chen Lifang believes that this is a recognition of her by the court, and she also regards it as a new learning experience in her life.
Chen Lifang, who has just become a people's assessor, asked herself to take a certain amount of time to learn about the mainland's laws and the people's assessor system. So far, she has been a people's assessor at the Nansha Court for seven years. In the past seven years, she has participated in a number of jurors, most of which are intellectual property infringement cases, as well as equity disputes, sales contract disputes, etc., all of which involve Hong Kong and Macao.
She was most impressed by her participation in the first ip case involving the infringement of the internationally renowned brand LV, which sued four different companies in the mainland in the Nansha court. The case was presided over by the then president of the Nansha District People's Court, and another member of the three-member collegial panel was a senior intellectual property trial judge of the Nansha Court. "The case is very professional and complex, and with the dean and senior judges trying the case together, it is very stressful for me."
Chen Lifang very carefully read all the evidence and materials of the entire case, and also asked some focal issues in court on the day of the trial, and finally the collegial panel properly decided the case.
"I learned a lot of expertise and cross-examination skills from the dean and the judges." Chen Lifang said that the jury experience in this case has boosted her confidence in participating in other cases in the future. In the past seven years, she feels that her experience in jury trials has been enriched and she has learned a lot of professional knowledge.
<h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > participated in the trial of mainland cases for 7 years</h1>
<h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > to do a good job as a bridge between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao</h1>
Hong Kong people's assessor Chen Lifang, who has participated in the trial of mainland cases for 7 years, said that she has personally felt the rigor, soundness and openness of the judicial system of the Nansha courts.
Chen Lifang said that she has a business in Nansha and when she participates in the jury trial of civil and commercial disputes involving Hong Kong, she will know better how to put herself in the shoes of the parties and understand their ideas.
"I can swap roles and think from their point of view." Especially when one of the parties to the case is a Hong Kong national, her presence will give the Hong Kong parties confidence, will not let them feel that there is a dispute in investing in Nansha, only mainland judges and jurors are in the trial, worried that they will help the other party, but there is a "same voice" Hong Kong people's assessor to help analyze and solve the problem. "The parties will feel that such a trial environment is good, and they will have a sense of identification and intimacy with the court."
As a Hong Kong people's assessor who has participated in the trial of the case for 7 years, Chen Lifang said that she has personally felt the rigor, soundness and openness of the judicial system of the Nansha court, which gives her a sense of fairness, justice and openness as a whole, and the introduction of Hong Kong and Macao people's assessors by the court is one of the manifestations.
"I will use my personal experience and from the perspective of Hong Kong people to explain or publicize the mainland judicial system in the Greater Bay Area to businessmen who have encountered problems in investing in Nansha." Chen Lifang said she often told her businessmen and friends that she should have confidence in the judiciary in Nansha and the Greater Bay Area. In the past, Hong Kong businessmen who invested in the mainland were most worried about the opacity and openness of the judicial system and the tax system, but with the Nansha court taking the lead in the Hong Kong and Macao people's assessors, specially invited mediators and other systems, "I think the Greater Bay Area is ahead of the country in creating an international business environment based on the rule of law."
After Chen Lifang worked as a people's assessor in the Nansha court, many Hong Kong friends consulted her on the issue of investing in factories in the mainland. She said that her identity helps Hong Kong enterprises to objectively understand and trust the mainland judiciary, and has played a role as a communication bridge between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. At the same time, the participation of Hong Kong and Macao people's assessors will also promote the success rate of mediation in Hong Kong and Macao disputes in the Nansha courts, as well as assist judges to have a clearer understanding of Hong Kong's laws and regulations and trade rules, so as to more accurately determine the facts and make good judgments. "I will be determined to be a judge who does not wear a robe." Chen Lifang said.
<h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > prefer to eat in Nansha more than in Hong Kong</h1>
<h1 toutiao-origin="h2" > look forward to the early passage of the epidemic and return to Nansha</h1>
When it comes to her impressions of Guangdong's transportation, food and culture, Chen Lifang has a lot of feelings. In the 1990s, when I first invested and set up factories in Guangzhou and Nansha, the transportation between the two places was inconvenient, and with the deepening of reform and opening up, there were gradually high-speed rail, high-speed flying wing ships and other ways. "I can also drive myself, two and a half hours to Guangzhou. If you take the high-speed train, it will be faster, an hour or so. So I think the distance between the two places is getting closer and closer, whether it is traffic or people. ”
Before the epidemic, Chen Lifang spent four days a week in Guangzhou, handling the affairs of the Guangzhou company, and returning to Hong Kong on weekends. "I am a real Guangdong-Hong Kong pass." Dietaryly, her ancestral home is Guangdong, so she likes to eat more in Nansha than in Hong Kong. "Regardless of the freshness, the price and the variety, I think Nansha has a lot of advantages."
From the beginning of the epidemic in 2020 to the present, Chen Lifang has not returned to Nansha for nearly a year. "I hope that the impact of the epidemic will pass soon, and I can return to Nansha immediately."
When talking about her expectations for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Chen Lifang said that she hoped that the judicial system in the Greater Bay Area would become more and more perfect, and Hong Kong businessmen would invest more and more smoothly in the mainland.
Producer: Nandu Political Science and Law and People's Livelihood News Department
Coordinator: Li Lingbo, Zou Lin
Written by: Nandu reporter Wu Sunlin Intern Nie Zhuoxin Wang Yichen Correspondent Wang Jun