Lawyers approved to practice in Greater Bay Area

Junius Ho Kwan-yiu, a Legislative Council member and a solicitor from Hong Kong, along with three counterparts from Macao, were granted certificates to practice law in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on Wednesday.

They are the first lawyers from the two special administrative regions to start practices in the Greater Bay Area's Guangdong province.

Ho said he was happy to obtain the certificate to practice in an interview with Nanfang Daily.

He said he will continue to give full play to his abilities, actively participate in developing the area, integrate into overall national development and help companies on the Chinese mainland to go global in the years to come.

The cities include Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing in Guangdong province, plus the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

Xiao Shengfang, chairman of the Guangdong Lawyers Association, said Hong Kong and Macao lawyers who have obtained the certificates to practice in the Greater Bay Area can handle some civil and commercial litigation and some non-litigation legal affairs applicable to mainland laws.

Granting certificates to lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao to practice in Greater Bay Area cities will help integrate the talent resources of excellent lawyers from the two SARs, break legal service barriers and provide diversified and convenient cross-border legal services for the parties.

It will also help promote the convergence of legal rules and mechanisms among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, create a good legal business environment and help accelerate integrated development.

Du Chengming, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Law Society and deputy president of Guangdong University of Technology, urged further judicial exchanges and mutual learning, study and exploration of new ways to enhance legal connections in the field of civil and commercial affairs in the three regions in the years to come.