Shanghai will host a worldwide meeting of barristers next year for the first time.

Lu Hongbing, vice-president of the Shanghai Bar Association, said on June 26 the global bar association has awarded the city the right to stage the event in autumn 2004.

Shanghai will become the third sponsor of the summit, in the wake of earlier meetings in New York in 2001 and Paris in 2003.

"Lawyers call the summit the APEC meeting of the world's bar circle," Lu said.

Shanghai Bar Association President Zhu Hongchao said Shanghai's fast-changing legal environment has attracted the attention of foreign lawyers.

He said participants at the forthcoming meeting are expected to discuss the opening up of China's legal market to the outside world.

The association will also solicit the opinions of other 16 members of the global summit about the theme.

The themes discussed at previous summits included legal services, management and exchanges.

Zhu said the Chinese market, especially in Shanghai, has become a "magnet for the world's attorneys."

At present, solicitors from 12 countries including the United States, Britain, France and Germany have set up a total of 60 law firms in the city.

Lu said as part of the preparations for the summit, the Shanghai Bar Association has introduced a new professional standard for lawyers to improve the local legal service market.

The standard, which draws on the experiences of the United States, Britain, Hong Kong, Beijing and Zhejiang Province, is considered the most comprehensive developed so far.

"Clients can complain about their lawyers if their cases are 'mishandled' based on the professional standard," Lu said.

The association has set aside 1 million yuan (US$120,000) a year from its membership fees for a risk fund to indemnify clients if they suffer losses due to malpractice by lawyers, he said.