Provinces pin high hopes on FTZs

Zones to increase legal help, solve business disputes

By ZHANG ZHAO and ZHONG NAN

A gavel in a court. [Photo/IC]

The Supreme People's Court, China's top judicial body, called for more innovative business models in the country's pilot free trade zones to offer more legal backup to support economic growth.

The top court issued a guideline last month in which it said it would sustain diversified mechanisms, including mediation and arbitration, to solve civil and business disputes, and supports the development of the free trade zones.

Courts in charge of FTZs are encouraged to explore innovative trial procedures to improve efficiency. Streamlined procedures will be applied in those cases involving global companies with simple facts and clear legal relations.

"Systematic innovation is a key feature of the reform measures in the FTZs," said Zhang Yongjian, director of the No 4 civil tribunal at the Supreme People's Court, which specializes in foreign business-related cases.

"Systematic guarantees must be provided in the FTZs in offering opportunities to expand investment and opening up innovation in the financial sector, to create a basic regulatory framework aligned with common international practices in trade."

The guideline called for more focus on cross-border intellectual property crimes in the FTZs, as well as smuggling and money laundering. Courts at lower levels responsible for the FTZs should enhance judicial protection for intellectual property by handing out more severe punishments.

Zhang said that with the guidance of the Supreme People's Court, China's courts will upgrade their judicial concepts and carry out specific measures to support the reform in the free trade zones.

"Courts at all levels must handle the cases within the FTZs in a fair and efficient way to offer equal protection to the lawful interests of both Chinese and foreign litigants," said He Jingtong, a professor of international trade at Nankai University in Tianjin.

He said easing market access to foreign investment would be beneficial.

"The administration and approvals should be simplified," he said. "Practical moves should also be introduced to support foreign investment in the service sector."