Laying down the law on HK, Macau joint ventures

Law firms in Hong Kong and Macau will be able to operate joint companies in Shanghai from December 1, the city’s justice bureau has announced.

Shanghai will become the second place in China to implement the pilot program, which has been on trial in some parts of Guangdong Province since 2014. It will expand to the whole province from December 1.

The move is part of Shanghai’s recently released 100 measures to further open up its economy and legal service industry.

According to the justice bureau, each participating law firm in the joint venture should contribute at least 5 million yuan (US$722,512), while the contribution of the Hong Kong or Macau firm should be between 30 percent and 49 percent of the total.

Each of the law firms should allocate at least 10 lawyers to the joint venture while the head should come from the mainland law firm.

The mainland lawyers will deal with mainland affairs while the Hong Kong and Macau lawyers will handle affairs relating to the two special administrative regions. They will cooperate in international affairs.

The city justice bureau will supervise the joint ventures and review their qualification annually.