In accordance with the official reply of the State Council to a new round of measures for promoting the expansion of the service industry in Beijing Municipality, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice has adjusted certain provisions on the applications for recordation of foreign lawyers employed by domestic law firms to serve as foreign legal consultants in the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Pilot Program of Employing Foreign Lawyers to Serve as Foreign Legal Consultants in Domestic Law Firms, which have obtained the official reply given by the Lawyers' Work Bureau of the Ministry of Justice, and are hereby issued for implementation.

Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Pilot Program of Employing Foreign Lawyers to Serve as Foreign Legal Consultants in Domestic Law Firms

Article 1 For the purpose of implementing the Opinions on Deepening the Reform of the Lawyers System issued by the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council and the Opinions on Developing the Foreign-Related Legal Service Industry issued by the Ministry of Justice , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce and the Legislative Affairs Office of the State Council, the pilot program of employing foreign lawyers to serve as foreign legal consultants in law firms will be implemented in Beijing municipality, and these Detailed Rules are hereby developed in accordance with the Notice of the Ministry of Justice on Implementing the Pilot Program of Retaining Foreign Lawyers to Serve as Foreign Legal Consultants in Domestic Law Firms as issued by the Ministry of Justice.

Article 2 A Beijing law firm participating in the pilot program shall meet the following conditions:

(1) It is a partnership law firm (excluding branches) that has been formed for three years or more.

(2) It has 50 or more full-time practicing lawyers.

(3) It has relatively strong foreign-related legal service capability and internal management rules.

(4) It has no record of any administrative penalty or industry disciplinary action given by the judicial administrative organ within the last three years.

No law firm shall allow and accept any form of investment and funding from foreign natural persons or foreign organizations.

Article 3 A foreign lawyer participating in the pilot program shall meet the following conditions:

(1) He or she is a natural person without the nationality of the People's Republic of China.

(2) He or she has practiced as a lawyer outside China for not less than two years, and is practicing as a lawyer.

(3) He or she has relatively strong capability to handle local and international legal affairs.

(4) He or she has no record of any criminal punishment and no record of any punishment for violation of the professional ethics or practicing discipline of lawyers.

(5) He or she meets the corresponding permit conditions for foreigners to work in China.

Article 4 The scope of a foreign legal consultant's permissible activities shall include:

(1) Providing the domestic law firm employing him or her with the consulting services on the legal information, legal environment and other aspects of the country where he or she is approved to practice as a lawyer, and the consulting of relevant international treaties and international conventions

(2) Providing clients with consulting and agency services involving the application of foreign laws (excluding litigation agency) in the identity of a foreign legal consultant.

(3) Cooperating with domestic lawyers in the law firm to provide cross-border or international legal services in the form of division of work and cooperation.

Article 5 A foreign legal consultant shall not have the following acts:

(1) Providing or proclaiming the eligibility for the provision of Chinese legal services during the period of employment.

(2) Becoming the partner of a Chinese law firm in name or in nature, or participating in the internal management of a Chinese law firm.

(3) Serving as the chief representative or representative of the representative office of a foreign law firm in China

(4) Being employed and practicing as a foreign legal consultant in two or more domestic law firms during the same period.

Article 6 A law firm that intends to employ a foreign legal consultant shall sign an employment contract with him or her, and purchase a practice liability insurance not less than the insurance amount of a full-time practicing lawyer for the foreign legal consultant to be employed. The law firm and the foreign legal consultant shall assume the corresponding liability for compensation according to the actual circumstances.

Article 7 The legal documents issued by a foreign legal consultant shall be signed and dated by him or her, with the official seal of the law firm affixed thereto.

Article 8 A foreign lawyer employed as a foreign legal consultant shall stay in China for at least six months each year. Where he or she has stayed less than six months, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice will withdraw and cancel their identity as foreign legal consultants.

Article 9 The number of foreign legal consultants employed by a law firm shall not exceed five percent of the total number of full-time lawyers in the law firm (excluding branches).

Article 10 A law firm that intends to employ a foreign legal consultant shall submit the following materials:

(1) An application for recordation of the foreign legal consultant to be employed by the law firm.

(2) The basic information form of the foreign legal consultant to be employed.

(3) A photocopy of the passport of the foreign lawyer to be employed.

(4) A commitment that the law firm has no foreign investment.

(5) The original and a photocopy of the duplicate of the law firm's practicing license.

(6) Reports on foreign-related business in the past three years, including the basic information on foreign-related legal talents, income from foreign-related business, business-related countries, and specific matters.

(7) An employment agreement entered into by and between the law firm and the foreign lawyer. The employment agreement shall meet the requirements of the Provisions on the Employment Administration of Aliens in China . The content of the employment agreement shall mainly cover the employment period, the agreement on salaries, the practice scope and methods, rights and obligations, and the ways for the assumption of faults of a foreign legal consultant, among others.

(8) Certification documents on the foreign lawyer's practice outside China for not less than two years.

(9) Certification documents proving that the foreign lawyer has no record of any criminal punishment and no record of any punishment due to the violation of professional ethics and practicing discipline of lawyers. If the foreign lawyer once served as the chief representative or representative of the representative office of a foreign law firm in China, the department (bureau) of justice of the province (autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government) at the place where the representative office is located also needs to issue the certification documents on no record of punishment about the foreign lawyer.

The documents and materials listed in the aforesaid subparagraphs (8) and (9) shall be subject to the notarization of the notarization institution or public notary of the foreign lawyer's home country, the certification of the authority of foreign affairs of the country or the body authorized by the authority of foreign affairs, and the certification of Chinese embassy (consulate) in that country, with the Chinese translations thereof provided.

Article 11 A law firm that has prepared the materials shall file an online application in the lawyer management system of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice, enter the relevant information as required, and submit the written materials to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice for examination. Where the law firm meets the conditions of the pilot program, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice shall handle recordation formalities within six months after accepting the application, issue a notice of recordation and make registration on the duplicate of the law firm's practice license; where it fails to meet the prescribed conditions, it shall not grant recordation and shall notify in writing the law firm of the reasons.

Article 12 A foreign legal consultant who has undergone the recordation formalities according to the law shall be publicized on the lawyer management system of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice. The law firm employing the foreign legal consultant shall also publicize his or her name on its own website.

Article 13 The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice shall be responsible for conducting an annual assessment of the foreign legal consultants who have undergone the recordation formalities. The specific assessment measures will be developed separately.

Article 14 A law firm that applies for cancellation of a foreign legal consultant shall file an online application in the lawyer management system of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice and submit a cancellation application. The Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice shall, within 30 days after accepting the application materials, examine the application, cancel the recordation registration and publicize the information thereon.

Article 15 For a law firm that fails to participate in the annual assessment as required or has no conditions to employ any foreign legal consultant or for a foreign lawyer who fails to meet the conditions for employment, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Justice shall disqualify the law firm from participating in the pilot program, or cancel the identity of the foreign legal consultant who has undergone recordation formalities, and publicize the information thereon.

Article 16 Law firms and their employed foreign lawyers shall abide by the provisions of the Lawyers Law of the People's Republic of China , the Measures for the Administration of Law Firms , and other laws, regulations and regulatory documents. The employment of foreign legal consultants by law firms shall be supervised and administered by judicial administrative organs. Judicial administrative organs shall include the employment of foreign legal consultants by law firms in the scope of the circuit inspection work.

Article 17 These Detailed Rules shall come into force on February 1, 2018.