Hong Kong works on legal possibilities for local enterprises operating in Greater Bay Area

The Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government is working on a possible initiative to be applicable to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, aiming to allow "Hong Kong-owned enterprises to adopt Hong Kong laws and arbitration to be seated in Hong Kong," according to Secretary for Justice of the HKSAR government Teresa Cheng on Monday.

Cheng wrote in a blog article that the initiative, if successfully implemented, will be good news to Hong Kong's legal and business sectors, and will help boost investment in the Greater Bay Area.

"We hope that wholly owned Hong Kong enterprises in the Greater Bay Area, in the absence of any foreign-related elements, may choose the law of Hong Kong as the applicable law when entering into civil and commercial contracts, and decide to choose Hong Kong as the seat of arbitration when disputes arise. Therefore, the agreement on choosing Hong Kong laws or using Hong Kong as the seat of arbitration will not be considered invalid due to the absence of any foreign-related elements," she said.

Cheng added she believes that the 2020-2025 plan on implementing pilot reforms in Shenzhen to build the city into a demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics calls for a higher level of cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, such as in legal and dispute resolution services.

Hong Kong must seize the opportunity and capitalize on its strengths in order to achieve a win-win situation with Shenzhen, according to her.

"I am delighted to learn that the guidelines of the pilot program for Hong Kong and Macao legal practitioners to obtain mainland practice qualifications and to practice law in the nine Pearl River Delta municipalities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area allow solicitors and barristers with five years of post-qualification experience to apply for the examination," she added.

The newly introduced and related measures could help expand the outreach of Hong Kong's professional legal services and strengthen the legal support for Hong Kong businesses operating in the Greater Bay Area, contributing to attracting investment, according to her.

This scenario will enable a win-win situation, reflecting the mutually beneficial relationship, she said.