Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Legal Enterprise Exchange Conference
On September 16, 2025, the "Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Legal Enterprise Exchange Conference" was grandly held in Macau, along with the graduation ceremony for the sixth session of the National Security Education (Instructor Training) Certificate Course. This event was led by the International Public Legal Services Association (IPLSA), in collaboration with core legal organizations from the Greater Bay Area, including the Macao Bar Association, the Hong Kong Law Society, the Hong Kong Bar Association, and the Guangdong Provincial Lawyers Association. Over 300 representatives from the legal sectors and business leaders from the three regions attended the conference, focusing on "connecting law and business, addressing cross-border issues," injecting new momentum into the integration of legal services in the Greater Bay Area and enterprises going global.
High-profile assembly, anchoring the direction of foreign-related rule of law construction
The opening ceremony featured a lineup that highlighted the collaborative efforts of the three regions: Huang Liuchuan, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Qiu Yinghua JP, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong SAR; and Qiu Xianzhe, Deputy Director of the Legal Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR (representing the Secretary for Administration and Justice), among others. The Secretary for Justice of Hong Kong, Lin Dingguo, and the Secretary for Security of Macao, Huang Shaozhe, also delivered messages for the event, establishing a tone of "coordinated co-construction" for the activity.
He Junyao, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Chairman of IPLSA, pointed out in his speech that this exchange conference coincides with the 6th anniversary of the release of the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" and the 5th anniversary of the promulgation of the pilot measures for lawyers' practice in the Greater Bay Area. He emphasized that IPLSA, as a charitable organization established under Section 88 of Hong Kong’s Inland Revenue Ordinance, has always focused on "cultivating foreign-related legal talent and promoting public legal services." As of last week, over 618 lawyers from Hong Kong and Macao have obtained practice qualifications in the Greater Bay Area through the pilot measures, while the deployment of the 20th Central Committee's third plenary session of the Communist Party in 2024 to "strengthen the construction of foreign-related rule of law" has brought dual opportunities for legal practitioners in the Bay Area to serve national strategies and expand practice space.
Precise focus on practical pain points, multi-dimensional solutions for cross-border service difficulties
This exchange meeting was rich in content, discussing practical issues from the perspectives of legal practitioners and the substantive needs and concerns of enterprises expanding into international and overseas markets amid changing international circumstances. The conference closely aligned with the core needs of the legal and business sectors, setting up four parallel discussion panels to analyze and discuss practical topics, inviting nearly 30 experts, including Qiu Xianzhe, Deputy Director of the Administrative and Legal Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR, Qiu Yinghua, Director of the Hong Kong Bureau of Commerce and Economic Development, representatives from the Guangdong Provincial Lawyers Association, Macao Bar Association, Hong Kong Law Society, Hong Kong Bar Association, Legislative Council members, university professors, senior lawyers, and business representatives, to conduct targeted detailed thematic sharing covering topics such as risk management for enterprises going global, intellectual property protection, effectiveness of dispute resolution mechanisms, cross-border corporate fund repatriation, and AI applications.
Deepening cooperation for long-term planning, outlining a new blueprint for legal services in the Bay Area
Since the implementation of the pilot measures for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, 618 lawyers from the three regions have obtained practice qualifications, distributed across Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, and other mainland cities. During this event, the International Public Legal Services Association also released the latest research report on Greater Bay Area lawyers, covering existing obstacles in areas such as culture, market competition, taxation, policies, and professional training. For instance, the actual stay duration required for tax incentives is difficult to meet, and the legal professional training credits from the three regions cannot be mutually recognized. The association proposed a series of improvement methods, including establishing a one-stop legal service hub for the three regions, a whitelist of Greater Bay Area lawyers for financial institutions, assistance with notarization, relaxing tax incentive requirements (such as canceling residence day requirements and directly applying preferential tax rates for personal income tax as per practices in Nansha, Qianhai, and Hengqin), mutual recognition of training hours, and other training initiatives, which will be submitted to the Ministry of Justice, the Guangdong Provincial Justice Department, and other government agencies for consideration after the meeting.
During this event, the graduation ceremony for the sixth session of the National Security Education (Instructor Training) Certificate Course was also held, hosted by Qiu Xianzhe, Deputy Director of the Administrative and Legal Affairs Bureau of the Macao SAR, Qiu Yinghua, Director of the Hong Kong Bureau of Commerce and Economic Development, and Principal Zhu Weiming, a mentor in National Security Education (Instructor Training), with attendance from IPLSA Chairman He Junyao, lawyer He Junzhu, and others. This session had eight graduates, including Pan Yanbin, Zhang Weiming, Ma Jiahui, Lin Weiye, Zheng Zhiqian, Sun Ying, Li Peizhen, and Liu Jianyu, who received awards. A representative of the graduates expressed that they have seen an increasing number of students signing up for flag-raising ceremonies during their work, indicating that national security and patriotic education have taken root in people's hearts. The training course was rich in content, with a formidable lineup of mentors, and the participants benefited greatly, expressing their gratitude for the association's organization of the training.
Representatives from participating enterprises generally stated that the exchange conference built a "direct pipeline for connecting legal resources from the three regions," especially providing clear guidance for addressing practical issues such as cross-border practices and intellectual property protection for enterprises' overseas layouts. Legal representatives believed that the event further clarified the practice direction of "integrating into national strategies and serving enterprise needs," and in the future, they will actively participate in the capacity building of foreign-related legal services.
Additionally, this exchange conference received strong support from Galaxy Entertainment Group, enabling the event to be smoothly held at the Galaxy International Convention Center under its umbrella. As a prominent exhibition and entertainment landmark in Asia, the venue is equipped with world-class hardware and software facilities, providing professional support for various types of exhibition activities.
Contact Information
International Public Legal Services Association Secretariat
Phone: +852 2810 0863
Email: info@iplsa.net
Event Photos: Click to View
