Speech on the International Conference on Legal Convergence in Asia
Mr. ZHANG Yongjian
Chief Judge of the Fourth Civil Division, Supreme People’s Court of P.R.China
Ladies and gentleman, dear friends:
Good afternoon!
It’s a pleasure to be here with you, on behalf of the Chief Justice ZHOU Qiang and as a representative of China’s judges, to discuss legal convergence in Asia. I would like to thank Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon for his initiative. It’s of great significance for us to discuss legal convergence in Asia together. I would also like to avail myself of this opportunity to share with you Chinese courts' efforts and my own opinions in this regard.
I. China’s open economy expects law harmonization in Asia and the world at large.
China, as the largest economy in Asia, always attaches great importance to mutually beneficial cooperation with other Asian countries and regions. From January through October of 2015, China’s trade volume with Asian partners reached 1.688088 trillion US dollars, 30.42% of China’s total foreign trade volume. Of the 10 biggest trading partners of China, Asia has six. China has been working actively to liberalize and facilitate trade and investment, and has signed 14 free trade agreements, of which 7 are with Asian countries and regions. In December 2012, China’s State Council issued Several Opinions on Accelerating the Implementation of the Free Trade Zone Strategy, which marked China’s efforts to establish a high-standard network of free trade areas based in Asia and towards the world.
The implementation of “Belt and Road Initiative” will surely make us closer, increase mutual benefits and enhance the harmony of coexistence of Asian countries and regions. The core of this initiative is connectivity, in my understanding, not only in infrastructure and capital, but also in policies and laws. In Boao Forum for Asia 2015, China’s president XI Jinping delivered a keynote speech titled March to a Community of Common Destiny and Embrace the New Future for Asia. In this speech, he proposed the planning of connectivity between East Asia and the Asia at large, which would promote the integration of infrastructure, policy, and people-to-people exchange. It’s the shared understanding between China and other Asian countries and regions to enhance integration on policy and rules.
Convergence of commercial laws in Asia, we discuss here, will help to reduce the costs of cross-border trade and investment, minimize risks and uncertainties, and also promote the profound integration of economies, improve our legal systems, and enhance overall strength and influence of Asia. China’s Supreme People’s Court attaches great importance to this course. The Chief Justice ZHOU Qiang gave specific instructions on this task. In June 2014, the Supreme People’s Court issued Opinions on Providing Judicial Services and Safeguards for the Implementation of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, which proposes to ease the legal concern of parties on international commerce in countries along the “Belt and Road”. This document also calls for the establishment of a secure, transparent, fair, and just international legal environment with countries along the “Belt and Road”. Based on the role of People’s Courts in China, I have the confidence that we could play an important role in promoting the convergence of commercial laws in Asia.
