The eighth seminar of the East Asian Association of Insolvency and Restructuring, a regional meeting for judicial professionals, was held in Shanghai from Sept 24 to 25.

The seminar took place at the Shanghai Rainbow Hotel in the city's downtown area, attracting over 270 scholars and judges from China, Japan and South Korea.

Du Wanhua, a member of the judicial committee with China's top court, made a keynote speech on the importance of the workshop in promoting both sound theory and practice in bankrupt laws.

"As the highest judicial institution, the Supreme People's Court of China has paid a lot of attention to judicial practices in the bankruptcy of troubled enterprises," said Du. "We highly value relevant laws in optimizing allocation of resources, improving industries and protecting the legitimate interest of involved parties."

The SPC has achieved a series of significant results by promoting bankruptcy judges this year, added Du.

According to Du, the SPC will further improve the market-oriented exit mechanism for market players, safeguarding the advancement of supply-side structural reform.

Scholars and professionals in the field should help to explore the best solutions for troubled enterprises, noted Du, "and also provide a better market environment for foreign enterprises operating in China."

Co-hosted by the China Banking Law Society and the KoGuan Law School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, the seminar this year covered four themes -- rapid resolution court mechanisms, the role of insolvency practitioners, restructuring outside of the court system, and personal bankruptcy and liability of business owners and executives.