5 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA BIG STORY Yip also agrees that the series of agreements will further enhance Shanghai-Hong Kong interactions and bring new opportunities for legal services. “The integration on cross-border financing and investment would bring about more active business transactions between the two places, with capital flows and exchanges, which would definitely stimulate the need for crossborder legal services to put forward and protect such ventures.” “The collaboration on innovation and technology would bring about technology advancement which requires intellectual property rights protection in both places, which again inevitably requires legal services from both PRC qualified and HK qualified lawyers. The further improvement on cross-border trade facilitation, supply chain connectivity and customs cooperation would again stimulate the need and support required from lawyers to facilitate the happening of such and the protection of the same via legal documentation,” says Yip. Dispute resolution, particularly arbitration cooperation, will be another highlight. She tells ALB that in May, the Shanghai International Arbitration (Hong Kong) Center was officially established, becoming the first arbitration centre set up by SHIAC outside mainland China, further promoting exchanges in arbitration between the two regions. new energy. For example, many of our key clients have set up international headquarters and R&D centers in Hong Kong. How can our Hong Kong team better serve these clients? It depends on whether the scope and capabilities of our Hong Kong team’s services can meet their needs.” New Business Opportunities With the agreements set to promote exchanges between Shanghai and Hong Kong in various fields, they are expected to bring more legal business opportunities as well. She points out that among the various areas of cooperation, three sectors are particularly worth the attention. “The first is the field of innovation and technology. Since 2022, Hong Kong has established and published a series of blueprints for innovation and technology development, leading to the establishment of science parks such as Hong Kong Science Park in Pak Shek Kok, the Kowloon Tong InnoCentre, the Taikoo Innovation Park, and the Yuen Long InnoPark.” “We have started encountering more and more cooperation projects with Hong Kong’s tech companies in our business, such as providing consulting services to local chip companies, assisting mainland companies in investing in Hong Kong’s high-tech firms, and helping Hong Kong’s innovative enterprises set up branches in the mainland... It is evident that Hong Kong is transitioning from a ‘transit station’ to establishing substantial local tech businesses,” says She. The second area is the digital economy, particularly opportunities for cooperation in cross-border data flow. “Relevant regulations issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Hong Kong government have laid the foundation for data cooperation between the two regions. This is beneficial for law firms—allowing us to better plan crossborder data solutions for multinational clients using these policies,” explains She. The third key area is the ShanghaiHong Kong financial market cooperation. With the signing of the new agreements, “we expect further development of the ‘Swap Connect,’ and the long-standing issues in mutual fund recognition will also see improvement.” Yip also shares an example from OLN, where the firm successfully recovered a sizeable claim amount for a PRC client by taking appropriate enforcement steps at the Hong Kong High Court against a PRC party with a business presence in Hong Kong. “The matter arose from a contractual dispute which occurred onshore PRC and our client obtained an Arbitration Award from the Shanghai International Arbitration Centre, which is just one of the many similar examples which proves the connectivity between two places that helps to promote justice to the claimants. Having cross-border business risks being more well protected with actual enforcement results would again trigger more incentive on the business parties to be part of such,” says Yip. 4月底举办的沪港合作会议第六次 会议上，上海市市长龚正、香港特区特首 李家超共同见证沪港相关部门签署20 份全新的合作协议。 协议共涉及15个范畴的合作方向， 包括共建“一带一路”和商贸投资、创新 及科技、数字经济、金融、文化及创意产 业、教育及人才培养、法律服务、城市规 划管理、医疗卫生等领域，意图从各个角 度推动沪港间深入合作。
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