15 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA COVER STORY company’s personal information protection impact assessment mechanism. At GEDI, Chen reports that the Legal Department built an innovative compliance system and internalised compliance requirements in various business rules and processes. “As an expert group member, the Legal Department also participated in developing a smart compliance system in cooperation with the superior group and the Law and AI Lab of Peking University, sharing GEDI’s experience and practices.” “For risk management, the Legal Department focuses on digital empowerment and promoting the upgrading of management approaches. It has launched a ‘point-to-point information transmission’ module enabling each management agency to send timely and targeted reminders, ensuring risk control work is recorded and traceable,” Chen concludes. TEAM STRENGTH Success is invariably a product of teamwork. A common thread among all winning in-house teams is their relatively youthful composition. For instance, members of GEDI’s Legal Department average 35 years of age. This demographic is at a critical stage of career progression and well-suited to the rapid iteration characteristic of the new technology industry. As Chen notes, “My team is energetic, motivated, and possesses a strong capacity for learning. Team members can swiftly and accurately handle various legal issues, striving to deliver every legal service to high standards.” Chen elaborates, “Although our team comprises only ten members, 90% hold postgraduate degrees. Some joined us after private practice, others bring a wealth of experience from multiple roles, and a few have backgrounds in engineering management. This diverse knowledge mix, coupled with familiarity with the company’s business and solid professional expertise, enables our team to not only provide legal opinions but also offer practical solutions.” Li Auto Inc.’s Data Compliance and Legal Research team consists of 15 full-time employees, including two postdoctoral fellows and five PhD holders, all graduates from top universities globally. Addressing the management of such a talented team, Zhang explains that they employ a flat management structure with a direct and efficient work culture, adopting a mentoring approach to better understand and support team members’ challenges. “We place great emphasis on learning and growth, encouraging knowledge and experience sharing among members. We regularly hold internal seminars and reading sessions, and actively provide opportunities for external training and meetings. We also offer comprehensive training for new joiners, value members’ self-discovery and career growth, and provide diverse promotion paths for outstanding talents. These efforts underscore our commitment to nurturing top industry legal and compliance experts.” Xing shares that Du Xiaoman’s Legal and Compliance Department has long emphasised the importance of continuous learning. They organise regular book-sharing activities, engage in peer exchanges to learn from industry leaders about data compliance management and electronic seals management, and have established a resources network with various professional associations, arbitration institutions, courts, higher education institutions and professional media. These efforts have yielded tangible results. “In 2023, many team members obtained professional qualifications, including IP research centre certification, internationally recognised anti-money laundering certification, corporate compliance officer certification, fund/ securities practising qualifications, professional archives management qualification, electronic documents/archives management credentials, and data security officer certification,” Xing reports. Furthermore, each team empowers members who have attained relevant qualifications to become deeply involved in the company’s operations and decision-making, contributing to its development. Li Auto Inc.’s Data Compliance and Legal Research team strives to be proactive. “We get involved in rulemaking and conduct legal research at Xing explains, “Our team assists Du Xiaoman in tracking and studying developments on the frontier of AI technology ethics jointly with the CAICT and other peers. We actively participate in the research and formulation of relevant policy documents and detailed standards, guide AI companies in conducting AI ethics reviews, and promote the implementation of AI ethical principles.” The successful record-filing of the large financial model “Xuanyuan” as a generative AI model was also significantly supported by the Legal and Compliance Department. The team helped establish and improve various management systems and security protocols to ensure the lawful and compliant application of massive financial data to large models. Zhang similarly emphasises the important role played by large models in her team’s work at Li Auto Inc. “As the department in charge of legal compliance for Li Auto Inc.’s large models, the Data Compliance and Legal Research team coordinated various departments to achieve full compliance for R&D testing, market launch and operations. We also developed internal rules and a large model risk governance framework to ensure regulatory compliance.” The company’s “MindGPT” and “MindDiffusion Image Generation Model” have successfully passed record-filing, making them the first large model products among automobile companies to do so. Beyond AI technology application, compliance and risk management remain top priorities for in-house teams. Li Auto Inc.’s Data Compliance and Legal Research team partnered with various departments to develop data compliance rules and conduct multiple privacy compliance training sessions. In a security test for automobile data processing by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers, all ten vehicle models of Li Auto Inc. met the compliance requirements. Zhang adds that her team also successfully obtained dual certification of ISO27001 Information Security Management System and ISO27701 Privacy Information Management System, and worked to build and launch the
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