In Brief

Image: Kai Stachowiak, Background Wallpaper (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The global legal services market has been predicted to grow to USD 1,311.63 billion by 2031, with the fastest-growing regions being South America, the Middle East, Africa, and Eastern Europe and it is estimated that their compound annual growth rates will range from 11.1% to 8.9%. What are the implications of these predictions for lawyers and rule-of-law developments in China?Read more

In Brief

Image: Yiting Liu, Happy Extended Family Isolated On White (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Jiangxi, an inner Chinese province neighboring three prosperous coastal provinces, i.e., Zhejiang, Fujian, and Guangdong, has defied China’s national population decline to gain population growth. What is Jiangxi’s recipe for success? Can useful lessons be derived from this success and adopted by other regions in China?Read more

In Brief

Last Sunday, Dr. Mei Gechlik delivered a keynote speech titled Zhejiang, Case Guidance, and China’s Global Economic Development at a conference held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The speech turned out to be timely as on the same day, a Chinese Communist Party leader visited Alibaba, the e-commerce giant headquartered in Zhejiang. The visit not only marked the first of this type since Alibaba faced serious regulatory investigations, but also occurred only two days after President Xi Jinping chaired the country’s economic working conference, at which China’s “platform enterprises” (e.g., Alibaba) were called upon to “show their talents in leading [the country’s] development, job creation, and international competition”.Read more

In Brief

Image: Kai Stachowiak, Block Chain (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The race to have a platform through which many countries can use their central bank digital currencies (“CBDCs”) to safely, efficiently, and inexpensively settle cross-border deals has drawn even more attention after China and three other jurisdictions recently announced their success in testing their blockchain-powered platform, mBridge. What are China’s expectations for mBridge? Will the success of mBridge drive other countries, including the United States, to seriously consider their own CBDC plans?Read more

In Brief

Image: elwynn (Shutterstock.com)

Since late 2021, China has been pushing the development of the Metaverse and expressing its keen interest in joining the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement, which was signed by Chile, New Zealand, and Singapore in June 2020. These efforts and their latest developments, together with President XI Jinping’s current visit to Central Asia, help show China’s strategic preparations for the future.Read more

In Brief

Image: chaythawin (Shutterstock.com)

Despite various economic challenges facing China, the country’s cross-border e-commerce stands out to show rapid growth. The seeds of this growth were, however, not planted erratically as a response to economic woes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how this type of commerce has gained governmental support and what latest measures have been taken to resolve related disputes helps businesses seeking to sell globally seize potentially lucrative opportunities.Read more

Interview: Tom Tong

Image: Kai Stachowiak, Background (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Tom Tong, an international partner of Locke Lord LLP, recently founded Lawmato, an app that enables lawyers to provide online consultation to consumers, including individuals and small businesses, anywhere in the world via the robust audio/video communication capacities of the app.  Apart from explaining how Lawmato has the potential to change the legal services industry, Mr. Tong draws on his more than 20 years of experience acting as liaison between U.S. and Chinese firms to share his insights about different challenges in doing deals in China and in the United States.Read more