Laws of the People's Republic of China

No.100

The Decision of the Ministry of Justice on Amending the Measures for the Administration on Associations Formed by Law Firms of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms (hereinafter referred to as the Decision), which was deliberated and adopted at the executive meeting of the Ministry of Justice on December 23, 2005, is hereby promulgated and shall come into force as of January 1, 2006. The Measures for the Administration on Associations Formed by Law Firms of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms (Order No.83 of the Ministry of Justice) shall, after being amended according to the Decision, be promulgated once again. Wu Aiying, the Minister of the Ministry of Justice

December 28, 2005

Decision of the Ministry of Justice on Amending the Measures for the Administration on Associations Formed by Law Firms of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms (2005)

For the purpose of promoting the establishment of closer economic partnership between Hong Kong, Macao and the Mainland, we decide to make the following amendment on the Measures for the Administration on Associations Formed by Law Firms of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms (Order No.83 of the Ministry of Justice) in accordance with the Supplementary Agreement II of the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Agreement and the Supplementary Agreement II of the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Agreement:

I.

Article 2 shall be amended as: the term "association" as mentioned in the present Measures means that a law firm of Hong Kong or Macao that has established a representative office in the Mainland cooperates with a Mainland law firm within the province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government where the representative office is located, by means of which both parties may, in light of the contractual rights and obligations, jointly operate in the Mainland, and provide respectively Hong Kong, Macao, or Mainland legal services to the clients.

II.

The Decision shall go into effect as of January 1, 2006. The Measures for the Administration on Association Formed by Law Firms of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or Macao Special Administrative Region and Mainland Law Firms (Order No.83 of the Ministry of Justice) shall be amended correspondingly according to the Decision, and promulgated once again.