Shanghai to improve its financial law capabilities

The Shanghai Financial Court will strive to build a more professional, convenient and credible financial justice system to better serve financial cases in the Lin-gang Special Area, according to the new measures released by the court on Thursday.

The 15 measures cover areas such as the clarification of judicial principles, enhancement of trial mechanisms and the strengthening of scientific and technological support.

"In light of the opening-up and development of the Lin-gang Special Area, it is the judiciary's responsibility to think about how the city can guarantee a sound and stable business and judicial environment for domestic and foreign investors," said Zhao Hong, president of the court.

"A major challenge is to establish a well-rounded foreign-related financial justice mechanism for possible cross-border transaction disputes in the future, including international financial management and cross-border financial arbitration," she said.

The measures, Zhao added, would help strengthen equal protection of legitimate rights and interests of both Chinese and foreign parties in international financial transactions in accordance with the law.

According to the measures, the court is exploring a way to invite individuals from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions as well as Taiwan to be jurors in trials for financial cases.

The measures also state that the court will build a one-stop platform to resolve foreign-related financial disputes and improve the efficiency of litigation, arbitration and mediation, as well as set up a special mechanism where both domestic and international experts will be involved in the mediation process.

In addition, a team of experts who are adept in international financial laws and have rich experience in solving foreign-related financial cases will also be established.

"We will construct a more open financial justice system to meet the demands generated by the investment and trade liberalization in the Lin-gang Special Area, and provide solid judicial support for international economic cooperation," said Zhao.