Legal moves help enhance China-Latin America ties

The China-CELAC Summit would include a regular forum on legal matters, Xinhua reported.

The standing forum is affirmed in the China and Latin American and Caribbean countries cooperation plan（2015—2019).

Zhang Wanhong, law professor with Wuhan University, said that the legal disputes between China and LAC countries are mainly in the area of anti-dumping and foreign direct investment, and labor. Countries that have the most disputes with China include Argentina, Mexico, Brazil and Peru.

"The policies and regulations in Latin America change quickly, which adds legal uncertainty in Chinese companies' LAC operations," he said.

According to the China Law Society, the organization has been active in a building a global network under "legal diplomacy" in 2010. So far the organization has established eight cross-region legal forums including China-ASEAN, China-Asia Europe, China-Latin America, China-Africa, China-Europe, East Asia-Latin America, BRICS countries, Northeast Asia.

The organization also signed bilateral cooperation memos with 133 legal studies organizations in 88 countries and regions.

The society hosted the first BRICS countries legal forum in Brazil in 2014 and the countries signed a "Brasilia Declaration" to improve regional legal cooperation.

The organization also encouraged legal professional and scholars to go out and actively recommend established Chinese jurists to serve in leadership positions in international law organizations.

According to the report, China Law Society has built over 30 cooperation organizations in the past year and has been exploring building a "China-Africa Arbitration Center", and "BRICS countries arbitration mechanism".

The report said that the improvement of the legal system would pave the road of Chinese companies' going out and would help Chinese diplomacy and sovereignty.

yangyao@chinadaily.com.cn