REGULATIONS ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF FOREIGN LAW FIRMS' REPRESENTATIVE
OFFICES IN CHINA EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY 1 2002

The Regulations on the Administration of Foreign Law Firms' Representative offices in China were approved by the State Council on December 19, 2001 and became effective as of January 1,2002.

According to the Regulations, foreign law firms wishing to set up representative offices in or sending representatives to China shall get approval in advance from the judicial administrative body of the State Council. Besides, foreign law firms, or other institutions or individuals shall not engage in providing legal services under the disguise of consulting companies or else.

Article 7 of the Regulations provides that to set up representative offices in or send representatives to China, foreign law firms shall meet the following requirements: a. the law firms shall have legally practiced in their home countries, and have not be punished due to violation of ethics and disciplines governing the legal profession; b. the representatives of the representative offices shall be licensed lawyers who are in the meantime members of the bars where he/she qualified as lawyers, and that he/she shall have at least practiced for two years outside China, and has not be punished due to criminal offense or violation of ethics or disciplines of the legal profession; notwithstanding the above, chief representatives of the offices shall have practiced outside China for at least three years, and shall be partners of the firms or holding similar positions.

In Accordance with Article 15 of the Regulations, the representative offices and their representatives shall only engage in activities other than those of Chinese legal matters:

1. providing consulting services to clients concerning legal matters where the lawyers of the foreign law firms have been permitted to practice; or concerning international treaties or international customs;
2. handling legal matters in the counties where the lawyers of the law firms have been permitted to practice, entrusted by clients and Chinese law firms;
3. representing foreign clients to entrust Chinese law firms with Chinese legal matters;
4. maintaining long term cooperative relations through legal matters by means of signing contracts with Chinese law firms;
5. providing information on China's legal environment.

The Regulations also stipulate that foreign law firms' representative offices or their representatives shall be liable for the legal services they provide. In the meantime, all activities the offices or their representatives engaged in shall abide by the laws, regulations and other rules of China, as well as ethics and disciplines governing Chinese lawyers, without being detrimental to China's national security and social interests.