司法部关于执行《外国律师事务所驻华代表机构管理条例》的规定 Implementing the 《Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign

司法部令第73号

（Issued by the Ministry of Justice on 4 July 2002 and effective as of 1 September 2002.）

颁布日期：20020704 　实施日期：20020901 　颁布单位：司法部

　　PART ONE　GENERAL PROVISIONS

　　Article 1　These Provisions are formulated to implement the Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms in China Regulations （the Regulations） and to carry out the administration responsibility of the judicial administrative department on foreign legal services conducted in China.

　　Article 2　For the purposes of these Provisions， “foreign law firms” shall refer to independent legal practising entities duly established outside China， composed of foreign practising lawyers， engaged in legal services other than Chinese legal affairs， with civil liability borne by some of its members. However， the following are excluded：

　　（1） legal service departments of foreign governments， commercial organizations and other entities； and

　　（2） practising associations composed of two or more foreign practising lawyers or law firms that do not share profits and risks.

　　Article 3　For the purposes of these Regulations， “foreign practising lawyers” shall refer to the persons that have been qualified for legal practice outside China and have obtained statutory practising licences in the country where they obtained their practice qualifications.

　　PART TWO　ESTABLISHMENT AND REGISTRATION OF REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES

　　Article 4　“An actual need for setting up a representative office to provide legal services in China”， as provided in Item （3） of Article 7 of the Regulations shall be determined according to：

　　（1） the social and economic circumstances of the place where the representative office is proposed to be established；

　　（2） the need for legal services in the place where the proposed representative office is to be established；

　　（3） the scale， time of establishment， major business areas and specialist strengths， analysis on the prospect and future business development plan of the proposed representative offices； and

　　（4） the restrictions by the laws and regulations of China on specific legal services or affairs.

　　Article 5　The “application letter signed by the person in charge of the foreign law firm to set up the representative office and to dispatch representatives” as provided in Item （1） of Article 8 of the Regulations shall include：

　　（1） the name of the representative office in Chinese and foreign language and the city where the representative office is proposed to be set up；

　　（2） the particulars of the applicant， including time of commencement of business， number of lawyers and partners， practising areas， major achievements， circumstances of its branch（es） or representative office（s） in any other country（ies） or region（s）， its business related to China， address and contacts of its headquarters；

　　（3） the organizational form and type of legal liability borne by the applicant；

　　（4） the amount and coverage of practising risk insurance policies purchased by the applicant；

　　（5） a business prospects feasibility study and development plan of the proposed representative office and the major business scope of the proposed representative office；

　　（6） an undertaking to assume full civil liability as a result of the legal services to be provided by the proposed representative office or any proposed representative in China；

　　（7） an undertaking to truthfulness， completeness and accuracy of the information and materials that it has provided and the consistency between the original versions and the Chinese translations；

　　（8） an undertaking to comply with the relevant laws， regulations and rules of China upon obtaining the approval； and

　　（9） an undertaking to maintain compliant insurance policies covering the practising risks of

the representative office and its representatives upon obtaining the approval.

　　Article 6　Where an applicant has real difficulty in providing the “partnership agreement or Articles of Association of the foreign law firm”， as provided in Item （3） of Paragraph One of Article 8 of the Regulations， it may provide a document signed by its principal person（s） in charge containing such details as the time of execution， promoters， form of organization and type of legal liability as provided in its partnership agreement， shareholders' agreement or articles of association as an alternative.

　　Article 7　The materials to be submitted as required by Paragraph Three of Article 8 of the Regulations shall be submitted together with the Chinese translations in triplicate of originals and duplicates.

　　Article 8　The Chinese name of a foreign law firm that proposes to establish a representative office in China shall neither contain any words prohibited or limited by the laws， regulations or rules of China， nor contain any words misleading to the public.

　　Article 9　To establish a representative office in China， a foreign law firm shall nominate a proposed chief representative and other proposed representatives.

　　Article 10　To apply to establish an additional representative office in China， the following requirements shall be satisfied：

　　（1） its representative office most recently established in China has commenced its business for at least three consecutive years； and

　　（2） its representative office（s） previously established and the representatives thereof comply with the relevant laws， regulations and rules of China and the professional ethics and practising disciplines， and no legal liability under the Regulations has been pursued.

　　For the purposes of the paragraph above， the consecutive practising time shall commence as of the date of beginning of the procedures with the office （bureau） of justice of the province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government where the proposed representative office is located.

　　Article 11　In addition to the materials required by Article 8 of the Regulations， the following materials shall be submitted when applying for the establishment of an additional representative office：

　　（1） particulars of the representative office（s） already established；

　　（2） photocopies of the duplicates of Practising Licence（s） for Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms in China of representative offices already established；

　　（3） the certificates issued by the office （bureau） of justice of the province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government where the proposed representative office is located， which are in conformity with Items （1） and （2） of Paragraph One of Article 10 of these Provisions.

　　The materials shall be submitted together with the Chinese translations in triplicate of originals and duplicates.

　　Article 12　After receipt of the application materials for establishment of a representative office， the relevant office （bureau） of justice of the province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government shall handle the application as below：

　　（1） if all the application materials required are submitted， the application shall be handled in accordance with Article 9 of the Regulations； or

　　（2） if any of the application materials required is not submitted， the office （bureau） of justice shall， within 15 days from its receipt of the application materials， notify the applicant to submit the other materials required. If the applicant submits the other materials required within three months from its initial submission， the application shall be handled in accordance with the item above. If the applicant fails to submit the materials required within three months from its initial submission， the application shall be

rejected and a written notification shall be sent to the applicant within 15 days.

　　Article 13　The Ministry of Justice shall， within six months from its receipt of the application materials and examination opinions from an office （bureau） of justice of a province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government， decide whether to approve the application or not. Where an application is approved， the Ministry of Justice shall issue， together with the duplicate， the practising licence to the approved representative office and notify the relevant office （bureau） of justice of the province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government to issue a practising certificate to the representative（s） of the proposed office； where an application is rejected， the reasons shall be specified in writing to the applicant.

　　Article 14　An applicant shall， within 30 days from issue of the practising licence， complete such procedures as registration and issue of representative work visas at the departments of technical supervision， security， labour， banking and taxation of the place where the representative office is to be located and at Chinese embassies and consulates in foreign countries on the strength of the duplicate.

　　Article 15　An applicant shall， within 30 days from completion of the formalities as provided in Article 14 hereof， go through the formalities of registration for commencement of business and pay the registration fee with the office （bureau） of justice of the province， autonomous region or municipality directly under the central government where the proposed office is to be located.

　　To go through the formalities for registration for commencement of business， photocopies of the following materials shall be submitted：

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