State Economic and Trade Commission, Organization Department, Enterprise Work Committee and Financial Work Committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Justice and State Council Legal Office, Pilot Work of Developing a General Legal Consulting System for Key State Enterprises Guiding Opinion

Issued: July 18 2002
Effective: Implementation of the pilot work will begin in October 2002.

Main contents: This opinion commits State enterprises and governmental departments to working together to establish a legal consulting system to provide internal legal services for key state enterprises on an experimental basis. This legal consulting system is one part of enterprise reform meant to improve the competitive advantage of State enterprises in order to cope with the coming challenges after China's accession to the World Trade Organization. The enterprise legal consultant shall report directly to the enterprise legal representative or the major operator (Section One).
The opinion lays out the requirements for the personnel to be involved in this legal consulting system and their major responsibilities (Sections Four and Five). These responsibilities include: issuing legal opinions; guaranteeing the legality of the activities of an enterprise; managing of contracts; commercial negotiations; intellectual property issues; industrial and commercial management; bidding; restructuring and reorganization; litigation; arbitration; setting up legal consulting organs within enterprises; enterprise legal education and training; and correcting legal violations (Section Five).