With the opening of a British-based law office -- Salans -- in Shanghai days ago, the total number of law offices from foreign countries and Hong Kong registered in Shanghai exceeds 80.

Gui Xiaomin, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Judicial Bureau, said that with the opening of Shanghai's legal service business in recent years, more and more overseas law offices showed great interest in Shanghai.

Merely in the second half of this year, noted Gui, the Ministry of Justice has approved nine law offices from foreign countries and Hong Kong including Salans to open in Shanghai.

Gui acknowledged that the opening of the legal service market in China may help improve the country's economic development and service level of lawyers.

To meet the international level of legal service, the Shanghai municipal government has decided to further open its legal servicesectors to investors from overseas and take steps to increase exchanges and cooperation between Chinese and overseas lawyers.

Edward J. Epstein, the representative from the Salans Shanghai office, said Shanghai is being turned into a world center of economy, finance, trade and shipping, and facing frequent international exchanges in trade, culture and personnel.

The World Expo to be held in Shanghai in 2010 and the plan of building Shanghai into a hub for the Asia-Pacific region also brings great business opportunities and development spaces for thelegal service industry, said Epstein.

As a world-renown law office, Salans has set up branches in many world major cities such as Paris, London, New York City and Warsaw, with nearly 500 lawyers from more than 20 countries.

Source: Xinhua