Senior Minister of State for Law Edwin Tong to Visit China to Strengthen Legal Cooperation

21 JAN 2019

21 Jan 2019 Posted in Press releases

  1. Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Health and Law Edwin Tong will visit the People’s Republic of China from 21 to 25 January 2019. This will be his first overseas visit as SMS for Law. SMS Edwin Tong will visit Shanghai from 21 to 22 January and Beijing from 23 to 25 January.

  2. The visit seeks to strengthen Singapore-China legal cooperation and to bring together legal services providers and businesses in both countries to seize new opportunities in Asia, including in relation to the “Belt and Road” Initiative. Legal and judicial cooperation has been identified as the fourth platform of collaboration under the “Belt and Road” Framework.

  3. In Beijing, SMS Tong will meet Ms Gao Yan, Chairperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) to discuss deepening collaboration between Singapore and Chinese dispute resolution institutions to serve the needs of businesses. The CCPIT oversees the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), China’s national arbitral institution, and the CCPIT Mediation Centre. In September 2017, the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the CCPIT Mediation Centre. In October 2018, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) signed a MOU with CIETAC.

  4. SMS Tong and Ms Gao Yan will attend and speak at the “China-Singapore International Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference”, the first high-level legal conference jointly organised by Singapore and China.

  5. SMS Tong will also visit the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BJAC) in Beijing and the Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SHIAC) and the Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC) in Shanghai to gain a deeper understanding of the expertise and networks of Chinese institutions and explore how they and Singapore institutions can complement one another.

  6. SMS Tong will be accompanied by Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Law, Han Kok Juan, and other MinLaw officials. A delegation of 32 lawyers led by President of the Law Society of Singapore, Mr Gregory Vijayendran, will attend the conference. They will also meet the All China Lawyers Association and visit the major Chinese law firms.

Last updated on 21 Jan 2019