Hong Kong Secretary for Justice: Plans to set up a task force to accelerate the docking of rules and mechanisms in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

China News Service, Hong Kong, October 18th. The 2026 CIETAC Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Dispute Resolution Summit Forum, hosted by the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (referred to as "CIETAC") and hosted by the CIETAC Hong Kong Arbitration Center, opened in Hong Kong on the 18th. In his opening speech, Secretary for Justice Lam Ting-kwok of the Hong Kong SAR government expressed the hope that a task force could be established by the end of this year or early next year to study and accelerate the docking of rules and mechanisms in the Greater Bay Area.

Lin Dingguo introduced that the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong SAR Government released the "Action Plan for the Construction of the Rule of Law in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" in 2024, which takes "three connections, two connections, and one Bay Area" as the basic policy and realizes the interoperability of hardware and software for the construction of rule of law in the Greater Bay Area through the connection of mechanisms, rules and talents.

In terms of mechanism docking, Lam Dingguo pointed out that the Department of Justice continues to deepen civil and commercial judicial assistance with the mainland. The newly revised cross-border judicial document service arrangement will be implemented in March next year, further improving the efficiency of cross-border civil and commercial case trials; and the continuous improvement of judicial assistance mechanisms between the two places, especially arbitration preservation arrangements, will also help consolidate Hong Kong’s unique advantages in cross-border dispute resolution.

In terms of the connection of rules, Lin Dingguo said that the scope of application of the "Hong Kong Investment and Hong Kong Law" measures has been extended to Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and the scope of application of "Hong Kong Investment and Hong Kong Arbitration" has been extended to nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area, and cases have gradually accumulated. Under the joint meeting system of the legal departments of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the three places have successively formulated a number of "Bay Area Standards" to jointly promote the legal construction of the Greater Bay Area.

In terms of talent connection, Lin Dingguo introduced that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao released the "Roster of Arbitrators in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area" and the "Roster of Mediators in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (2025)" in December last year, covering 143 arbitrators and 233 mediators respectively, effectively promoting the "soft connection" of talents in the three places and providing parties with a wider range of dispute resolution options.

Lam Dingguo pointed out that the country continues to improve the arbitration and cross-border legal service system, which has accelerated the development of dispute resolution services in the Greater Bay Area and brought new opportunities to the Hong Kong legal industry. Within the framework of Hong Kong’s first five-year plan, Hong Kong will continue to actively cooperate with the development of dispute resolution services in the Greater Bay Area. It is believed that through the efforts of all parties, the unique advantages of "one country, two systems, three jurisdictions" in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will be fully utilized and become the strategic fulcrum of the country's new development pattern.