Sino-French cooperation has resulted in remarkable achievements
over the past decade, particularly in the legal and commercial
fields, said French Ambassador to China Herve Ladsous.
"The two countries have continental law systems and share
similar ideologies, such as social harmony and economic security,"
Ladsous said on the sidelines of a two-day France-China legal
seminar held in Beijing, which concluded on Friday.
Experts from both sides discussed areas for cooperation at the
seminar, including courts, procuratorates, notaries and
universities.
Wang Gongyi, deputy director of the research office at the
Ministry of Justice, said China's Civil Law and Notarization Law
had both been influenced by France.
"President Hu Jintao included many of these legal concepts in
his keynote speech to the 17th National Congress of the Communist
Party of China on Monday," Wang said.
"Further legal exchanges and cooperation with France will yield
fruitful results as the country quickly builds a nation ruled by
law," Wang added.
France is one of only three developed countries that has an
extradition agreement with China. The two have also signed a
judicial cooperation treaty.
"It would be a sign of progress if more developed countries
signed similar treaties with China," Ladsous said.
Legal exchanges between China and France are frequent. To date,
more than 100 judges and 50 prosecutors have gone to France to
research the country's legal system.
Ladsous said there was a great deal of legal cooperation between
the two countries, including on commercial, criminal, IPR and
administrative laws.
Currently, there are 1,800 French enterprises on the Chinese
mainland, creating at least 250,000 jobs on the mainland and with
annual revenue surpassing US$28.6 billion.
Philippe Tuffreau, vice-president of the National Lawyers'
Association Council of France, said he was grateful that China had
allowed foreign lawyers to launch businesses here and expected
further cooperation.
"Eventually we need Chinese lawyers to see to our businesses
here, just like Chinese enterprises have local lawyers in France to
work for them," Tuffreau said.
(China Daily October 20, 2007)
