This paper was awarded the Second Prize for Outstanding Paper at the 2024 Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia Lawyers Association Exchange Conference.

The Lawyer’s Responsibility and Mission in Building a Rule-of-Law Business Environment

Liu Kai

(Liaoning Tongfang Law Firm, Shenyang, Liaoning 110004)

At the 16th Meeting of the Central Financial and Economic Leading Group, General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “We must create a business environment that is stable, fair, transparent, and predictable.” The primary goal of this initiative is to deepen reform and promote sound economic development. Among all factors, the building of the rule of law is key to optimizing the business environment. The construction of the rule of law cannot be achieved without the concerted efforts of the legal profession community. As professionals with specialized legal knowledge, lawyers are an important component of both the rule-of-law construction and the legal profession community. The development of the rule of law is inseparable from the role of lawyers. In the process of building a rule-of-law-based business environment, lawyers not only need to provide professional legal services but also clearly define their roles, responsibilities, and missions within this context.

One, The Concept and Significance of a Rule-of-Law Business Environment

(1) The Concept of a Rule-of-Law-Based Business Environment

A business environment governed by the rule of law refers to a systemic arrangement and governance approach that, through legally regulating and constraining market economic activities, protects the legitimate rights and interests of market entities, promotes fair competition, provides a stable and predictable market environment, and fosters the integrated development of the economy, society, and the legal system. By means of effective institutions, standardized law enforcement, and impartial judicial proceedings, the rule-of-law-based business environment comprehensively and equally safeguards the various rights and interests of market entities and imposes orderly constraints on market regulatory actions. The core essence of this approach lies in treating all market entities equally, ensuring openness and transparency, and upholding integrity and compliance with the law.

Equal treatment means that the government treats market entities of different ownership structures on an equal footing, providing all types of market entities with fair and equitable treatment in terms of policies, funding, rights, opportunities, and rules. Openness and transparency mean that the government promptly and effectively discloses information to the entire society, thereby ensuring that the market can timely and comprehensively access government-related information and enhancing the government’s credibility. Integrity and compliance with the law not only reflect the principle of protecting the government’s legitimate interests and administering according to law, but also represent the fundamental principle that market entities must adhere to when engaging in market activities.

(2) The Significance of Building a Business Environment Based on the Rule of Law

Building a sound rule-of-law-based business environment can help various market entities obtain a fair competitive landscape and equal opportunities, drive the development and transformation and upgrading of regional industries, and thereby promote social harmony and stability as well as high-quality economic development.

A sound rule-of-law business environment can ensure that enterprises and all types of market entities enjoy equal and fair opportunities. At the same time, it helps these entities effectively safeguard their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with laws and regulations, thereby driving industrial development and facilitating industrial transformation and upgrading. A favorable rule-of-law business environment can foster cooperation between enterprises and the government; through the rule-of-law-based enhancement of the business environment, enterprises can be more effectively integrated into and serve the government’s development strategies, thus ensuring the effective implementation of those strategies. A sound rule-of-law business environment can boost enterprises’ confidence and strengthen their trust in the government, encouraging them to invest and innovate, and in turn spurring socio-economic development. Moreover, a favorable rule-of-law business environment can enhance a country’s overall competitiveness. By optimizing the business environment, such an environment can attract more foreign investment and advanced technologies, thereby promoting industrial transformation and upgrading and strengthening the country’s overall competitive edge.

II. The Role and Positioning of Lawyers in Building a Rule-of-Law Business Environment

A business environment governed by the rule of law is a crucial guarantee for the healthy development of the market economy. As providers of legal services, policymakers and participants, enforcers of the law, and disseminators of the spirit of socialist rule of law, lawyers play an indispensable role in building a business environment governed by the rule of law. As key professionals and important forces in constructing a socialist country under the rule of law and fostering a harmonious socialist society, lawyers are vital contributors to the development of a business environment governed by the rule of law.

(1) Supporting the High-Quality Development of Private Enterprises

In recent years, the state has attached great importance to the development of the private economy and private enterprises. The report of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China stated: “We will unswervingly encourage, support, and guide the development of the non-public sector.” The prerequisite for promoting the growth and strengthening of the private economy is to ensure the sustainable development of private enterprises. At its core, this means providing private enterprises with a sound legal and business environment. As providers of legal services, lawyers are the backbone of the legal services market, offering professional legal advisory services to various market entities, including private enterprises. In the post-pandemic era, private enterprises face significant challenges brought about by economic transformation and changing circumstances, which pose substantial pressures on their development. For instance, in 2015, the Justice Bureau and the Federation of Industry and Commerce of Ezhou City, Hubei Province, established a Legal Service Team for Private Enterprises. Through government procurement of services, the team organized legal lectures, provided legal aid, conducted non-litigation reviews, and offered other forms of assistance, thereby delivering effective legal services to 28 key private enterprises across the city and effectively preventing and mitigating legal risks in their daily operations. By providing legal consultations and litigation representation to private enterprises, lawyers help them resolve legal disputes, safeguard their legitimate rights and interests, and promote their steady development. Lawyers can also pay close attention to risk factors in the operations of private enterprises, offer advice on risk prevention, and assist these enterprises in establishing and improving their risk management systems.

(2) Formulating and participating in the building of the rule of law

A business environment under the rule of law requires “good laws.” Today’s concept of the rule of law not only demands that the legislative process adhere to democratic and open-door legislative procedures but also requires that the content of laws be scientifically sound, thereby better reflecting fairness and justice. As legal professionals, lawyers possess profound legal knowledge and extensive practical experience. Many leading lawyers have actively joined the ranks of deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, leveraging their multiple identities and roles to promote the formulation and implementation of national laws and policies. An increasing number of government agencies, public institutions, and social organizations are hiring lawyers as their legal advisors, fully soliciting their opinions to ensure the legality and reasonableness of their administrative actions. In building a business environment governed by the rule of law, lawyers can actively participate in the formulation of laws and policies, providing scientific evidence for government decision-making. By conducting in-depth research on laws and regulations, analyzing market demands, and gaining a thorough understanding of enterprise needs, lawyers can put forward targeted and actionable policy recommendations, thus ensuring that policies better meet the requirements of the rule of law and providing strong support for optimizing the business environment.

(3) Building a business environment governed by the rule of law that is conducive to foreign-related affairs.

With the trend of economic globalization, the number of foreign-related cases is steadily increasing. In addition to providing traditional legal services such as legal advice and litigation representation, lawyers should play a greater role among more diverse economic market participants in building a rule-of-law business environment. As the Belt and Road Initiative enters a stage of high-quality development, Chinese enterprises are facing an ever-growing number of opportunities to “go global” and “bring in” foreign businesses. Opportunities for external exchanges and cooperation are deepening continuously, driving a rising demand for foreign-related legal services. Among lawyers, foreign-related legal professionals are playing an irreplaceable role.

The Belt and Road Lawyers Alliance, established in 2019, has set up nine specialized committees covering areas such as finance, cross-border dispute resolution, and intellectual property. It is linked to international cooperation mechanisms including the Eurasian Economic Forum, the Boao Forum for Asia, and the Pacific Rim Lawyers Association Conference, thereby promoting the sharing of legal resources and realizing the value of integrated resource utilization. At the same time, lawyers can provide non-litigation and foreign-related legal services—including financial, international trade, intellectual property, and international dispute-resolution—both to foreign enterprises that are “invited in” and to Chinese enterprises that are “going out,” continuing to play a vital role in building a business environment governed by the rule of law.

III. The Lawyer’s Role in Building a Business Environment Under the Rule of Law

(1) Promote the spirit of socialist rule of law.

The spirit of socialist rule of law is one of the key spirits highlighted in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The report of the 20th CPC National Congress points out: “We must accelerate the building of a society ruled by law, promote the spirit of socialist rule of law, carry forward China’s traditional legal culture, and guide all people to be loyal advocates, conscious observers, and firm defenders of the socialist rule of law. We should strive to make respecting, studying, abiding by, and applying the law a widespread practice throughout society.” As legal professionals under the socialist system, lawyers’ primary responsibility is to uphold the spirit of socialist rule of law in the construction of a society governed by law and a business environment characterized by the rule of law—approaching each case based on the facts and legal provisions, and genuinely upholding truth and the law.

(2) Put people first and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved.

At the 2019 National People's Congress, Lu Hongbing, Vice President of the All China Lawyers Association, said: “What we handle are not merely cases; we’re dealing with people’s lives. Behind every case lies a marriage, a family, an individual’s freedom, and the future of a business.”

In the building of a business environment governed by the rule of law, lawyers have an important responsibility to put people first and genuinely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of their clients. Only by embracing this people-centered philosophy can we effectively protect the core interests of all types of market entities. Lawyers should fully recognize that “when lawyers thrive, the rule of law thrives; when the rule of law thrives, the nation prospers.” By putting people first and diligently fulfilling their duties, lawyers are fulfilling their most crucial responsibility in building a business environment governed by the rule of law.

(3) Enhance professional expertise and provide specialized legal services.

The fundamental essence of a lawyer’s work is to provide legal services. In the process of building a business environment governed by the rule of law, coarse, superficial legal services can no longer meet the demands of the new era’s national economic and market development, nor can they adequately support the construction of a rule-of-law-based business environment. Deeply mastering one’s profession, demonstrating a strong sense of legal professionalism, and delivering artisan-like legal services are the only path for lawyers to meet the evolving demands of the new era—and, more importantly, represent the responsibility that lawyers must fulfill in the course of building a rule-of-law-based business environment. Only by continuously engaging in professional theoretical study, consistently enhancing practical skills through ongoing learning and experience, and steadily developing specialized expertise can lawyers truly excel in their field, effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of their clients, and efficiently protect the core interests of various market entities, thereby promoting the long-term, healthy, stable, and sustainable development of all types of market players.

In particular, lawyers serving as legal advisors to government agencies, public institutions, and social organizations, as well as lawyers who serve as deputies to people's congresses at various levels and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, can, through legislative proposals and the provision of specialized legal services, ensure that all stages—legislation, law enforcement, and judicial proceedings—related to the building of a rule-of-law business environment not only gain practical legal experience but also receive robust guarantees of legality and reasonableness, thereby better serving the cause of building a rule-of-law business environment.

(4) Uphold the spirit of public service and enhance the image of the legal profession.

In the past, lawyers and the legal profession have been portrayed as embodiments of justice, messengers of the law, and defenders of social fairness and equity through wisdom and courage—highly esteemed and noble images. However, in recent times, the image of the legal profession has steadily deteriorated due to factors such as clients’ lack of understanding, unethical and illegal practices in other related industries, and, increasingly, the reckless promotion of lawyers on self-media platforms and short-video apps through false, misleading, or exaggerated advertising. As a result, society’s perception of lawyers has become more often characterized by profit-seeking motives and negative stereotypes. Under such public opinion conditions, it has become increasingly difficult for the legal profession to develop and to promote the establishment of a business environment governed by the rule of law.

The author believes that upholding the spirit of public welfare and enhancing the image of the legal profession are inevitable requirements for the development of Chinese lawyers in the new era. Lawyers and the legal profession can promote the rule-of-law process in society by actively participating in a wide range of social welfare activities and public legal education initiatives. Moreover, through such active engagement, they can encourage a broad spectrum of market entities to learn about, apply, understand, and abide by the law, thereby collectively contributing to the creation of a business environment characterized by the rule of law.

IV. The Lawyer’s Mission in Building a Business Environment Under the Rule of Law

(1) Provide professional legal services and actively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of market entities.

As professional legal service providers and the backbone of the legal services market, lawyers’ primary mission is to deliver high-quality, specialized legal services to market entities. In the process of building a business environment governed by the rule of law, lawyers should diligently and responsibly provide market entities with legal advice, litigation representation, legal counsel, and other legal services, effectively helping various market entities safeguard their legitimate rights and interests and preventing their normal production and business activities from being adversely affected by various legal risks, such as civil disputes and criminal risks.

(2) Actively participate in legislation and policy formulation to promote the development of a business environment governed by the rule of law.

Lawyers serving as deputies to the National People's Congress and members of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, as well as lawyers acting as legal advisors to Party and government organs and other lawyers, can fully leverage their unique expertise—combining a deep understanding of legal provisions with familiarity with market dynamics—when fulfilling their multiple roles and responsibilities. This enables them to offer well-reasoned recommendations to the government and various Party and government agencies from both policy and practical perspectives. Consequently, lawyers can provide advice to legislative bodies, governments, and various Party and government agencies in the areas of legislation and policy formulation, and furnish scientific evidence to support government decision-making. In doing so, they can better promote the development of a business environment governed by the rule of law.

(3) Fully utilize and enforce the law to ensure that policies are effectively implemented.

The vitality of the rule of law lies in its enforcement. In building a business environment governed by the rule of law, lawyers should actively apply and enforce the law to ensure that policies and legal provisions for constructing such an environment are effectively implemented. By means of litigation representation, participation in mediation, legal consultation, legal advisory services, compliance reviews, and other various approaches, lawyers should fully leverage and enforce the law. Moreover, in the process of applying and enforcing the law, lawyers must supervise administrative and judicial authorities as they exercise their powers in accordance with the law, thereby effectively promoting the development of a business environment governed by the rule of law.

(4) Promote the spirit of socialist rule of law and enhance the rule-of-law awareness throughout society.

The spirit of socialist rule of law is the core of building a business environment governed by the rule of law. As disseminators of the spirit of socialist rule of law, lawyers should actively promote and propagate this spirit. Through various legal education lectures, public awareness campaigns, rule-of-law themed days, and other similar legal outreach activities, lawyers can popularize legal knowledge among all types of market entities and society at large, thereby enhancing the rule-of-law consciousness of these entities and the broader public. This will enable all market entities and society as a whole to know the law, understand the law, abide by the law, and apply the law effectively, thus fostering a sound, rule-of-law-based social environment and further promoting the development of a business environment governed by the rule of law.

V. Conclusion

Building a business environment governed by the rule of law is a systematic undertaking that requires the joint efforts of governments, enterprises, lawyers, and other stakeholders. As legal professionals, lawyers play an irreplaceable role in the construction of a rule-of-law-based business environment. Lawyers should fully recognize their responsibilities and mission in this endeavor, actively participate in it, and contribute their own strength to the establishment and continuous improvement of a rule-of-law-based business environment. At the same time, governments and enterprises should also attach great importance to the role of lawyers in building such an environment, providing them with greater support and safeguards for their practice and work, thereby jointly promoting the ongoing development of a rule-of-law-based business environment.

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