The Ministry of Justice ("MOJ") has recently prepared and issued the Circular on Establishing the Record-filing System for Overseas Branches Set up by Law Firms (Draft for Comment) (the "Draft for Comment") for public consultation by May 6, 2019.
The Draft for Comment expressly states that overseas branches of law firms include but are not limited to law firms, representative offices, business offices and legal service companies, but exclude the alliances formed by them with overseas law firms and their overseas points for contact. Meanwhile, the Draft for Comment requires that a law firm with an overseas branch shall file a record with the department (bureau) of justice of the local province, autonomous region or municipality directly under the Central Government, and the provincial-level department (bureau) of justice shall regularly submit relevant data to the MOJ. Furthermore, the Draft for Comment notes that after filing a record with the provincial-level department (bureau) of justice, a law firm may go through formalities for foreign exchange registration and for the purchase and payment of foreign exchange, with the foreign exchange regulator pursuant to applicable provisions.