Reforms in China: Enhancing the Political Role of Chinese Lawyers

The Carnegie China Program and the Asia Foundation co-sponsored a lunch seminar featuring Mr. Gong Xiaobing, the Director-General of the Department of Judicial Assistance and Foreign Affairs of the Ministry of Justice of China. Mr. Gong assessed the major challenges facing the legal profession in China, and he highlighted lessons that China could learn from the United States in enhancing the political function of lawyers in China.  He further delineated several steps that China should take in order to improve the country's legal profession and further legal reforms.  Dr. Veron Hung of the Carnegie Endowment moderated the discussion and commented on Mr. Gong's presentation.
 

Mr. Gong Xiaobing is Director-General of the Department of Judicial Assistance and Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice of the People's Republic of China. Mr. Gong helped establish, develop, and design China's legal aid system. From 1996 to 2002, Mr. Gong served as Deputy Director and subsequently as Director of the Center for Legal Aid of the Ministry of Justice and as Secretary of the China Legal Aid Foundation. From 2002 to 2003, he headed the Office of Guidance for the Public Certification of Lawyers. In that capacity, Mr. Gong proposed various measures to reform the legal profession.