Introduction

SHANGHAI ORIENTAL FOREIGN LAW DISCERNING CENTER (Hereinafter referred to as "OFLD ") was established in April 2018 as a non-enterprise organization jointly established by Shanghai Bar Association and Shanghai Pudong New District Legal Service Industry Association. The aim of the OFLD is to build a "one-stop" service platform providing relevant enterprises and institutions with foreign law discerning service, legal aid, and dispute resolution.

Focusing on foreign law discerning, the OFLD provides legal consulting service to Chinese and foreign enterprises, courts, arbitration institutions, government departments, etc. as follows: 

Provide Chinese law and foreign law discerning service for Chinese and foreign enterprises, and also provide law discerning service for courts and arbitration institutions in foreign-related cases; 

Provide legal consulting service for enterprises or institutions and produce professional legal analysis reports in specific fields; 

Find appropriate overseas legal service institutions to Chinese enterprises;

Provide legal service to promote legalization, internationalization and facilitation of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (SFTZ), including conduct research, organize symposiums and draft legal opinions concerning the lawmaking of the SFTZ; 

Participate in the projects evaluating SFTZ’s legal environment and issue analysis reports;  

Participate in the projects planning, summarizing and promoting the SFTZ’s rule of law development; 

Provide communication and training service for lawyers, legal practice departments and research institutions.

The OFLD is designed to provide professional legal support for Chinese enterprises to “going global”, offering quality legal service and guarantee to create a legalized, international, and convenient business environment of Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, contributing steadily of the Belt and Road Initiative.