Chinese mainland opens wider to Taiwan law firms

BEIJING - Taiwan law firms are now allowed to set up representative offices in more coastal regions of the mainland, according to the Ministry of Justice.

Before the new policy, such offices were limited to Fuzhou and Xiamen,two cities in east China's Fujian Province, which have seen ten successful applications since 2010.

The scope has been expanded to the entire Fujian Province, the city of Shanghai and south China's Guangdong Province, as well as eastern provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang, said a statement from the ministry on Friday.

After three years of operations, such offices may conduct joint operations with local law firms within the provincial regions where they were established, the statement said.

The ministry also allowed local law firms in those five regions to hire lawyers from Taiwan as consultants in matters related to the island's legal system.

The new policies will bring more jobs and opportunities to the island's legal service sector, especially to young professionals, according to the statement.