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Recently, the 36th edition of the ‘Guike Bimonthly Forum’, hosted by Guike Academy, was successfully held in Beijing. Centred on the theme ‘The Past, Present and Future of China's Legal Profession’, the event brought together colleagues from law firms, notably those affiliated with the Ministry of Justice, to collectively review the development journey since the profession's restoration and reconstruction. Participants analysed the opportunities and challenges within the current phase of transformation, while envisioning the industry's future landscape against the backdrop of building a China governed by the rule of law.

Zhao Cenghai, Director of JAVY Law Firm, was invited to attend and delivered a presentation titled ‘Reshaping Value Amidst Transformation: Challenges, Opportunities and the Future of China's Legal Profession’.

At the outset, Liu Guiming, Vice President of the Chinese Law Society's Legal Documents Research Association and Dean of Guike Academy, hailed as ‘China's foremost legal industry observer,’ remarked in his address that the Ministry of Justice's ‘Notice on Legal Practice’ issued on 19 December 1979 marked the formal restoration of China's legal profession and laid the foundation for over four decades of industry development. He emphasised that the event's theme of ‘Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow of China's Legal Profession’ aimed to review its journey, examine its present state and envision its future. This represented both a heartfelt reflection on the profession's founding aspirations and a solemn commitment to its future mission.

Director Zhao Cenghai noted that the profession stands at the intersection of technological revolution and industry transformation, facing both challenges and opportunities.

On one hand, the legal profession faces three major challenges: intensifying homogenisation of traditional services, the displacement of basic legal tasks by artificial intelligence, and a shortage of high-end, multi-disciplinary talent. On the other, the deep integration of AI and legal practice is ushering in a new paradigm of ‘human-machine symbiosis’. New productive forces and comprehensive compliance are creating entirely new blue oceans for legal services, while the deepening advancement of the rule of law in China endows the profession with unprecedented strategic value.

In navigating this transformation, the key lies in ‘upholding principles while innovating’: maintaining professional ethics and expertise while proactively embracing change, pursuing deep specialisation, mastering technological tools, and evolving into strategic partners delivering comprehensive solutions. The future belongs to professionals who adeptly harness technology to amplify uniquely human wisdom.

This event brings together numerous seasoned legal experts to revisit the founding principles of our practice, engage in in-depth discussions on practical challenges in law firm development, and foster mutual learning and collaborative progress. It aims to galvanise fresh insights and momentum for the high-quality development of China's legal profession.

The following is the transcript of Director Zhao Cenghai's address:

Esteemed Dean Liu Guiming, Director Qiao Jiaping, esteemed colleagues and friends:

Good afternoon! It is a pleasure to be here at Kangda Law Firm, with its thirty-seven years of distinguished history, to discuss the past, present, and future of China's legal profession. As a legal practitioner with decades of experience, I have personally witnessed the industry's journey from restoration and reconstruction to vigorous growth. Today, we stand at the convergence of a new technological revolution and industry transformation, facing unprecedented opportunities alongside exceptionally complex challenges. I would now like to share some observations and reflections.

I. Confronting the Challenges: The Industry is Undergoing the Pains of ‘Value Reconstruction’

We must clearly recognise that the traditional growth model and development logic of the legal profession are facing severe tests, manifested in three key dimensions:

First, the tension between ‘scale expansion’ and ‘value dilution’. While the number of solicitors has surged in recent years, the market has not expanded at the same pace. Competition in traditional litigation and routine legal services has intensified, even descending into “involution” and low-price competition. This reflects a degree of ‘homogenisation’ in legal services, where the professional value of solicitors remains underappreciated.

Second, the conflict between technological penetration and capability anxiety. Technologies such as generative artificial intelligence (AIGC) are no longer distant prospects; they can efficiently handle foundational tasks like legal research, document drafting, and preliminary contract review. This directly challenges the industry's core: if repetitive legal labour is increasingly replaced by machines, where exactly lies the core value and irreplaceability of lawyers? Many practitioners are experiencing considerable anxiety over this.

Third, the gap between ‘market deepening’ and ‘supply imbalance’. China's economic transition towards high-quality development has spawned substantial demand for sophisticated, cross-domain legal services in emerging fields such as new productive forces, corporate internationalisation, and comprehensive compliance. Yet our talent supply structure remains markedly imbalanced: while numerous lawyers concentrate in traditional red ocean markets, truly advanced, multidisciplinary professionals proficient in frontier areas like international legal systems, data compliance, and fintech remain scarce.

II. Seizing Opportunities: Carving Out New Blue Oceans Amidst Technological Revolution and Demand Upgrades

Challenges invariably present opportunities. The industry currently faces three historic opportunities poised to reshape our future:

The first opportunity lies in the profound synergy between ‘AI and lawyers,’ ushering in a new paradigm of ‘human-machine symbiosis.’ This represents not merely a tool upgrade, but a profound revolution in productivity. The recent collaboration between JAVY Law Firm and PowerLaw AI to launch the ‘Jialv AI Agent’ exemplifies this perfectly. It demonstrates that AI is now capable of handling tasks ranging from intelligent contract review and end-to-end document generation to complex legal research. This signifies that AI will become our ‘super assistant’ and ‘intelligent colleague,’ liberating us from burdensome repetitive labour.

The opportunities it presents are transformative: Firstly, it maximises professional output, freeing us to focus more energy on high-value client engagement, strategic planning, and complex negotiations. Secondly, it drives capability evolution, compelling us to transition from ‘legal technicians’ to ‘legal engineers’ and ‘business partners’ adept at harnessing technology, making complex judgements, and executing strategic decisions. Thirdly, it expands service boundaries by reducing the cost of basic services, making legal services accessible to a broader market of SMEs and individuals.

The second major opportunity lies in the era of ‘new quality productivity’ and ‘comprehensive compliance’, which is creating vast new professional blue oceans. The rise of emerging industries such as the digital economy, artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, and green energy, coupled with the refinement of regulatory frameworks covering national security, cross-border data flows, and anti-monopoly measures, has cultivated fertile ground for novel legal services. Here, legal issues are deeply intertwined with technology and commerce, demanding that lawyers not only master the law but also possess industry-specific, technical, and managerial expertise. This presents an exceptional stage for building irreplaceable professional barriers characterised by specialisation, expertise, distinctiveness, and innovation.

The third opportunity lies in the deepening advancement of ‘Rule of Law China,’ elevating the industry's overall strategic value. In building a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalised business environment, lawyers are transitioning from being ‘post-incident remedial agents’ in disputes to increasingly serving as ‘pre-emptive planners’ and ‘risk controllers’ in economic activities. Our role is shifting from the sidelines to centre stage, deeply embedding ourselves within the fabric of national governance and socio-economic operations, where our value is gaining unprecedented recognition.

III. Embracing the Future: The Key Lies in ‘Upholding Integrity While Innovating’ and ‘Deepening Specialisation’

How should individual solicitors and law firms respond to such transformative shifts? My answer lies in four words: upholding integrity while innovating.

‘Upholding Integrity’ means preserving our foundational principles. Regardless of technological evolution, the core values of legal ethics, the pursuit of justice, loyalty to clients, and reverence for the law remain our unwavering ‘integrity.’ When employing AI, we must steadfastly uphold data security and ethical boundaries, serving as the ultimate accountable party and ‘quality gatekeepers’ for AI outputs.

‘Innovation’ means proactively embracing change to reshape capabilities. Three specific pathways exist:

1. Pursue deep specialisation: Resolutely abandon the ‘jack-of-all-trades’ approach. Select one or several emerging or complex fields (such as data compliance, cross-border investment and financing, or intellectual property commercialisation) and cultivate expertise to become an industry-recognised specialist.

2. Embrace human-machine collaboration: Actively master AI tools like ‘Jialu AI Agent,’ integrating technology into core professional competencies to achieve a ‘law + technology’ hybrid capability upgrade.

3. Evolve service models: Shift from passively delivering singular legal opinions to proactively providing clients with integrated solutions blending legal, commercial, and technological expertise, becoming trusted strategic advisors.

IV. Conclusion

Colleagues, looking back, we built our legacy from humble beginnings; examining the present, we confront challenges while embracing opportunities; looking ahead, I hold unwavering conviction: the future may not belong to AI, but it will undoubtedly belong to those lawyers who adeptly harness AI while amplifying humanity's unique wisdom.

Let us steer with integrity as our rudder and innovation as our sail, boldly navigating the waves of industry transformation. In the grand voyage of building a China governed by the rule of law, China's legal profession shall undoubtedly compose a new chapter of greater professionalism, enhanced value, and deeper respect.

This concludes my remarks. Thank you all!