Translator：Wang Yichun

On October 31, 2022, Shanghai's Landing Law Offices adeptly organized the online forum "Overseas Interest Protection for Construction Enterprises: Latin America Session". This event, meticulously planned and executed, followed the inauguration of Landing's Mexico Office on May 4, 2022, and the triumphant Forum themed "Latin America Investment Legal Practice". Esteemed attendees included Mr. Chen Feng, Commercial Counselor from the Chinese Embassy in Ecuador; Ms. Natalia Tobón Tobón, Commercial Counselor and ProColombia China Region Director from the Colombian Embassy in China; Prof. Jiang Huiling, Dean of School of Laws at Tongji University; Prof. Zhang Yong of Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology; Dr. Zhang Jiao of East China University of Political Science and Law; Mr. Liu Yixing, Global Committee Director at Landing; and numerous Landing attorneys well-versed in international engineering and contracts. The forum centered on the intricacies of safeguarding Chinese construction firms' interests in Latin America, shedding light on the broader challenges and nuances faced by these firms across Belt and Road Initiative nations. The event, broadcasted live both on Landing's and the legal media ACELAW’s official channels, garnered significant viewership.

As the forum commenced, Wang Yunqing, Landing's Senior Advisor and Latin America Business Group Lead, graciously welcomed all participants and online viewers.

Liu Yixing, Director of Landing's Global Committee, inaugurated the forum with insightful remarks. Drawing from a comprehensive historical lens, cultural discernment, and visionary thinking, Director Liu underscored the existing advantages for the international engineering domain, such as industrial migration, urban evolution in developing nations, China's "dual circulation" development pattern, and the dynamics of industrial chains. Concurrently, he accentuated the intertwined challenges stemming from external macro factors and intrinsic compliance, elucidating the trajectory and emphasis for safeguarding the overseas interests of construction entities.

The forum's inaugural speaker, Mr. Chen Feng, Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Ecuador, delved into "Predominant Risks and Safeguarding Interests for Construction Enterprises in Latin America". With a distinguished tenure spanning Bolivia, Mexico, and Ecuador, and overseeing bilateral investments and Sino-Latin American commercial liaisons for over a decade, Mr. Chen amalgamated his profound on-ground expertise. He painted a holistic canvas of the historical tapestry and contemporary landscape of Sino-Latin American trade and investments. Zooming into the infrastructural fabric of Latin America and the pivotal role of Chinese construction ventures therein, he elucidated the contemporary challenges and pivotal strategies for risk mitigation and interest preservation. Concluding his discourse, Mr. Chen underscored the imperative for overseas construction ventures to harness insights from governmental channels, diplomatic commercial divisions abroad, and adept foreign-centric legal institutions. He championed the ethos of collaborative ventures with formidable foreign and local contractors, the sanctity of rigorous pre-engagement due diligence, in-project compliance, and a vigilant eye on the geopolitical shifts impacting business trajectories, offering invaluable strategic insights.

Ms. Natalia Tobon Tobon, the Commercial Counselor of the Colombian Embassy in China and concurrently the Director of ProColombia for the China Region, provided an exhaustive exposition on Colombia's dynamic domestic market, its strategic geographical positioning, and its congenial investment milieu tailored for foreign investors. Her discourse, titled "An Insight into Colombia's Trade and Investment Landscape and Prospects for Infrastructure Initiatives," accentuated the myriad investment prospects in Colombia's infrastructural domain. She underscored Colombia's multifaceted edge as an investment nexus vis-à-vis other Latin American nations, spotlighting the gamut of globally acclaimed and Chinese enterprises that have etched their footprint in Colombia.

In his speech themed "Leveraging Overseas Construction Dispute Resolution Mechanisms", Prof. Jiang Huiling, the esteemed Dean of Tongji University's Law School, Chairman of the Development Mechanism of Commercial Mediation in China, and Vice President of the Shanghai Law Society's Diverse Dispute Resolution Mechanism and Rule of Law Research Association [上海市法学会多元纠纷法治研究会], delved into China's ongoing transformative phase of embracing diversified dispute resolution paradigms. He emphasized the imperative for outbound enterprises to judiciously navigate the enforceability of Chinese judicial verdicts, arbitration determinations, and foreign-centric commercial mediations. Advocating for a global perspective in dispute redressal, he championed the ethos of astutely selecting foreign dispute resolution frameworks congruent with the enterprise's bargaining power and transactional modalities, underpinned by the sagacity of legal luminaries in crafting pertinent dispute resolution clauses.

Mr. Li Xuwei, a partner at Landing Law Offices and a member of the UK's Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, boasts a rich history in international engineering legal practices. Reflecting on his tenure as the legal chief for China State Construction Engineering Corporation’s overseas division, where he played a pivotal role in spearheading large-scale international engineering ventures in the Middle East, and subsequently as a legal practitioner overseeing intricate international engineering project disputes for a prominent state-owned entity, he shed light on "Dispute Resolution under FIDIC Terms" with several practical cases. Mr. Li meticulously dissected the intricacies of the FIDIC contract's dispute resolution framework, pinpointing prevalent pitfalls that Chinese corporations often grapple with, such as blanket claims, precipitating international arbitrations, and engaging in DAB/DAAB procedures. These oversights invariably culminate in protracted timelines, financial burdens, and unfavorable adjudications. He underscored the imperative for Chinese engineering firms to meticulously craft holistic dispute resolution blueprints, ensuring rigorous adherence when project anomalies surface, facilitating swift dispute redressal.

Prof. Zhang Yong from Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, holding a concurrent post as the Deputy Director at Major Engineering Planning & Operation Research Institute of the Real Estate Industry Green Development & Mechanism Innovation Research Base of Shaanxi Province [陕西省房地产业绿色发展与机制创新研究基地重大工程策划与运维研究所], offered profound insights on "Safeguarding Construction Enterprises' Interests in Latin America: An Opportunity-Risk Analysis". Prof. Zhang, armed with a plethora of empirical data, accentuated the pivotal role of Chinese enterprises in Latin America's developmental trajectory and the latent market potentialities therein. Concluding his discourse, Prof. Zhang advocated for construction enterprises venturing overseas to champion the ethos of globalization, fortify inter-governmental synergies, adeptly leverage financial instruments, fine-tune contractual stipulations, and prioritize cultural integration, all aimed at bolstering their overseas interests.

The forum's roundtable discussion was expertly moderated by Mr. Liu Zhaofu, the head of the Construction Engineering and Real Estate Department at Landing Law Offices. Mr. Liu initiated the session by reflecting on the insights shared by prior speakers and succinctly introduced the roundtable participants, highlighting their extensive legal service experiences across numerous Belt and Road Initiative nations.

Dr. Zhang Jiao, Secretary-General of the Belt and Road and Legal Diplomacy Research Institute at East China University of Political Science and Law, was the inaugural speaker of the roundtable. She underscored the paramount importance for businesses to be acutely aware of the myriad investment treaties inked between China and the recipient nations. She advocated for businesses to judiciously embed the protective clauses and dispute resolution mechanisms stipulated in these treaties when forging agreements with entities in the host nations.

Ms. Liu Ting, Director of Landing Law Offices in Xi'an, during her discourse, accentuated the imperative for contemporary national engineering initiatives to be cognizant of the prevailing pandemic landscape. She delved into the nuanced considerations surrounding the pandemic's classification as a force majeure and the concomitant overseas employment risks in such a milieu. Furthermore, she emphasized the necessity to factor in the local labor legislations and cultural nuances to mitigate the uncertainties ushered in by the pandemic and the inherent risks associated with overseas employment.

Ms. Hu Min, the Deputy Director at Landing Law Offices' Construction Engineering and Real Estate Department, elucidated the criticality of international investment legal frameworks, host nation legislations, and standardized industry contractual stipulations for construction entities. She championed the ethos of proactive risk mitigation, advocating for businesses to preemptively strategize and respond to potential pitfalls through meticulously crafted contractual clauses.

Drawing from her extensive tenure assisting Chinese businesses in their Indian ventures, Ms. Huang Xueshan, a Senior Partner at Landing's Shenzhen office and the Founding Partner at Landing's India Office, spotlighted several recurrent challenges faced by Chinese corporations, such as inadequate due diligence and suboptimal contractual clauses, offering pragmatic recommendations in the same breath.

The forum drew to a successful close following the spirited discussions by the five esteemed panelists. Host Wang Yunqing extended heartfelt thanks to all attendees. The online participants and viewers lauded the forum for its insightful academic contributions and actionable recommendations, expressing eagerness for ongoing, deeper dialogues in the future.

Landing Law Offices, committed to championing the overseas investments of Chinese enterprises and safeguarding their international interests, remains unwavering in its pursuit of specialization and global outreach. The firm is poised to routinely orchestrate forums centered on the legal intricacies of overseas investments across diverse sectors. This initiative aims to foster collaborations with a broader spectrum of authorities, specialized institutions, and academic research bodies, collectively delving into the myriad challenges and prospects inherent to this realm.