In a bid to upgrade its foreign-related legal services, Shanghai's Xuhui district recently launched its Global 1-Hour Response Plan.

The pioneering initiative marks the city's first artificial intelligence-powered cross-border legal services platform — collaborating with top legal services institutions worldwide to reshape its foreign-related legal services.

Under the new "AI + global collaboration" service model, Xuhui aims to make its legal services accessible globally — bridging the gap between businesses and legal support on an international scale.

The services offered under the plan include legal assistance in intellectual property, compliance management for enterprises venturing abroad and specialized legal services for inbound businesses.

They also include customs and foreign trade legal services, trade remedy legal services, compliance legal services for the digital economy, foreign-related marriage and family legal services, personal rights protection legal services, international commercial mediation services and foreign-related notarization services.

To ensure smooth and efficient support, Xuhui has established a working mechanism comprising the Shanghai Liaison and Dispatch Center along with six regional coordination centers.

These cover six major time zones globally — GMT +0, GMT +4, GMT +8, GMT +10, GMT -8 and GMT -5.

The district has positioned the six regional coordination centers in key economic zones worldwide — ensuring that legal assistance is just an hour away for users regardless of their locations.

The centers are the Hui Ye Law Firm Paris Office; Rothwell, Figg, Ernst & Manbeck, P.C. in New York; The Trusted Advisors Law Firm in Lagos, Nigeria; Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP; Phillips Ormonde Fitzpatrick Lawyers in Sydney and the Cuatrecasas Lima Office in Lima, capital of Peru.

With a dedicated team of 116 service members fluent in a dozen languages and an expert think tank comprising foreign affairs talent, Xuhui is regarded as being well equipped to handle complex cross-border legal cases and cutting-edge legal issues.

Users can easily access the services through the Global 1-Hour Response Plan section of the Xuhui District Public Legal Services online platform, where they can describe their legal needs — prompting the AI assistant to facilitate matchmaking with a lawyer within an hour.

Source: Xuhui district government