Foreign-related case heard at Beijing university to train legal talent

A foreign-related case was publicly heard at a university in Beijing on Wednesday, aiming to integrate judicial practice into law courses and support the cultivation of legal talent.

In the afternoon, a three-judge panel from the Beijing Chaoyang District People's Court convened a case hearing in a mock courtroom at the China University of Political Science and Law, attracting more than 100 faculty members and students who came to observe.

The case involved a commercial dispute in which the defendant, a foreign-invested architectural engineering design consulting firm registered in Beijing, faced disagreements among its three shareholders over issues of profit distribution and share withdrawal. One shareholder filed a lawsuit requesting the court to invalidate a shareholders' meeting resolution. Judges said the verdict will be delivered at a later date.

Xu Dong, vice-president of the court and presiding judge of the case, emphasized after the hearing that the intention of moving the trial to campus was straightforward: to bring the law out from behind screens and books and present it vividly to students.

"This approach is more engaging for the students, allowing them to immerse themselves in the proceedings and better understand how the rule of law is applied in real life," he added.

Zheng Gongcheng, a freshman at the university, said he had never been to a court before. "Observing a real trial up close was fascinating and provided me with a deeper and more concrete understanding of the legal concepts and terminology he had learned from textbooks," he said.

Wang Shan, a senior who had interned at a grassroots court in Zigong, Sichuan province, said her internship mainly involved learning about the court's daily operations. "However, participating as an observer is the best way to connect theory with practice, helping her identify and fill gaps in her knowledge and improve herself," she added.

Liu Jifeng, vice-dean of the university's Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School, said the school plans to regularize such activities, allowing more students to engage closely with foreign-related judicial services and thereby enhancing the cultivation of legal talent.

In January, the court and the school signed an agreement to establish a teaching practice base to build cooperation mechanisms for personnel exchanges, practical teaching and academic resource sharing.

Liu Yanhong, vice-president of the university, said Wednesday's activity effectively promoted the shift in legal education from knowledge transmission to capability building, injecting new momentum into the cultivation of foreign-related legal talent.

"We will continue to deepen its collaborative efforts with the court to consistently improve the quality of foreign-related legal talent training, thereby contributing more significantly to national strategies and the construction of a law-based China," she said.

As a key base for cultivating foreign-related legal talent, the university, along with the court — a hub for foreign-related judicial expertise in Beijing — is taking significant steps. Liu Haidong, president of the court, underscored that bringing the trial to campus marked another important practice in deepening collaboration between the court and the university and promoting the dual cultivation of foreign-related legal talent.

"Next, we will strengthen cooperation with the school in more areas, such as talent training and research projects, working together to create a new model of court-university collaboration," he added.