Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the general public has paid close attention to communities on the frontline and contributed in various ways to anti-pandemic efforts. Under the government’s leadership, law firms and their lawyers have devoted themselves to the anti-pandemic fight by donating funding, delivering medical supplies, and providing pro bono legal services. These efforts are a display of the industry’s strong sense of social responsibility. As Jingtian & Gongcheng partners, Hong Diao and Yao Wang from our Chengdu Office have been instrumental in supporting initiatives organized by the government, judiciary and relevant entities throughout the pandemic. These actions illustrate Jingtian & Gongcheng’s commitment to ethics and professional service.
On the evening of February 5, 2020, the Director General of the Department of Justice in Sichuan Province organized an emergency meeting on "the legal analysis on the transition of COVID-19 prevention and control from a 'war of annihilation' to a ‘protracted battle'". Ms. Diao made it an urgent priority to attend the meeting and offer written legal advice in the name of the China Council for International Investment Promotion’s (CCIIP’s) Investment and Financing Committee. She also took an active part in a meeting on "the legal analysis of contract performance amid the pandemic" for contract management service teams, organized by the Bureau of Justice of Jinjiang District and the Jinjiang Branch of Chengdu Lawyers Association. She also offered written legal advice. Furthermore, as a key member of the editorial board, she was involved in the compilation of the "Guides on Foreign-related Laws" organized by the Bureau of Justice of Jinjiang District and the Jinjiang Branch of Chengdu Lawyers Association. Ms. Diao compiled the guide on foreign-related legal services for work contracting and construction contracting in the contract management sector, which has now been finalized.
While providing professional legal advice for the government and judiciary to make decisions on pandemic prevention and control, Ms. Diao also collaborated on the "preparation of the questionnaire on legal checkups and offering advice". These efforts were organized by the Jinjiang Branch of Chengdu Lawyers Association and were responsible for setting legal questions about contract performance amid the pandemic. She worked overtime to organize legal guidelines on contract performance, provided them to consulting agencies, and offered legal advice the resumption of their work.
Ms. Diao provided thorough legal support to the firm’s clients amid the pandemic. She not only helped clients with government procurement of anti-pandemic supplies at home and abroad, and amended contracts in Chinese and English, but also offered legal advice on special circumstances relating to procurement and helped enterprises in their audit of their suppliers.
As Ms. Diao has demonstrated, Jingtian & Gongcheng's partners have differentiated themselves in various "anti-pandemic" activities, taken on social responsibility initiatives, served the wider community, and took steps to actively combat the pandemic through her experience to give back to society!
Led and supported by the management committee, Chengdu Partner Yao Wang participated in organizing a donation to the Hubei Charity Federation, completing customs declaration documents for donated supplies, and offering legal advice. Under his supervision, 1,440 Moldex 1513 masks (equivalent to 3M 1860 N95 surgical masks) and 60,400 pairs of medical rubber gloves donated by North America arrived at Huanggang Central Hospital, which was urgently in need of anti-pandemic supplies. Moreover, he coordinated the purchase and donation of thousands of FPP2 masks and EN 14126 personal protective equipment in London, Berlin, Frankfurt, Madrid, Barcelona and other cities. He also contacted Chinese academic and student organizations in Europe, the Chinese Embassy in Spain, and other institutions for the transfer of related supplies.
Our efforts are modest compared to what the frontline medical workers have achieved, but we will continue to band together and remain united in the fight against the pandemic! We are grateful to the lawyers that have fought the pandemic on the frontline together with us!
