SHENZHEN, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- The China Forum on International Legal Cooperation (2026) concluded in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen on Wednesday, with participants calling for practical and efficient international rule-of-law cooperation to help build a fairer and more equitable global governance system.
Hosted by the China Law Society (CLS), the forum brought together legal professionals from 38 countries and seven international organizations. Participants held high-level dialogues on global rule of law in the digital age, legal safeguards for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, and legal education and legal talent cultivation.
Wang Hongxiang, Party secretary and executive vice president of the CLS, said that as major global changes accelerate, peace, development, security and governance deficits are intertwined.
He called for sustained efforts to deepen international rule-of-law exchanges and cooperation through mutual learning among legal civilizations, collaborative research on legal theory, and joint cultivation of legal talent, so as to promote a fairer and more equitable global governance system.
On digital rule of law, Luis de Arcos Pérez, head of the International Relations Service of the Spanish General Council for the Judiciary, said AI can serve as a tool for judges, but judges must not become subordinate to AI. Technology can improve efficiency and assist judicial work, but human beings must make decisions on facts, legal interpretation, and citizens' rights independently and responsibly, he said.
A white paper on Shenzhen's use of artificial intelligence in judicial applications was released on Wednesday, showcasing Shenzhen's exploration of AI-assisted adjudication.
On legal safeguards for high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, Samar Khamlichi, a professor at Morocco's Mohammed V University, said high-quality investment should be judged not only by the level of investor protection, but also by whether institutional and legal frameworks can incentivize investment to generate sustainable development benefits. These include quality job creation, improved worker skills, technology and knowledge transfer, support for local suppliers, participation of domestic enterprises, industrial upgrading and greater domestic value creation.
On legal education and talent cultivation, Kamalinne Pinitpuvadol, secretary-general of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), proposed five practical measures: establishing a regular training program for young international lawyers from Asia and Africa, building an international mentoring network, forming multinational young legal research teams, ensuring training programs produce practical outcomes, and setting up a China-AALCO alumni and professional network. ■
