Zhang Jun, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court of China, attended the opening session of the 12th Asia-Pacific International Legal Forum and delivered remarks via video link on Oct 5.

Zhang Jun, chief justice and president of the Supreme People's Court of China, delivers remarks at the opening session of the 12th Asia-Pacific International Legal Forum via video link on Oct 5, 2023. [Photo/court.gov.cn]

Zhang said that the Asia-Pacific is where we live and a source of growth for the global economy. China has always been an active advocate and firm practitioner of cooperation within the region.

Noting that this year marks the 45th anniversary of China's opening-up, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Belt and Road Initiative, Zhang pledged to deepen exchanges and cooperation in legal and judicial fields with all participating countries in a bid to contribute strength to regional and global peace, stability, and prosperity.

Focusing on the forum's theme of "the balance of the protection of national interests and rights of Asia-Pacific countries in international economic relations", Zhang proposed to always uphold the spirit of win-win cooperation to provide legal guarantees for regional and global stability and development; to continue to expand pragmatic cooperative results to jointly foster a world-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalized; and to enhance the effectiveness of cooperation mechanism in order to provide steady judicial momentum in the building of an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

The forum was hosted by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. The court's President, Vyacheslav Lebedev, attended and addressed the opening session.