Jacques Buhart, chairman of the association's Section of Business Law, expressed the desire over the weekend.

"The IBA would like to increase its Chinese members in view of the importance of China, the fact that the quality of Chinese lawyers is improving very quickly and China's accession to the World Trade Organization," said Buhart, who was in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Chinese Lawyers Conference 2000.

"The IBA is very keen to have lawyers from China participate in the work of the IBA, so that we can learn from the laws of China," said Buhart, adding that in return, Chinese lawyers will also have opportunities to exchange views with leading business lawyers from around the world.

He also expressed the hope that the importance of the All-China Lawyers Association (ACLA) will be enhanced in the IBA in the years to come.

Though the ACLA is a member of the IBA, Chinese lawyers, who are members of the ACLA, are not automatically admitted into the IBA until they have applied as individual members.

Among the IBA's 160,000 members, only about 20 are Chinese, according to Buhart, who holds that unfamiliarity with the organization and its high costs may be the reasons behind the lack of Chinese members.

Also a member of Coudert Brothers, one of the major international law firms to enter China in 1992, Buhart said he is optimistic about his law firm's future in China.

Such optimism is guaranteed by China's promise to establish a more open legal service market after it enters the WTO. The current restriction, that overseas law firms can have only one branch on the Chinese mainland, for example, will be lifted.

(China Daily November 20, 2000)