On the afternoon of October 28, the Forum on “Law-based Business Environment and the Rule of Law at Provincial Level” and the Parallel Session of the 3rd International Conference on “Shen Jiaben and Chinese Legal Culture” were held in Huzhou. The forum was jointly hosted by Shen Jiaben Law School of Huzhou University and the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of Huzhou Municipal People’s Congress. Attending the forum are: Yu Yunxin （Deputy Secretary of the Party Group and Deputy Director of the Standing Committee of Huzhou Municipal People’s Congress）， descendant representatives of Shen Jiaben, Prof. Shen Houduo （China University of Political Science and Law）， Shu Zhiling （Vice President of Huzhou University）， Ren Guozheng （Researcher of the International Institute of Green Finance, CUFE）， Prof. Wang Kun （Zhejiang Academy of Social Sciences）， more than 40 experts and scholars from Tsinghua University, Tongji University, Hainan University, Liaoning University, Jinan University, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, Zhengzhou University, Henan University of Technology, Ningbo University, Jiangxi University of Science and Technology, Shanghai Chongming District People’s Court, Linhai People’s Court, and Party School of Shangyu District, Shaoxing, the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of Huzhou Municipal People’s Congress, the Municipal Administration of Huzhou Judicial Bureau, Huzhou Market Supervising Administration, Huzhou Intermediate People’s Court, Huzhou People’s Procuratorate, government departments and law firms cooperating with Shen Jiaben Law School, and teachers and students from Shen Jiaben Law School. Experts and scholars carried out hot discussions on how to provide law-based support for better business environment, and shared experience and achievements of the rule of law at the local level together.

　　Shu Zhiding delivered a welcome speech. He welcomed the guests to the forum and introduced the development and objectives of Huzhou University and Shen Jiaben Law School. He pointed out that “strengthening moral education and cultivating people” represented the core task of the University and the School. The School aims to provide qualified legal talents for Huzhou, and contributes its strength to the publicity and research of the building of the rule of law in Huzhou. He proposed that more efforts should be invested to promote the building of the rule of law in Huzhou and Zhejiang, build the name card of Huzhou as the hometown of Shen Jiaben and the city ruled by law, and help Huzhou University achieve the important goal of becoming a high-level university with doctoral programs.

　　Yu Yunxin reviewed the founding history of Shen Jiaben Law School and affirmed its achievements since its inception one year ago. With the theme of Law-based Business Environment and the Rule of Law at the Local Level, Yu proposed that the internal logic of strengthening the rule of law at the local level to optimize law-based business environment should be deeply understood, and law-based business environment should be improved through integrated progress of legislation, law enforcement, judiciary and legal publicity. Meanwhile, it is important to constantly optimize and improve law-based business environment to strengthen effectiveness. He encouraged Shen Jiaben Law School to stay committed to its building and development, optimize operation system, enhance education quality and scientific research capability, explore new modes of cooperative education, build a better platform, and expand exchanges and interactions, and ultimately provide practical support for the rule of law in Huzhou.

　　At the forum, Shu Zhding presented Shen Houduo with a letter of appointment as Honorary Dean on behalf of Huzhou University, and thanked for Shen’s strong support for the legal education research of the University and the establishment of Shen Jiaben Law School.

　　In order to further promote the cooperation between the Law School and local departments and units, the awarding ceremony of the first group of legal practice bases of Shen Jiaben Law School was held at the forum. On behalf of the School, leader of the School of Economics and Management of Huzhou University presented certificates to Wuxing District Human Resource and Social Security Bureau, Wuxing District People’s Court, South Taihu New District People’s Court, Long An Law Firm, L&H Law Firm, Zhejiang Dongtangren Law Firm and Shen Jiaben Historical and Cultural Park.

　　Shen Houduo made a keynote speech Shen Jiaben Law School and the Rule of Law in China, emphasizing the importance of learning Shen Jia Ben thought and promoting law-based culture. He also put forward requirements for the building of this School: develop students with comprehensive legal skills; carry forward Shen Jiaben thought on the rule of law based on regional advantages and create a profound social atmosphere for learning Shen Jiaben thought.

　　Ren Guozheng delivered a speech China’s Communication Paradigm of Ecological Rule of Law from the Perspective of International Discourse Power. He proposed that it’s necessary to attach importance to the building of China’s international discourse power and establish China’s communication paradigm of ecological rule of law. Wang Kun delivered a keynote speech Business Environment and Intellectual Property Protection, proposing that it’s important to understand the advantages of intellectual property rights, protect intellectual property rights and optimize business environment.

　　The forum also invited five authors to make speeches, covering regulation on artificial intelligence, software algorithms and market monopoly, protection mechanism of the business environment, and practical exploration closely related to the rule of law at the local level, such as how people’s court contribute to the expanding, optimizing, transformation and upgrading of private enterprises, and the level of local legislation. Associate Prof. Li Yaoyue （Henan University of Technology）， and Zhang Guohua （Deputy Director of the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of Huzhou Municipal People’s Congress） gave comments on the speeches.

　　More than 70 papers and reports were received from universities, research institutes and legal practice departments across the country before the forum. After careful selection and review, 19 papers and reports were selected as excellent. Yu Yunxin, Shen Houduo and Zhou Jianhua presented certificates to the first, second and third prize winners respectively.

　　It is reported that this forum is an important part of the 3rd International Conference on Shen Jiaben and Chinese Legal Culture. The conference was organized by the Institute for Chinese Ancient Legal Documents of China University of Political Science and Law, the Committee for Chinese Ancient Legal Documents of China Institute of Legal History, Huzhou Judicial Bureau, Wuxing District Party Committee and Wuxing District People’s Government. The Shen Jiaben Law School was one of the co-organizers. With more than 100 experts and scholars engaged across the country, the conference aims to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the death of Mr. Shen Jiaben. At the same time, it also discussed how to carry forward and develop law-based culture, create more fruitful academic achievements through the rule of law culture and practices in Huzhou, and jointly build an international cultural brand of Huzhou as the home of Shen Jiaben and the city ruled by law.

　　The Forum on Law-based Business Environment and the Rule of Law at the Local Level was also held. Huzhou University and Shen Jiaben Law School will take this event as an opportunity to strengthen cooperation with the Commission of Legislative Affairs of the Standing Committee of Huzhou Municipal People’s Congress, and continue to invest more efforts and contribute more strength to build Huzhou Normal University, enhance the reputation of Shen Jiaben Law School, and build the name card of Huzhou characterized by the rule of law.