UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Summit 2025 Advances Global Legal Cooperation in Trade Digitalization

Speech by DSJ at 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025 - Judicial Conference (with photo/video)

Following are the closing remarks by the Deputy Secretary for Justice, Dr Cheung Kwok-kwan, at the 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025 - Judicial Conference under Hong Kong Legal Week 2025 today (December 1):

Your excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

The conclusion of today's conference jointly organised by the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law) and the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy of the Department of Justice of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, marks a major milestone in advancing global legal co-operation and the exchange of expertise in the realm of digitalisation of trade. The insightful discussions throughout the day have offered meaningful perspectives, and set the stage for continuous engagement among members of the judiciary, government officials, legal specialists, practitioners, and stakeholders. These positive outcomes will foster continued professional interaction and constructive dialogues in the times ahead.

Centred on the theme "Building Towards End-to-End Digitalisation", today's sessions have demonstrated our collective dedication to facilitating and harmonising the seamless digitalisation of trade transactions.

Digitalisation of trade finance and digital assets

Our first panel today explored the intersection between virtual assets and existing commercial and financial legal frameworks, with a particular focus on how virtual assets intersect with existing legal systems. The discussion highlighted evolving legislative frameworks from different jurisdictions designed to address the unique characteristics and challenges posed by these assets. Several legal instruments including the UNCITRAL, UNIDROIT (International Institute for the Unification of Private Law) Model Law on Warehouse Receipts and key initiatives of the Hague Conference on Private International Law supporting digitalisation were explored, with the aim to ensure that digital assets are governed by predictable and interoperable conflict-of-laws rules worldwide.

The panel devoted particular attention to enforcement aspects, emphasising how courts and regulatory bodies are adapting to the complexities posed by digital asset transactions and related disputes. Financial implications also formed an important part of the dialogue, highlighting the increasing prominence of virtual assets in the broader financial ecosystem.

These legislative framework, enforcement, and financial initiatives signify a concerted move towards a harmonised, innovation-friendly legal environment that supports the seamless digitalisation of trade and finance, ensuring these emerging assets are effectively incorporated into the global legal and economic landscape.

Enabling paperless trade – The UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records

Panel 2 provided a detailed overview of the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR), highlighting its crucial role in enabling the transition to paperless trade. The MLETR has garnered attention across the region, where an increasing number of jurisdictions, including Hong Kong, are actively exploring legislative amendments to adopt the UNCITRAL Model Law.

This panel discussed how this legislative advancement supports the broader trade digitalisation agenda, particularly benefiting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises by simplifying cross-border transactions and reducing reliance on cumbersome physical documentation. The panel also examined key provisions of the MLETR and implementation challenges, noting its interaction with foundational UNCITRAL instruments such as the Model Law on Electronic Commerce to create a cohesive legal framework for electronic transactions.

Additionally, the emerging case law interpreting UNCITRAL texts was reviewed, illustrating how judicial approaches increasingly integrate both legal reasoning and technological understanding. This evolving jurisprudence reflects a judicial readiness to oversee complex digital transactions, balancing legal certainty with technological innovation.

As outlined in the Chief Executive's Policy Address this year, legislative proposal will be introduced in 2026 in Hong Kong to provide legal basis for the digitalisation of business-to-business trade documents with reference to the MLETR and experiences from other common law jurisdictions. Hong Kong, as an international trade centre and an international innovation and technology centre, is developing a more streamlined, paperless trading environment. This advancement will enhance the validity of digital trade flows, mitigate risks, and accelerate cross-border transactions. Hong Kong's dedication to embracing the MLETR highlights our determination to remain at the forefront of global trade innovation, and to support businesses in seizing new opportunities in the digital age.

Digital transformation in transport – the Draft United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents

Panel 3 examined the recently approved draft United Nations Convention on Negotiable Cargo Documents, which has been recommended for adoption by the United Nations General Assembly. This groundbreaking convention fills a crucial legal gap in international trade by creating a harmonised legal framework for negotiable documents of title applicable across all modes of transport - air, road, rail, and sea - regardless of the multimodal journey involved.

This panel provided an overview of how this harmonised framework addresses inconsistencies and legal voids in various domestic laws, fostering greater certainty and uniformity in the recognition and transfer of negotiable cargo documents. This panel also discussed how the draft Convention interacts with the existing international treaties, ensuring it complements rather than conflicts with current legal regimes.

A significant portion of the dialogue focused on the practical opportunities and challenges this draft Convention presents for the domestic implementation. Panelists discussed pilot projects testing the draft Convention's provisions in real-world scenarios, highlighting potential legal issues such as transport operator liability, interoperability of electronic negotiable documents, and the need for clear regulations on electronic document issuance and transfer.

The draft Convention stands to transform and modernise international trade by unlocking trade finance, enhancing supply chain efficiency, and enabling seamless door-to-door logistics. It represents a landmark step towards fully digitised, integrated global trade supported by robust, harmonised legal foundations.

Current trends of dispute resolution in the digital economy

Our final panel today focused on the ongoing exploratory work under UNCITRAL's Dispute Resolution in the Digital Economy project, which addresses the impact of emerging technologies on dispute resolution mechanisms. This includes an in-depth examination of how artificial intelligence (AI) and lawtech are reshaping the landscape of dispute resolution.

This panel explored the latest capabilities of AI technology in supporting arbitration, mediation, and other dispute resolution processes, highlighting both its transformative potential and current technical limitations. The discussion emphasised how AI can augment, rather than replace, human judgment, enhancing case management, predicting outcomes, and improving access to justice, while recognising that responsible use requires robust safeguards.

A key focus was the development of procedural guidelines for remote hearings in arbitration and mediation, an area of growing importance given the increased reliance on digital platforms. Panelists evaluated platform-based dispute resolution mechanisms, which leverage technology to facilitate cost-effective and timely resolution of disputes, particularly in cross-border and e-commerce contexts.

The responsible deployment of AI technology for dispute resolution was extensively discussed, including how existing regulatory regimes are adapting to monitor and mitigate risks such as data security, and ethical concerns.

This panel serves as a vital starting point, opening the door for the insightful discussions of the Judicial Roundtable tomorrow, as well as Day 5 of the Hong Kong Legal Week under the theme "The AI Era: Shaping the Legal Landscape in the 21st Century". It sets the stage for a more in-depth exploration of how AI and related technologies will continue to transform the legal profession, dispute resolution processes, and the broader justice ecosystem in the years to come.

Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy

Before closing, I would like to commend the Hong Kong International Legal Talents Training Academy for their collaboration with UNCITRAL. Since its launch last November during the Hong Kong Legal Week 2024, the Academy has organised numerous training programmes in Hong Kong, the Chinese Mainland and abroad, covering a diverse range of topics and targeting a wide spectrum of participants. Through collaboration with international organisations and governmental bodies, the Academy plays a vital role in fostering the exchanges of international legal talents through capacity building programmes, strengthening Hong Kong's strategic position as an international legal and dispute resolution services centre in the Asia-Pacific region, establishing Hong Kong as a capacity-building hub, and actively participating in the next decade of the Belt and Road Initiative, contributing to our country's efforts to promote the construction of the rule of law. I wish to express my gratitude to UNICITRAL for the support to the Academy so far, and the ongoing engagement and continue collaboration with the Academy in the years to come.

Ladies and gentlemen, as it comes to the conclusion of the Judicial Conference of the 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025. We must thank colleagues of UNICITRAL, our colleagues at the Department of Justice, and all the distinguished judges, speakers, moderators, and participants who have joined us from across the globe. While the Judicial Conference wrapped up and so the first day of the Hong Kong Legal Week 2025, there is a diverse range of events that we have arranged for the remainder of this week. To our esteemed judges, we will see you at the Judicial Roundtable tomorrow morning for continued dialogues and meaningful exchanges. For all other participants, we also anticipate your presence at the Third Legal Forum on Interconnectivity and Development tomorrow afternoon, as well as many other enriching sessions that await us throughout this week.

Thank you once again for your participation and contribution today. Thank you.

Speech by DSJ at 6th UNCITRAL Asia Pacific Judicial Summit 2025 - Judicial Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference

Following is the speech by the Financial Secretary, Mr Paul Chan, at the CUHK EMBA Annual Conference today (May 9):

Professor Dennis Lo (Vice-Chancellor and President, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)), Professor Lin Zhou (Dean, CUHK Business School), Macy (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Ms Macy Chan), Michael (Chairperson of Organizing Committee, Mr Michael Chan), CUHK EMBA alumni and students, business leaders, distinguished guests and friends,

Good evening.

Addressing a room full of Executive MBA students and graduates is both an honour and a privilege. There is a particular kind of ambition in this room — one that is not content with success alone, but driven to understand it more deeply, in the belief that better ideas lead to greater impact.

That kind of commitment — to learning, to growth, to asking harder questions — is precisely what today's conversation is about.

The theme of this conference, which focuses on innovation and agile leadership, could not be more timely. Most of us here have lived through the Internet age and the smartphone revolution, which made communication faster and more seamless than anyone had imagined.

Today, the rise of AI places us at a more fundamental tipping point. Technology is not merely changing the answers — it is redefining the questions themselves.

Consider what is already within reach. An AI assistant can learn your preferences, curate a personalised shortlist, and simply ask for your confirmation. We should even ask whether the smartphone and the search engine will remain our primary gateways to the digital world, or whether something altogether new is already taking shape.

To draw an analogy, the power of technology does not lie in drawing the old map with greater precision. It lies in revealing how much of that map remains uncharted — and in showing us that entirely new maps, with new co-ordinates, are being drawn.

This redefinition is unfolding across three dimensions simultaneously.

First, the redefinition of products. Products are no longer discrete, standalone objects. A smart car is a vehicle, but also a mobile platform for data. An insurance policy can be a contract, but equally a dynamic reflection of health data. Innovation today is born from cross-sector convergence and continuous evolution.

Second, the redefinition of services. Services are no longer delivered solely by enterprises. They emerge from collaborative networks of people and AI. But the more profound shift is in what customers now expect. In the past, good service meant reaching the right person quickly. Today, customers expect a solution that anticipates their needs before articulating them. This requires a new architecture of service delivery: human and machine, with AI handling the scale, the speed, and the personalisation that no human team alone could sustain.

Third, and most importantly, the redefinition of business models. In the past, we sought optimal solutions within established frameworks — when demand rose, we expanded capacity; when service needs grew, we opened more branches. Technology invites us to break out of those frameworks entirely. Intelligent manufacturing means that "economies of scale" is no longer the only answer; flexible supply chains have made customised, on-demand production the new normal.

These three redefinitions are opening a commercial frontier unlike anything we have seen before. But if the benefits of technology accrue only to a small circle, its power remains fundamentally constrained. This brings me to the second message I want to leave with you today: inclusivity.

Inclusivity is not charity. Yet it is the smartest business strategy available. The unmet needs of the broader public represent the largest and most underserved market opportunity in existence. When you make quality healthcare, education and financial services accessible and affordable to ordinary residents, you are not serving a group in need of handouts — you are unlocking a vast market that traditional business models have consistently overlooked.

Hong Kong has a distinctive role to play here. We can be a co-architect of standards, a hub for capital, and a bridge between innovation and real-world deployment — from clinical validation of smart healthcare, to green technology financing, to regulatory sandboxes for fintech. Our contribution draws not only on institutional strengths and international networks, but on our genuine commitment to broad-based participation.

Yet inclusive products and services are only the first step. The deeper dimension is empowerment.

History reminds us that the dividends of technological revolution need to be actively guided to reach the many. In the age of steam, and again in the Internet era, early gains concentrated among capital owners and top-tier talent. But today we have the opportunity to write a different story. AI, as an amplifier of human capability, is already enabling what was previously unimaginable: a solo entrepreneur, with the right tools and the right vision, can build a unicorn.

In other words, the unit of competitive advantage is shifting — from the size of your team to the skill with which you orchestrate your tools.

Our mission should be to make that shift available to everyone. To turn individual readiness into collective prosperity, and to ensure that the productivity gains of AI flow broadly across the society.

This is precisely why, in this year's Budget, I placed such emphasis on the "AI Training for All" initiative.

We are not trying to turn everyone into an engineer. We are ensuring that workers, managers, SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) owners, and ordinary residents become capable collaborators with AI: people who can access it, use it effectively, and put it to work as their assistant.

That may sound ambitious, but consider this: if AI can one day be as intuitive as the smartphone, then mass adoption is not difficult to imagine at all. Just as computers once migrated from specialist facilities into offices and homes, AI will find its way into everyone's daily work and life.

For business leaders, it may be tempting to think of AI as "digital employee" that can replace existing workers. But think of a different framing: equipping your workforce with powerful digital assistants can achieve productivity gains, while also freeing your people to do what humans do best — create, imagine and innovate.

Companies that take those extra steps, and think those extra moves ahead, will find that an empowered workforce is also a more innovative one.

All in all, the power of technology must ultimately be measured by its contribution to inclusive growth. And inclusive growth, in the end, depends on, yes, commercial acumen — but also empathy, compassion, and the conviction that a rising tide should lift all boats. I can see that those qualities live in this room.

I will close with this thought. Someone once joked that economists know the price of everything and the value of nothing. With AI, let us never fall into the same trap — in our race to price every efficiency gain, let us not lose sight of the deeper value we are trying to create: a society where the fruits of innovation are broadly shared, and where technology lifts not just the fortunate few, but everyone willing to reach for it.

So here is my ask: let us grow the pie together. And make sure we cut it well.

Thank you very much.

Source: AI-found images

Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Speech by FS at CUHK EMBA Annual Conference Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images