On October 18, 2021, the Shanghai No. 2 Intermediate People¡¯s Court (the ¡°Court¡±) held a second press conference as part of the ¡°Delivering Solid Results to the People¡± campaign. Guo Weiqing, secretary of the Party Leadership Group, head of the leading group for team education rectification, and president of the Court, issued the Guidance for Lawful Operation in Enterprises, a handbook which offers suggestions to enterprises in the form of red, yellow, and green lights in the three aspects: preventing crime, accepting supervision, and supporting protection of rights. The press conference was hosted by Zhang Xin, member of the Party Leadership Group, deputy head of the leading group for team education rectification, and vice president of the Court.

According to the press conference, the Court has seen addressing the judicial problems of the greatest concern to the people as a major task in the second wave of the education and rectification of the team of politics and law, and responding to issues on the business environment that concern the market players and the ordinary people as an important part of the campaign mentioned above. Through publication of the Guidance for Legal Business in Enterprises, it aims to provide enterprises with more targeted judicial services and guarantees.

Focusing on the areas where disputes are highly likely to occur in the growth and development of enterprises, and on the actual needs of the market players and the ordinary people, the Guidance contains five chapters: Legal Risks in Corporate Fundraising, Legal Risks in Lawful Operation, Legal Risks in Honest Operation, Legal Risks in Employment and Internal Governance, and Legal Risks for Trading in Real Estate.

The Guidance contains 55 tips for legal risks: 18 criminal tips, 15 civil tips, 12 commercial tips, and 10 administrative tips. Compared with the model cases published in the past, the Guidance enhances the role of judicial regulation and guidance through the combination of law and corporate management, which enables enterprise to quickly see the connection between the rules involved in the cases and their own business operations.

The suggestions on doing business are divided into three groups: ¡°red light,¡± ¡°yellow light,¡± and ¡°green light.¡± ¡°Red light¡± means warning against acts that are likely to involve criminal offenses. For example, on the various financial crimes that are likely to occur in fund-raising, the Guidance says that one should raise funds or help enterprises with fund-raising in strict accordance with laws, regulations, and regulatory provisions. ¡°Yellow light¡± means warning against behaviors that are easy to cause administrative punishment or compensation. The Guidance collects problems that can be easily ignored in operation, and suggests that enterprises should improve management and pay attention to details. ¡°Green light¡± means support for enterprises to exercise their rights in accordance with the law and operate in an equal and honest manner. It conveys a message to market players that the people¡¯s courts recognize and respect corporate operation in accordance with the law, which boosts enterprises¡¯ confidence in and stimulates their motivation for development.

Han Ruobing, member of the All-China Youth Federation, deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People¡¯s Congress, and general manager of Shanghai Rouwei Material Technology Co., Ltd., has helped with the writing of the handbook. He said that the handbook can serve as an effective legal tool for improving Shanghai¡¯s business environment. By warning enterprises against the common and unknown legal risks in operation, interpreting relevant cases and laws, and offering business suggestions, it helps enterprises include the awareness of legal operation and risk prevention in their development. It also keeps up with the times to provide a more secure legal environment for people. Lv Yihao, deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People¡¯s Congress, member of the Shanghai Youth Federation, and managing partner of Shanghai Yuehan Corporate Development Partnership (limited partnership), said that the Guidance, which covers such areas as fund-raising, lawful operation, and honest operation, and the entire life cycle of enterprises, is of significance in guiding the practice by offering advice, elaborating cases, and explaining laws to address the new and common issues and issues that can be easily ignored during the operation of enterprises.

Guo Weiqing handed out copies of the handbook to the representatives of participating enterprises.

In the future, the Court will continue to play its judicial role and provide effective judicial services for building a law-based, international, and convenient business environment in Shanghai.