Dr. Akhmetshin, Senior Partner at the Russian law firm Poberezhny & Co., Visits the Platform

Shanghai Cooperation Organization Time  

Hu Kaiqiang, Secretary-General of the Multifunctional Economic and Trade Platform of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States and Deputy Director of the Committee on Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan Affairs, Overseas Chinese Affairs, and Foreign Affairs of the Chongqing Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, extended a warm welcome to Dr. Rustem Ahmetshin and his delegation.

Akhmetshin expressed high appreciation for the platform’s innovative operational model and its achievements in construction and development. He explained that Poberezhny & Partners, a leading Russian law firm, is a member of the international legal networks TerraLex and Taxand. The firm provides comprehensive legal services across Russia, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and overseas. With more than 100 lawyers based in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk, Vladivostok, Nizhnekamsk, and other locations, the firm offers legal support to over 2,000 companies spanning diverse sectors of the economy. Its core practice areas include: corporate crisis management in the context of sanctions; tax law and tax disputes; corporate law and M&A; antitrust regulation; customs law and foreign trade regulation; dispute resolution and mediation; intellectual property and trademarks; labor and immigration law; administrative and criminal defense for businesses; insolvency and corporate crisis protection; real estate and construction; and legal support for investment projects. He expressed the hope that the firm will strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the platform, providing high-quality, integrated legal services to the platform’s relevant working committees and member entities to facilitate cross-border collaboration.

Hu Kaiqiang pointed out that the platform is committed to upholding the “Shanghai Spirit” and thoroughly implementing the resolutions adopted at previous Councils of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Centered on the core mission of “building a new SCO ecosystem characterized by the deep integration of the digital and traditional economies,” the platform leverages industry-specific working committees to bring together market entities of diverse ownership structures, thereby fostering an industrial collaborative innovation ecosystem in SCO member states led by Chinese enterprises serving as “chain-leading” firms. This initiative aims to support local governments in attracting investment and business, break down barriers to cooperation among enterprises of different ownership types, explore the establishment of “SCO standards,” and lay the foundation for a global realignment of productive forces.

Secretary-General Wen Jixu of the platform chaired the symposium.

Representatives from the Chengdu–Chongqing Regional Belt and Road International Technology Transfer Center (Chongqing) attended the meeting and provided an overview of the Center’s operations. Approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in November 2024, the Center is located in Chongqing’s Liangjiang New Area and operates under a “one center, co-built by two locations, with collaborative nodes” model. Supervised by the science and technology authorities of both Chengdu and Chongqing, the Center is accelerating coordination among universities, technology transfer institutions, science parks, research institutes, and technology enterprises across the Chengdu–Chongqing region to establish a multi-tiered international technology transfer system. By 2027, the Center is expected to set up more than 25 overseas technology transfer cooperation hubs, publish lists of no fewer than 250 technological achievements and technology demand items for international collaboration, and facilitate the implementation of 50 international cooperation projects. The Center expresses its hope to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the platform and with Russia’s Poberezhny & Partners Law Firm, jointly promoting innovation and commercialization of international scientific and technological achievements and supporting high-quality regional economic development.

Mr. Ilya Bolotnov, Partner at Pibolaiya Law Firm; Ms. Natalia Stenina, Partner; and Ms. Margarita Okorokova, Business Development Manager of the China Practice Group; as well as Mr. Wang Jianping, Deputy Secretary-General of the Platform; Ms. Jiang Min, Deputy Director of the Project Development Department; Ms. Da Ya, Specialist; Mr. Wu Li, Secretary-General of the Environmental and Resource Law Committee; and Mr. Zhang Zhiyang from Chongqing Maitelais Network Technology Co., Ltd., a member unit, all attended the symposium. During the meeting, the parties engaged in in-depth exchanges on legal service-related issues pertaining to cooperation initiatives in Russia.