On the morning of December 10th, 2015, Lawyer Zhang Zheng, as the legal adviser of China Metal Materials Circulation Association, was invited to participate in the special forum on "Risk and Prevention and Control in the Construction of Steel Circulation Channels" at the 10th China Steel Circulation Promotion Conference and gave a keynote speech.

First of all, Lawyer Zhang Zheng spoke about his macro understanding of the difficulties faced by the steel circulation industry during the "ice age", and gave recognition and support to the issue raised at the forum that enterprises in the entire industry should overcome difficulties together. However, at the same time, Lawyer Zhang also analyzed the legal boundaries that the steel circulation industry should pay attention to when taking measures to cope with the market downturn based on the cases where the bookstore industry had been subject to antitrust penalties, and gave a clear indication of possible legal risks, especially antitrust and unfair competition legal risks.

Secondly, Lawyer Zhang Zheng elaborated his understanding of the prevention and control of legal risks in the field of steel circulation from three aspects: the identification of legal risks, how to treat legal risks in business decision-making, and the methods to resolve legal risks after they occur. Based on the practice experience of his team in providing legal services to enterprises in relevant industries, Lawyer Zhang Zheng focused on the current legal risk prone issues in the field of steel circulation, such as "mutual insurance", "warehouse receipt pledge", "floating pledge", and "pallet trade". Based on his experience as an arbitrator in multiple arbitration institutions such as the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) and the Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC), and hearing similar cases, Lawyer Zhang suggests that steel circulation enterprises must pay attention to the design and expression of the legal framework in the trade process, especially in the contract text. Differences in details may lead to differences in legal nature and liability.

Finally, based on the main types and characteristics of legal disputes in the iron and steel logistics industry, Lawyer Zhang proposed to enterprises that they could consider choosing commercial arbitration, which pays more attention to the autonomy of the parties' contractual intent and commercial transaction practices, as a means of resolving disputes. In response to the issue of the attitude of administrative, regulatory, and judicial authorities to the handling of disputes in the steel logistics industry discussed in the forum, Lawyer Zhang Zheng also suggested that the steel logistics industry itself should strengthen research and voice the industry, so that administrative, regulatory, and judicial authorities can better understand the characteristics and demands of the industry, thereby safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of the industry.   

Lawyer Zhang Zheng's keynote speech succinctly and appropriately addressed the existing risk control pain points of iron and steel circulation enterprises, outlining the ideas and methods for legal risk prevention and control in iron and steel circulation enterprises, which was highly recognized and appreciated by participants and members of the association.

This article is translated by software translator for reference only.