The All China Lawyers Association (ACLA) will host the Global Lawyers Forum from Dec. 9 to 10 in Guangzhou, the capital city of south China's Guangdong Province.

"It is the first time China hosts such kind of global event," Wang Junfeng, head of the ACLA, said at a press conference held Wednesday by the Ministry of Justice in Beijing.

"In holding such an event, China is encouraging and backing Chinese lawyers to march toward the international central stage of legal services as enterprising and confident professionals," Zhou Yuansheng, head of the Bureau of Lawyers' Work with the ministry.

He also called on Chinese law firms and practitioners to improve foreign-related law services amid national efforts of opening up on all fronts.

Around 800 people including government officials, representatives of the judiciary and lawyers from 57 countries have confirmed attendance, the organizer said, noting close to 400 will be foreign participants including heads of international lawyer associations and 22 national associations.

Topics to be discussed cover legal services for the Belt and Road Initiative, technological advance and legal services, cross-border investment, merger and acquisition, international trade and business compliance, international commercial dispute resolution, pro bono legal services and lawyers' social responsibilities, it added.