(Yicai) June 18 -- Shanghai established an expert committee that will advise on legal affairs yesterday to optimize governance of its pro-business environment and attract more international companies to the megacity.

Thirty scholars from the country’s top universities and law schools, such as Tsinghua University, China University of Political Science and Law, as well as the city’s Fudan University and East China University of Political Science and Law, have been appointed to the new committee.

Optimizing the pro-business environment must be a key part of the construction of the legal system that governs dealings between business entities including foreign ones, Liu Xiaohong, the president of Shanghai University of Political Science and Law, said at the ceremony yesterday.

To further integrate into the international market, Shanghai must continue to prioritize opening up and take the initiative in adopting international economic and trading rules, Liu said. The transformation of government functions is also very important to achieve this.

Shanghai also opened a legal research institute, run by the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and East China University of Political Science and Law, yesterday that comprises more than 150 researchers.

The think tank will provide an in-depth interpretation of the World Bank’s business environment assessment indicator system, Luo Peixin, the institute’s first director, told Yicai. This will help Shanghai to better adapt to international rules.

Through the institute, experts from the country’s top law schools can analyze problems in building a better legal framework for the business environment in Shanghai and even China, Luo said.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Kim Taylor