BEIJING -- The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) on Tuesday adopted a decision to allow law practitioners in Hong Kong and practicing lawyers in Macao to qualify and work as lawyers in nine cities of Guangdong Province on the mainland on a trial basis.

The 13th NPC Standing Committee voted at its 21st session to adopt the decision to authorize the State Council to carry out the trial work in the cities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing, which are all within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The decision allows qualified law practitioners in Hong Kong and practicing lawyers in Macao who have passed a practice examination for lawyers in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and obtained the practice certificate to engage in legal work on the mainland within a certain scope.

The three-year trial work is aimed at implementing the outline development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the service trade agreements between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao that were revised in 2019, according to the NPC Standing Committee.

Implementation details of the trial work will be stipulated by the State Council and be reported to the NPC Standing Committee.