China is relaxing rules for foreign lawyers to work in a part of the country that the government is trying to develop into a free trade port to rival the likes of Hong Kong and Singapore.

On July 26, China’s Ministry of Commerce unveiled relaxed foreign investment rules for cross-border trade in services in the southern island province of Hainan. Included in the reform package is permission for local law firms there to employ foreign lawyers as “foreign legal counsel,” starting from August 26.