Recently, the Cross-border Employment Compliance event series, jointly hosted by Anli Partners and the "Cross-border Employment Compliance CEC" WeChat public account, and guided by the Enterprise Compliance Working Committee of the China Enterprise Confederation, concluded successfully. The series brought together nearly 300 participants, including authoritative scholars from Chinese and international legal academia, leaders from relevant government departments, representatives of industry associations, officials from the International Labour Organization, top legal experts from more than 10 jurisdictions across four continents, and senior representatives of multinational enterprises, establishing a high-caliber professional platform for academic research, legal practice, corporate practice, and international multilateral dialogue. The events featured in-depth exchanges on core topics including global labor regulation trends, cross-border employment pain points in various industries, ESG supply chain responsibility, and the development of international standards systems, culminating in industry-specific consensus at the dual-city forums and closed-door seminars.

At the opening session of the Shanghai Forum, Dr. JIANG Junlu, Chief Partner of Puren Law Offices and Vice President of the China Association of Social Law, and MENG Xianming, Managing Partner of Anli Partners, delivered opening remarks. Against the backdrop of global industrial chain restructuring and the high-quality outbound expansion of Chinese enterprises, they elaborated on the strategic value and contemporary significance of cross-border employment compliance. Dr. JIANG Junlu noted that the innovative concept of "cross-border employment compliance (CEC)" proposed by Dr. LUO Kaitian, initiator of this event series, editor-in-chief of the "Cross-border Employment Compliance CEC" WeChat public account, and Partner at Anli Partners and Director of its Labor Law and ESG Professional Center, breaks through the traditional compliance framework of mandatory national labor laws, extending to all aspects of corporate internationalization and global workforce governance, including supply chains and ESG, and represents a critical issue for Chinese enterprises expanding overseas. MENG Xianming proposed that Chinese enterprises going global have entered a new stage of high-quality development, where cross-border employment compliance has evolved from a single legal matter into a core strategic issue affecting corporate competitiveness. He stated that Anli Partners will continue to leverage its professional strengths to safeguard the globalization of Chinese enterprises and jointly build a standardized, stable, and sustainable transnational employment ecosystem.

The Shanghai Forum featured a keynote speech session. Irene Kashindi, member of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) and Partner at MMK Advocates in Kenya, delivered a speech titled "Global Labor Regulation and Enforcement Trends." She observed that in the context of globalization, labor compliance has integrated international labor standards, ESG governance, and supply chain due diligence; the platform economy and artificial intelligence have given rise to new compliance challenges in employment; and there is a significant imbalance in regulatory development between the Global North and Global South. Drawing on the African market, she analyzed the employment pain points of Chinese-funded enterprises, noted that workplace mental health and workers' right to disconnect have become new focal points in global governance, and called for international coordination in addressing the regulatory challenges of new forms of employment. Dr. LUO Kaitian, editor-in-chief of the "Cross-border Employment Compliance CEC" WeChat public account and Partner at Anli Partners and Director of its Labor Law and ESG Professional Center, delivered a keynote speech titled "Cross-border Employment Compliance: International Trends and Corporate Challenges." He pointed out that most enterprises hold a cognitive bias of merely complying with host country laws, systematically reviewed new global trends such as the hardening of ILO standards into hard law, tightening regulation across multiple regions including Europe, the United States, and Southeast Asia, and ESG supply chain penetration, and analyzed the core challenges faced by outbound enterprises in market access, supply chain accountability, and conflicts among multiple regulatory regimes through representative case studies.

The event featured the landmark inauguration ceremony of the Cross-border Employment Compliance Alliance (CECA), bringing together legal professional institutions and senior lawyers from more than 50 jurisdictions worldwide to build a global service network for resource sharing, business collaboration, and regulatory research.

In the thematic sharing session, YE Yongqing, Partner and Management Committee member of Anli Partners, delivered a presentation on "Tax Compliance and Strategic Optimization in International Employment," and YOU Bailu, Partner at Anli Partners, delivered a presentation on "Practical Discussion on Cross-border Compliance of Employee Personal Data."

The forum also featured four roundtable discussions organized by international region. Through high-caliber international dialogue and the establishment of the Cross-border Employment Compliance Alliance, the forum effectively promoted regulatory alignment and practical collaboration in the field of cross-border employment compliance, providing systematic service guarantees for outbound enterprises to address global workforce compliance challenges.

Beijing Forum (May 21): Deep Cultivation of Industry Verticals and Standard Setting

In the opening remarks session, SHI Xiaoyan, Secretary-General of the Zhongguancun International Human Resources Service Alliance and Executive Deputy Secretary-General of the Zhongguancun Talent Association, noted that against the backdrop of profound restructuring of global industrial chains, Chinese enterprises have progressed from exporting products to exporting organizations, talent, and management in all dimensions, and cross-border employment compliance has become a core lever for enhancing global talent allocation and workforce governance capabilities. WANG Qingyou, Managing Partner of Anli Partners, noted that this forum was a flagship brand event commemorating the firm's 25th anniversary, bringing together elite legal professionals from around the world, and expressed the hope that the forum would serve as a bridge to deepen exchanges and mutual learning between Chinese and international legal and business communities, and to enhance practical cooperation in cross-border legal services.

The Beijing Forum featured a keynote speech session. Irene Kashindi, member of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations and Partner at MMK Advocates in Kenya, delivered a speech titled "New Challenges and Responses in the Transformation of Global Employment Models." She provided an in-depth analysis of new forms of employment created by the digital platform economy and regional disparities in the global labor market, interpreted new labor law issues arising from remote work, flexible employment, and AI algorithm-based management, compared regulatory approaches to platform employment and differences in worker classification rules across continents, and explored pathways to balance employee data protection with corporate workforce governance, offering cutting-edge professional reference for cross-border employment compliance by Chinese enterprises. Dr. LUO Kaitian, editor-in-chief of Cross-border Employment Compliance CEC and Partner at Anli Partners and Director of its Labor Law and ESG Professional Center, delivered a keynote speech titled "Cross-border Employment Compliance: International Standards, Local Practice, and Business Opportunities." Drawing on real cross-border labor dispute cases and addressing the differentiated pain points of large, medium, and small enterprises, he proposed a country-tiered management and control approach, constructed a compliance logic integrating multiple regulatory regimes, and presented a full-lifecycle one-stop compliance framework from market entry to continuous optimization.

The event featured the landmark launch ceremony of the new book Cross-border Employment Compliance: Standards and Governance, which consolidates years of industry theoretical research and frontline practical experience, providing a systematic reference template for legal practitioners, corporate compliance officers, and human resources management personnel.

In the thematic sharing session, LAN Meng, Partner at Anli Partners and Director of its Tax Professional Center, delivered a presentation on "Tax Compliance and Strategic Optimization in International Employment," and LUO Wei, Partner at Anli Partners and Director of its Cybersecurity and Data Protection Professional Center, delivered a presentation on "Practical Discussion on Cross-border Compliance of Employee Personal Data."

The forum also featured four industry-specific roundtable dialogues covering pharmaceuticals and healthcare, e-commerce and the digital economy, mineral resources and infrastructure, and new energy vehicles and high-end manufacturing, bringing together top legal experts from multiple countries across Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa to precisely dissect cross-border employment compliance challenges and practical solutions in niche sectors. Through high-caliber international dialogue and deep integration of practical resources, the forum effectively promoted regulatory alignment and industry collaboration in the field of cross-border employment compliance, providing systematic intellectual support and networked service guarantees for outbound enterprises to address global workforce compliance challenges.

Following the extensive exchanges and intellectual collisions of the two dual-city forums, a consensus emerged across the industry: cross-border employment compliance has become an essential foundational capability for the global expansion of Chinese enterprises—no longer a single legal matter, but a strategic proposition concerning corporate brand image, supply chain stability, and long-term sustainable development. Different industries exhibit differentiated compliance demands in going global, and generic compliance services can no longer adequately address the needs of niche sectors; scenario-based and industry-specific compliance governance has become an inevitable trend. Labor regulatory rules, cultural traditions, and trade union systems vary significantly across countries; enterprises cannot simply transplant domestic management models and must balance globally unified governance standards with host country local compliance requirements. Leveraging the global professional network of the Cross-border Employment Compliance Alliance to deepen collaboration between Chinese and international legal and business communities and share multi-jurisdictional practical experience is an effective pathway to break down information barriers in cross-border employment and mitigate compliance risks.

International Symposium (May 23): Top-level Dialogue and Authoritative Release

As the concluding event of the series, the closed-door international symposium on "Cross-border Labor Governance and Global Development" was held in Beijing on May 23, co-organized by the Institute of Labor Law and Social Security Law at Peking University Law School. DAI Xin, Associate Dean and Associate Professor (with tenure) at Peking University Law School, delivered the welcome address. ZHANG Mingqi, Deputy Director of the Academic Committee of the China Law Society and President of the China Association of Social Law; representatives from the Department of International Cooperation of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security; LIU Fei, Deputy Director of the Legal Work Department of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions; ZHANG Wentao, Director of the Employer Work Department of the China Enterprise Confederation; and Chang-Hee Lee, Director of the ILO Country Office for China and Mongolia, delivered remarks in succession, anchoring direction and building consensus for international cooperation and local practice in the field of cross-border employment compliance from the dimensions of legal safeguards, international coordination of labor standards, protection of workers' rights and interests, and corporate responsibility.

In the keynote speech session, Professor Ago Shinichi, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Kyushu University in Japan and member of the ILO Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, delivered a speech titled "Standard Setting and New Frontiers: Achieving Social Justice through Contemporary Globalization." He observed that while international soft law in the field of business and human rights lacks binding force, it clearly delineates the boundaries of corporate conduct and responsibility. He traced the development of corporate social responsibility, interpreted the United Nations tripartite framework of human rights obligations, and noted that the adjustment in the articulation of corporate human rights responsibilities has actually reduced the legal burden on enterprises. Dr. LUO Kaitian delivered a speech titled "Cross-border Employment Compliance: Concept, Paradigm, and System," in which he systematically elaborated on the professional definition and core scope of cross-border employment compliance, established three theoretical pillars—country-specific rule of law, supply chain ESG, and international governance—clarified its value as an independent discipline, and presented the layout of theoretical achievements, global networks, and practical tools, contributing to the construction of a China-driven global discourse system on labor compliance.

The event featured the landmark release of the Research Report on Cross-border Employment Compliance of Chinese Enterprises, covering outbound enterprises across multiple industries and of all sizes, providing a panoramic view of Chinese enterprises' overseas market layouts, employment model choices, and the current state of compliance system development, while precisely identifying prominent shortcomings in compliance awareness, institutional development, and risk response.

Subsequently, three thematic panels were held in succession: "Country-specific Legal Challenges and Management Practices in Enterprise Overseas Employment," "Labor Governance and High-quality Development from the Perspective of ESG and Supply Chain Security," and "International Standards and System Building for Cross-border Employment Compliance." Participants shared cutting-edge perspectives and practical experience from the multi-dimensional vantage points of academic theory, legal services, and corporate management, drawing on rule-of-law practices across different regions including Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

The closed-door symposium concluded with a session moderated by Professor JIANG Ying, Professor at China University of Labor Relations Law School and Vice President of the China Association of Social Law, and summarized by Professor YE Jingyi, Professor at Peking University Law School, Vice President and Secretary-General of the China Association of Social Law, and Vice President of the China Association of Social Security. In her summary, Professor YE Jingyi concluded that cross-border employment compliance is a core operational capability for corporate globalization, that the field has now entered a new phase of global labor governance characterized by overlapping multiple regulatory regimes, that a multi-dimensional tripartite compliance framework must be established, and that this field represents an emerging research direction urgently requiring strengthened interdisciplinary research and professional dialogue between China and the international community. The rich consensus forged at this symposium, grounded in the profound development trends of globalization and integrating international standards, country-specific practices, and corporate governance, achieved an effective alignment among academic theory, institutional construction, and practical needs, injecting strong momentum into the disciplinary development and industry advancement of cross-border labor governance. All participants agreed that this closed-door symposium, by promoting regulatory awareness through high-level think tank dialogue and building consensus for action through deep cross-sector exchange, will powerfully advance the construction of a standardized, inclusive, and collaborative global labor compliance ecosystem, contributing enduring value to the high-quality outbound expansion of Chinese enterprises and global sustainable development.

The three events in this series balanced theoretical depth, industry insight, and practical relevance, achieving in-depth dialogue and experience sharing across regions, industries, sectors, and countries. Going forward, guided by the consensus reached at these events, all parties will continue to leverage the forum and alliance platforms to deepen theoretical research, practical empowerment, and international collaboration in cross-border employment compliance, helping Chinese enterprises build full-lifecycle, end-to-end global workforce governance systems, steadily address multi-jurisdictional compliance challenges, and jointly build an open, inclusive, collaborative, symbiotic, and mutually beneficial new ecosystem for global labor compliance.