On the morning of November 27th (local time), Cheng Shoutai, Chief Partner of Tahota Law Firm, led a delegation to pay a visit to the Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Almaty. Zhao Chao, Director of the Consular and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of the Consulate-General, together with Consuls Chen Liwei and Ma Wenbin, received the Tahota delegation. The two sides held in-depth discussions on issues such as legal service needs under the background of the "Golden Thirty Years" of China-Kazakhstan relations, consular protection cooperation, and the high-quality overseas development of Chinese-funded enterprises.

At the forum, Cheng Shoutai first expressed his gratitude to the Consulate-General for its long-term care and guidance for Chinese lawyers' "going global" initiative, and reported on the construction plan of Tahota Law Firm’s Almaty Office. He stated that as an important legal service provider in the Central Asian region, Tahota will closely follow national strategies. On one hand, it will actively respond to the call, integrate legal services into the "overseas consular protection" chain, and serve as a strong backing for Chinese citizens and institutions in Kazakhstan. On the other hand, it will give full play to its professional advantages, cooperate with the Consulate-General to support Chinese-funded enterprises in pursuing steady investment, compliant operation and long-term development in Kazakhstan.

Zhao Chao, Director of the Consular and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, extended a warm welcome to the Tahota delegation. During the discussion, he highlighted the concept of "preventive consular protection". Drawing on recent consular protection cases he had handled, he pointed out that some overseas enterprises and citizens still need to enhance their legal awareness. He expressed the expectation that Tahota would strengthen close collaboration with the Consular and Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, intensify legal popularization efforts, and help Chinese nationals avoid risks at the source through professional legal guidance, so as to jointly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens overseas.

Consul Chen Liwei then briefed the delegation on the situation in the consular district. He pointed out that with the explosive growth of China-Kazakhstan economic and trade activities, the demand for foreign-related legal services has become increasingly urgent. He affirmed Tahota’s strategic layout and expressed the hope that the law firm would leverage its professional strengths to serve as a bridge connecting the legal cultures of China and Kazakhstan, assist the Consulate-General in fulfilling its legal support responsibilities, and further enhance the "sense of security" of Chinese citizens and enterprises in Kazakhstan.

Consul Ma Wenbin put forward suggestions from the perspective of industrial upgrading. She emphasized that the investment of Chinese-funded enterprises in Kazakhstan is currently shifting from traditional engineering and labor services to high-end sectors such as digital economy, green energy and mining mergers & acquisitions. She expressed the hope that Tahota could provide forward-looking legal services and adopt a "law-first" approach to escort the steady and long-term development of enterprises.

Bai Li, Executive Director of Tahota Law Firm’s Urumqi Office; Zhai Fangyuan, Managing Partner of its Almaty Office; Ma Chunyan, Gan Jianming, Zhang Tianyi, Zheng Wenwen and Hu Xian, Partners of the firm’s International Legal Center; and Zhou Zheng, Executive Dean of its Institute of Strategic Development, attended the forum as accompanying participants.