The Secretary for Justice, Mr Rimsky Yuen, SC, will visit Beijing from January 3 to 5 to attend the signing ceremony of the Host Country Agreement and related Memorandum of Administrative Arrangements with the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China.

Under the agreement and the memorandum, dispute resolution proceedings administered by the PCA can be conducted in the HKSAR on an ad hoc basis with the provision of facilities and support services required, without the need for the presence of a permanent physical PCA.

Established in 1899 and located at The Hague in the Netherlands, the PCA is an inter-governmental organisation to facilitate arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution between states.

Also attending the signing ceremony will be the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Mr Liu Zhenmin, and the Secretary General of the PCA, Mr Hugo Hans Siblesz.

Mr Yuen will also meet officials of the MFA's Department of Treaty and Law to discuss issues of mutual concern.

Mr Yuen will return to Hong Kong on January 5.

Ends/Friday, January 2, 2015