A note from Beijing

When states formalise their cooperation, the instrument is called an exchange of notes. In February, Mātai Chambers made its own, in person.

Quentin Duff and Gowan Duff spent 11 February 2026 at the Beijing headquarters of BZW Law Firm, hosted by Vice Director Mu Zhenhui together with Yu Jie and Wang Chuanfeng of the firm's New Zealand office. The day was spent comparing systems: how each country structures its criminal justice process, how a defence is built and by whom, and where the two systems ask the same questions of the state and where they part company.

The practical ground for the visit is straightforward. Economic ties between China and New Zealand keep expanding, and people and businesses now move constantly between the two jurisdictions. When something goes wrong across that border, a client needs lawyers on both ends who know each other, trust each other, and understand how the other system works. The discussions closed with an agreement to pursue substantive collaboration: cross-border legal services, academic exchange, and the development of lawyers in both directions.

For chambers, the visit extends something already core to the practice. Mātai Chambers acts for Chinese-speaking clients in the New Zealand criminal jurisdiction. The Beijing exchange puts working relationships behind that commitment.

The robe stands for the same thing in any language: an independent advocate, owing their overriding duty to the Court, testing the state's case. It was a privilege to compare notes with colleagues who do that work in another system. We intend to keep exchanging them.