Thornhill Academy, a non-profit initiative dedicated to promoting the internationalisation of Chinese legal practitioners, has released a groundbreaking comparative study on artificial intelligence (AI) adoption in the legal sectors of China and the United Kingdom. The report is believed to be the first independent research of its kind focused on the legal AI landscape of China, the world’s second-largest AI market. It offers a rare cross-border perspective on how legal professionals in these two markets are responding to the rise of intelligent technologies.

Drawing responses from nearly 100 legal professionals across a wide spectrum of firms and cities in China, the study offers one of the first empirical insights into how Chinese lawyers and law firms are perceiving, piloting, and integrating AI across both practice areas and operational functions.

The findings reveal a profession in transition. Individual lawyers are moving swiftly to embrace AI in their daily work, yet firm-wide institutional adoption remains uneven. The survey found that nearly 96% of the respondents reported personally using generative AI tools in their legal work, but only 28% indicated regular, firm-wide AI adoption.

Among the platforms used, DeepSeek emerged as the most popular among individual lawyers, with approximately 80% of the respondents noting active use. ChatGPT ranked second with 48%, followed closely by ByteDance’s Doubao and Kimi AI. In addition to popular generative AI chatbots, the survey identified a host of legal AI tools developed locally for lawyers and enterprise users in China, such as MetaLaw, AlphaGPT, Fatianshi and Tongyi Farui.

Legal research is the most common application, cited by 74% of the respondents, followed by contract review and document drafting.

There is a short-term urgency among firms to expand the use of AI, as nearly 45% of respondents said their firms plan to deploy or expand AI tools within the next two years, and another 15% reported plans to do so in the next three to five years. However, despite rising interest, Chinese law firms continue to face multiple obstacles to AI adoption. Respondents identified three primary barriers among Chinese firms - the maturity and reliability of current AI technologies (52%), high upfront investment costs (48%), and data security and confidentiality risks (48%). 

The lack of industry regulation and ethical standards, along with concern over unclear legal liability also featured prominently, reflecting lawyers’ instinctive caution in areas where accountability is ambiguous. 

Meanwhile, current firm-level investments into AI are much lower in Chinese firms compared to their global counterparts. About half of the survey respondents were unaware of their firm’s AI spending levels, suggesting limited transparency and the absence of formalised budgeting processes. Among those who were informed, only 8% reported substantial expenditure exceeding RMB 500,000 (£53,000), with the highest figure reaching RMB 5 million (£526,000).

Importantly, the survey also captured how Chinese legal professionals view AI’s broader impact on the profession — not only in terms of efficiency, but also in reshaping law firm management, redefining skillsets, pricing models and supporting the internationalisation of Chinese legal services.

An overwhelming 81% of respondents believe that AI will enhance rather than replace human expertise over the next three to five years. Most view AI as a co-pilot, accelerating research, drafting, and analysis while leaving complex reasoning and decision-making to lawyers. But 45% predict it will significantly transform legal services delivery, and another 22% foresee potential structural changes to law firm models and lawyer roles.
 

Comparative analysis between China and the UK

Complementing this grassroots view from China, the report offers a unique UK-China comparative vantage point illuminating both shared trends in AI adoption and culturally distinct approaches shaped by regulatory, institutional, and professional norms.

One of the notable differences is where UK and Chinese firms see the most important value of AI currently. Yun Kriegler, lead researcher of Thornhill Academy, said: “Leading global firms increasingly view AI strategy as a key factor for competitive differentiation. Many now offer clients bespoke AI tools co-developed with technology companies, drawing on proprietary expertise and private database. China’s legal sector is still navigating intense homogenous competition. While AI adoption is rising, recognising its value beyond efficiency and improving client services remains at an early stage.”

According to the report, in the UK, innovation and technology transformation in major law firms is often led top-down by managing partners and supported by dedicated innovation teams. There are cases where firms, such as Shoosmiths, are handing out monetary incentives to encourage internal use among staff. Chinese law firms, meanwhile, are still in the early stages of building comparable institutional structures as their international counterparts. They tend to take a more “decentralised” and “bottom-up” approach towards AI adoption. Much of the current momentum for AI adoption is driven by individual lawyers and teams experimenting with generative AI tools rather than from coordinated organisational initiatives.

Yuhua Yang, founder of Thornhill Academy and managing partner of Thornhill Legal, said: “For Chinese firms, the next frontier lies in developing profession-wide ethical guidelines. Ultimately, what differentiates success is not access to AI or how much work can be done by AI, but the strategic integration of human insight, ethical stewardship, and client trust into technology-enabled services. Lawyers and firms in China and elsewhere will all need to redefine the value of legal expertise in an era when legal information and drafting become more accessible and increasingly commoditised.”

While the world is seemingly undergoing a “deglobalisation” path, AI has been increasingly seen as a new engine for cross-border legal practices. The report shows that AI is emerging as a vital enabler — bridging the linguistic, legal, and informational gaps that have long constrained Chinese law firms’ global engagement.

An overwhelming 86% of respondents agreed that AI enhances the efficiency and quality of Chinese firms’ cross-border services, especially in translation and legal research. Another 64% see AI as a strategic enabler of internationalisation, helping firms access foreign legal materials, precedents, and compliance frameworks quickly and cost-effectively.

Looking ahead, AI’s transformative role in cross-border legal practice could reshape international professional collaboration, according to Yang. For Chinese lawyers, AI provides a gateway to global jurisprudence, narrowing the information gap between domestic and foreign firms. For UK practitioners, China’s rapid AI experimentation offers valuable lessons in agility and scale. 

Yang suggested that cross-border cooperation, such as through joint AI research projects, bilingual or multilingual legal datasets, or co-authored ethical frameworks, could define the next chapter in Sino–UK professional exchange. 

“As AI technology matures, its greatest contribution may not be automation, but mutual understanding — connecting legal systems, languages, and professional cultures through intelligent tools,” she said. 
 

Media contact:

Yun Kriegler

Lead researcher of Thornhill Academy

academy@thornhill-legal.co.uk

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