China’s legal service sector is growing rapidly, including not only commercial law offices but publicly funded legal aid. In this Feb. 21, 2025 talk at NYU Law School, Hualing Fu, dean of the law faculty at the University of Hong Kong and visiting professor at NYU Law, shares his research into the emerging new sector of “public legal services,” in which the government funds lawyers to resolve social disputes at an early stage. Dean Fu argues that pro bono work in China can serve as a tool of political control, allowing the government to frame disputes in its preferred terms and ensure they are resolved quickly, without any group mobilization.