Beijing

AllBright Law Offices

With 100 partners and 300 lawyers, AllBright Law Offices’ litigation and arbitration practice is known for its work in commercial disputes. The firm is often involved in the real estate, mining and metals, and financial services sectors. It is often instructed by international corporations and major domestic enterprises. With a proven track record in litigation, the firm is also growing its presence in the international arbitration scene.

Rui Guo is a key name in the firm, acting as lead partner on most cases related to the banking and financial services, construction, and real estate sectors. Jianfeng Wang and Sheng Zhang are other lawyers to note for both commercial disputes and international arbitration.

The firm’s notable clients include Brother Industries, CITIC Securities, Huawei Technologies and Jiangsu Guojing Holding Group.

Client feedback

“[Good at] communication with customers, providing timely feedback, with precise understanding of specialised knowledge.” – Construction

“[Good at] enforcement.” – Securities

Xiu Liu

“[Good at] providing litigation solutions, interfacing with courts and communicating with clients.”

Sheng Zhang

“With solid legal skills and years of judicial practice experience, Zhang can fully understand the needs of clients and provide targeted solutions. In practice, Mr Zhang responds to clients' needs in a timely manner and can efficiently resolve clients' urgent legal needs, effectively solving business.”

Beijing-based full-service AnJie Broad Law Firm is best known in the disputes field for its international arbitration and commercial and transactions-related work, especially in the insurance sector. Meanwhile, intellectual property litigation has become another outstanding practice area of the firm, with full coverage of patents, trademarks, copyrights and unfair competition.

Key partners in the Beijing office include commercial disputes expert Zhan Hao, Wan Jia and IP partner Liu Qinghui (Nick).

During the research period, the firm acted for the hull & machinery insurer and reinsurer on a more than Rmb1 billion ($138 million) claim against the insured in the largest offshore wind power construction accident in China and advised COSCO Shipping (Qidong) Offshore Co. and its insurance company on an over Rmb300 million claim against ZPMC.

In intellectual property, among the publishable deals, AnJie Broad represented ACON Biotech (Hangzhou) Co. against Sinocare in a very important patent invalidation administrative case before the Beijing Intellectual Property Court. This case is important as it involves two leading big biotech companies in China and the huge blood lipid tester market.

All the international arbitration cases submitted by the firm are confidential.

The firm’s major clients include Alibaba, Bank of Shanghai, Hyundai Insurance (China), National Energy Group Ningxia Coal Industry, Qualcomm, Semikron Elektronik and Sinopec. 

In 2022, the firm hired Wei Cui as a dispute resolution partner and international arbitration expert Chao Yang left the firm and joined Haiwen & Partners.

Client feedback

“Yan Bing's team of lawyers specialises in foreign legal affairs such as maritime, shipping and trade, and has a very complete and professional team in dealing with water-related insurance matters, such as ship collision, cargo insurance recovery, etc, which can respond to the needs of clients in the best time to maximise the effect of loss reduction in cases.” – Insurance

“[Good at] making negotiation strategies.” – Labour and employment

“Professionalism: the lawyers at AnJie & Broad exhibit exceptional professionalism in the field of law, showcasing extensive expertise and precise reasoning. Service: clients can consistently expect top-notch service from them, including prompt responses, regular updates on case developments, and timely communication. Paperwork: throughout the litigation process, they deliver thorough and easily understandable documentation.” – Labour and employment

“They have excellent practical experience, solid legal skills and are able to find clues from the minutiae.” – Labour and employment

“[They are] particularly familiar with the judicial practice and industry experience of the industry we belong to, and provide timely, professional and pragmatic legal advice in conjunction with the clients' needs.” – Technology and telecommunications

Yana Cui

“Very professional.”

Hongquan Yang

“Particularly experienced in the field of data compliance, they are not only specialised, but also well aware of industry experience and provide focused and actionable legal advice.”

Lin Sun

“Very knowledgeable about our business.”

Bing Yan

“Yan Bing's team of lawyers specialises in foreign legal affairs such as maritime, shipping and trade, and has a very complete and professional team in dealing with water-related insurance matters, such as ship collision, cargo insurance recovery, etc., which can respond to the needs of clients in the best time to maximise the effect of loss reduction in cases.”

Siying Chen

“Professional legal knowledge and timely service. Understands the case and is logical. The team helped us win a case that we lost at first instance in arbitration.”

Lei Chen

“Chen Lei's team of lawyers specialises in maritime law, shipping and trade and other foreign legal affairs, and has a very complete and professional team in dealing with water-related insurance matters, such as ship collision, cargo insurance recovery, etc., which can respond to the needs of the client at the first time to achieve the maximum effect on the case to reduce the loss.”

Anli Partners is known for its work in commercial disputes. It focuses on disputes in the fields of securities, equity, investment funds, and so on. The key name is Ji Jun, who specialises in Japan-related disputes.

The firm’s clients are in the automotive, energy, industrials and manufacturing, and TMT sectors and regularly seek out the firm for advice.

In 2022, the firm added 11 partners to strengthen its dispute resolution team.

Established in 2001, C&C Law Firm underwent an official restructuring into a partnership law firm, becoming one of the pioneering partnership law firms in China. With over 20 years of growth, the firm currently employs more than 200 practising lawyers and other legal service professionals.

Operating as a comprehensive law firm, C&C Law Firm has expanded its reach by establishing multiple branches and offices across the country, ensuring a nationwide presence. It offers a wide array of professional services covering civil, commercial, criminal, administrative, labour, and international legal matters, aiding parties involved in various cases.

Key areas of practice include real estate disputes, marriage and family affairs, criminal defence, land expropriation and demolition, and IP disputes.

Beijing Cyan Law Firm is a widely recognised boutique firm in the construction and real estate fields. With years of experience in handling complex disputes in domestic and foreign-related litigation and cross-border disputes, the firm has continuously obtained favourable results on behalf of its clients in large-scale infrastructure work and real estate-related disputes.

Wanhe Ye, Jun Wang and Yinli Gao are leading individuals at the firm and are respected figures in the market.

Although the firm’s case highlights remain confidential, it has handled many significant cases related to construction and real estate issues, such as those involving the South-North Water Transfer Project and the construction of Daxing Airport.

Client feedback

“The team analysed the problems professionally and efficiently, solved many legal problems in the process of litigation and stop payment, and safeguarded our legal interests. Our company is very satisfied with the quality of the team's work, the completion of the results, and the team of lawyers.” – Construction

“The team has rich experience in providing services in construction projects and can provide quick and comprehensive legal advice to resolve many legal issues and disputes in the process of litigation/arbitration and daily contract review, so as to effectively promote the smooth progress of the projects.” – Construction

Yinli Gao

“Able to respond quickly and accurately to any questions asked by customer service. Professional, detailed and trustworthy.”

Wanhe Ye

“Mr. Ye provided comprehensive legal services for many overseas engineering projects of our company, especially in the formulation of strategy, grasping the direction of the important support, really solving the practical problems, and maximising the maintenance of the company's interests.”

“The professionalism, feedback, meticulousness, and big-picture view of Ye are rare. Ye can provide whole-process legal services in many foreign-related projects, including Letter of Guarantee, international arbitration, international negotiation, and daily legal services.”

Jianchao Gao

“As a senior lawyer of Cyan Law Firm, Gao has rich experience in construction engineering litigation and arbitration and possesses profound legal knowledge. Gao is highly competent in handling complex and large-scale construction engineering dispute resolution cases. Gao has a clear logical analysis ability, and can keenly judge the core points of interest in complex evidence and put forward high-quality and efficient strategies and ideas. Gao treats his work meticulously, conscientiously, and responsibly, and can provide professional and high-quality legal services for our company.”

Founded in 1993, Beijing DHH Law Firm is a full-service law firm that was established by DeHeng Law Group. Over the years, the firm has pursued an aggressive expansion, targeting strategic locations throughout the country, and now it has 26 offices across China. The firm’s best-performing areas within disputes practice are commercial, real estate and construction disputes. Its commercial disputes team is active in bankruptcy and insolvency, while the real estate and construction group has experience in representing real estate companies in various contractual disputes.

Key partners in Beijing include Cheng Ji, Hongtao Mao and Yang Lu. They all specialise in commercial disputes.

One of the highlighted cases is its role advising CNPC Offshore Engineering on a commercial litigation involving Iranian tax payment. The accuser is Minsheng Yangjia Shipping Leasing Company. This is a rare case involving a dispute between a central enterprise and a heavyweight private enterprise over tax payment outside China, involving complex tax law issues. The firm also advised Shenzhen Neptunus Group on its invoice issues, which were audited by the Tianjin Taxation Bureau. This case relates to the financial and taxation situation of both parties. The determination of false invoices is complicated and involves complex legal relationships.

In the real estate and construction area, the firm represented China Construction First Bureau against Tianjin Longsha Culture in the dispute about the Tianjin Yitianyuan Project. The amount involved in the case is more than 100 million yuan. The reason for the dispute is that Lonsha has repeatedly failed to make the payment on time. With the help of DHH, the Tianjin court finally supported most of China Construction First Bureau's claims. At present, the case has entered the enforcement stage.

Founded in 2003, full-service Beijing Docvit Law Firm is particularly known for its commercial disputes strength, especially in financial litigation and investigations and corporate and insolvency litigation matters. The firm is also active in construction and real estate disputes, intellectual property disputes and international arbitration.

Guangchao Liu and Guanghu Shi are senior partners of the firm’s dispute resolution team.

During the research period, the firm handled several administrative disputes and acted for various corporations in disputes concerning equity transfer, contractual issues and corporate bond trading. Most cases remain confidential.

During the past few years, the firm has been expanding rapidly by hiring partners from firms such as Zhong Lun Law Firm, Dare & Sure Law Firm and Anli Partners and opened two new offices in the past year.

Client feedback

“They showed high professionalism, strong strategy in litigation and provided good service in legal consultancy services. They are able to provide compliance solutions that fit our company's business reality, can be put into practice, respond quicky, and with innovation.” – Competition/antitrust

“With their professional backgrounds in IP-related sciences and technology and extensive litigation experience, the two lead attorneys are meticulous and patient in answering questions and are always able to provide timely feedback to clients' needs.” – Intellectual property

“[Good at] patent applications, patent re-examination, patent invalidation, administrative patent litigation and patent infringement litigation.” – Intellectual property

“The law firm's lawyers have solid professionalism and strong communication skills. Junqi Wen and his team members have rich litigation experience, as well as human resources, and have dealt with several labour disputes for our company.” – Labour and employment

Yuanxia Liu

“Liu has been working in intellectual property for a long time and is particularly good at handling patent invalidation, infringement and anti-monopoly cases in the area of pharmaceuticals, as well as giving good and suitable advice to enterprises on patent application and evaluation.”

Wei Lin

“Highly professional with strategic thinking and strong communication skills. Highly innovative.”

“Lin has been focusing on legal affairs in the field of intellectual property, competition and antitrust for many years, and has in-depth analyses and interpretations of antitrust compliance, intellectual property compliance and regulatory compliance. In the patent infringement litigation cases, Lin has demonstrated her expertise and professionalism.”

Junqi Wen

“Represented our company in labour arbitration and litigation cases with excellent results.”

As one of the oldest law firms in Beijing, Kangda Law Firm is widely known for its commercial criminal defence practice and has a well-respected commercial disputes practice backed by highly recognised practitioners. Junxi Lu is a key partner in its Beijing commercial disputes department.

Case highlights include acting for Beijing Yiyou Go Culture Communication and Nie Qi Sheng Yuan (Beijing) Culture Development in an infringement case involving personal rights, trademark rights and unfair competition; advising Jiangsu Lilan Group on a private loan dispute against Xiamen Jiayuan Real Estate Development; and acting for a tech company on sales contract disputes involving infringement of the legitimate rights and interests of central enterprises.

Key clients include China Development Bank, China Construction First Bureau, Second Hydropower Bureau and China Resources Gas.

Client feedback

“High work efficiency. High rate of winning litigation cases. Dedicated and professional. High level of professionalism.” – Real estate

Yangcheng Nie

“In the litigation we were involved in, he communicated with the court judge and the opposing party with great professionalism and provided detailed written materials to successfully get the case back for us. We had been unsuccessful in asking for the enforcement money ourselves for four or five years, and it was only with the guidance and help of Nie that we were able to make progress very quickly.”

Headquartered in Beijing, CCPIT Patent and Trademark Law Office’s legacy practice boasts nearly 300 patent and trademark attorneys and lawyers. The enforcement team provides litigation, administrative enforcement and mediation services to clients relating to patent, trademark, copyright, domain name and unfair competition matters. Its practitioners are well-versed in the pharmaceuticals, chemicals and high-tech industries.

Trademark litigator Gang Hu is a key name at the firm and was the lead partner on several cases during the research period.

The firm kept busy representing HC Semitek, one of the largest LED companies in China, in defending an Rmb40 million ($5.5 million) lawsuit filed by San’an Optoelectronics before the Changsha Intermediate People’s Court for patent infringement. This lawsuit between the two largest LED companies in China will have a great influence in the industry and has attracted considerable attention. Another marquee matter had the firm represent Canon in a patent infringement lawsuit involving four defendants who conducted suspected infringing acts as co-manufacturers and co-sellers. The firm also represented video-coding company Xylene Holding in a series of eight patent invalidation cases.

The firm’s recent client roster includes Blue Sky Innovation Group, Grundfos, Julius Blum and Mercedes-Benz Group.

Boutique firm Chance Bridge Partners is most active in the corporate, commercial and financial disputes areas. The firm regularly acts for clients in matters concerning securities, shareholders, construction, foreign-related litigation and arbitration, insolvency and intellectual property.

Yuxiang Hu and Qiang Ye are key partners in its commercial dispute resolution team.

One highlight saw the firm advise Huarong Asset Management company in a Rmb5 billion ($723 million) assets disposal project. During the process, the firm assisted in disputes, restructuring and investment legal work.

The firm also advised on the execution of Huaxin International Trust's notarised creditor's rights documents. In other matters, the firm acted on a dispute over a stock pledge repurchase between CITIC Securities and a listed company; and handled an entrusted loan contract dispute between Ping An Trust and a leading company in Nanjing.

Notable clients of the firm include China Construction Bank, China CITIC Bank, China Minsheng Bank, Industrial Bank and Xiamen International Bank.

In 2022, the firm hired two partners, Yan Zhang and Songtao Yang. In 2021, the firm hired two partners from Zhong Lun Law Firm and one partner from JunHe.

Client feedback

“Professional and responsible [at their work].” – Construction and real estate

China Patent Agent (HK) is an intellectual property boutique with offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as other countries. It provides a full range of IP services to its clients, with expertise in drafting, filing, prosecution, litigation, mediation, licensing, assignment and counselling in the areas of patents, trademarks, copyright, domain names and anti-unfair competition. The firm is one of the oldest and largest IP litigation firms in China.

IP specialists Yuhe Wu, Jingchao Wang and Yanfeng Xiong are key names in the firm.

One recent firm highlight blends elements of intellectual property and biopharmaceutical expertise. On behalf of Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, a Dutch university, and Roger Kingdon Craig, a UK scientist, the team won a favourable second instance judgment from the IP tribunal of the Supreme Court. The case was a hard battle to fight, as very few cases to date have been able to overturn the China National Intellectual Property Administration’s re-examination decisions in patent administrative litigation.

The firm also acted for Darwin Technologies, a European manufacturing company that won its case over an indirect patent infringement in Beijing Higher People's Court. The victory in this case received great attention because Chinese courts rarely support indirect infringement. In addition, the judgment element of aiding infringement has developed greatly in recent years. The entire litigation lasted for six years and witnessed changes in the rules for the establishment of aiding infringement during this period. This case has reference value for future similar cases.

Key clients for the firm include Darwin Technology International, Honeywell International, KPN and Powertech Industrial.

Client feedback

“It's all good.” – Intellectual property

Diana Wu

“[Good at] trademark-related work.”

City Development Law Firm occupies, and some would argue dominates, a construction-focused space in the Shanghai legal market. The firm’s construction team consists of star lawyers with both legal and civil engineering backgrounds. The team has always been in a leading position in the field of construction with a particular forte in infrastructure, public utilities and landmark projects.

Deputy directors Fumin Qiu, Fei Gao and Jingwei Wang are key names to note, while senior partner Peng Huang is a long-time authority in the construction capacity.

In an ongoing contract dispute, the firm is acting for a world top 500 construction enterprise in China in Evergrande’s failure in payment. The firm also acted for a large real estate enterprise affiliated to Fangyuan Group and suing the general contractor, the Fourth Construction Bureau of China, over allegations of overdue completion arising from a commercial housing project. In another matter, the firm represented Yunnan Construction Investment Sixth Construction in an Rmb640 million ($488 million) construction contract dispute initiated by Yunnan Jianqiang Construction Labor Service.

Some of the firm’s recent clients include Henan Jinjian Construction, Shanghai Road & Bridge (Group), Shunjie Construction (Group) and Yangquan Vocational and Technical College.

In 2023, the firm hired one partner Jiao He from Beijing-based Yi An Lawyers.

Commerce & Finance Law Offices is known for its capability in commercial disputes. The firm especially has deep expertise in disputes relating to banking and finance, fund and trust, and international trade. In recent years, the firm has also been covering international arbitration.

Hongji Li is a key partner at the firm’s Beijing headquarters. Qiang Cui is another notable lawyer who specialises in commercial disputes.

During the research period, the firm represented automobile companies Anhui Jianghuai and Chongqing Changan in the EU's anti-subsidy investigation on battery electric vehicles and represented YF Technology Corporation (Thailand)’s response to a US investigation into Thailand's circumvention of anti-dumping orders from China on collated staples.

The firm hired three partners Zhao Li, Dingding Li and Jian Dong from Global Law Office in late 2023.

Client feedback

“The lawyers were professional in the litigation and arbitration process and the outcome was satisfactory.” – Commercial and transactions

Fu Chen

“Represented in a number of civil cases and not only won but recovered the full amount of the case.”

Dacheng Law Offices is widely recognised for its work in commercial disputes, particularly in the banking and finance space. Its construction and real estate dispute teams also play an important role in Beijing’s legal market, offering services that cover a wide swathe of areas, including construction and infrastructure, real estate investment, PPP projects and real estate investment trust funds.

Key figures Huazhi Yuan and Zhibin Zheng are noted for their work in construction and insolvency disputes. Li Tao is a senior partner who specialises in commercial disputes.

In the area of commercial disputes, the team represented Beijing Qingyuan Real Estate Development and Yongtai Real Estate (Group) in a dispute over a joint venture and cooperative real estate development contract with Beijing Taihong Dayi trading company. The case has lasted over 10 years and the Dacheng team has helped the clients prevail in both the first and second trials. Other commercial disputes cases remain confidential.

In government and regulatory, the firm’s clients include China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, China Chamber of International Commerce, Sinotrans and Tencent.

Client feedback

“Their service attitude and litigation strategy are spot on.” – Banking and financial services

“Timely feedback, very professional.” – Labour and employment

“Timely, professional and effective legal counselling services.” – Labour and employment

“Whenever they handle a case, they are always able to analyse the legal issues in depth and explore potential risks. This ability has allowed me to avoid disputes with employees and many future lawsuits. More importantly, they are always gracious in providing legal services. For example, we always receive timely feedback. The members of this team are experts in different fields, which enables them to evaluate legal issues from different perspectives.” – Labour and employment

Eric Wang

“Timely and professional legal advice.”

Xiaoyu Liu

“Great professional and work perspective having left the regulatory sector to pursue a career in finance.”

Yihang Yin

“Yin, as the lawyer who took charge in negotiation on the site, showed his strong commercial negotiation ability. In the commercial negotiation process, he clearly and accurately stated our point of view, refuted the other party's claims with justification, to protect our interests, and fully demonstrated his excellent eloquence, solid legal knowledge base and rapid on-site response.

“He also shows clear logical thinking in contract writing. Based on his rich experience in litigation, Yin carefully and cautiously analysed our needs of collaboration with another party and examined the terms of the contract word by word and sentence by sentence and drafted a contract that was clear and easily interpreted by all parties.

We had a commercial dispute lasted over half a year, and the negotiation process was anxious and repetitive. Mr. Yin Yihang was committed, dedicate, and diligent throughout the whole process, and he joined us working late into the night, or even overnight, and finally contributed to the successful settlement.”

Dianshi Zhang

“The professional ability and conscientious, and the responsible, in-depth, meticulous and rigorous professional attitude demonstrated by Zhang in the course of the case representation is admirable.”

Aoshuang Zhang

“She is an easy-going and intelligent professional. She made me aware of many potential legal risks, so I have confidence in her expertise. Moreover, she always responded promptly whenever we needed something, and even interviewed us to explain the issues to us more clearly.”

Wentao Wang

“Timely feedback, professionalism and clarity of thought.”

Qiang Cheng

“Qiang Cheng is our long-term cooperative intellectual property lawyer, who has represented our company in a series of patent ownership disputes and patent infringement disputes. Cheng has a good background in science and technology, and has the qualification of patent agent. He can precisely understand our company's patented technology and we have conducted much in-depth technical communication and argumentation with Cheng so that he is able to fully express to the court the precise professional positioning and appropriate relationship between the patent in question and the evidence adduced by the other company. Cheng's professional ability and serious, responsible, in-depth, meticulous, and rigorous professional attitude in the process of representing the case were admirable.”

Zhiqiang Zou

“Zou led the team and gave us a comprehensive, beautiful battle. Zou has a deep, solid legal theory foundation, and his case analysis and logical reasoning ability is very strong. In a simple exchange on cases, he can accurately grasp the core focus of the dispute resolution and lead the team diligently and efficiently to provide an effective negotiation strategy and schedule. In the anxious process of negotiation he has a keen sense of negotiation and commercial judgement, and within reason for the fight does not lose a certain degree of flexibility, so that in the end both parties successfully reached a settlement and signed a set of complete and effective commercial contracts, and our interests were fully protected.”

DaHui Lawyers’ dispute resolution team is particularly known for its work in commercial litigation and arbitration, especially cross-border disputes. The firm represents large foreign corporations and domestic entities before important arbitration centres like the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, International Chamber of Commerce and Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Industry leaders in the fields of aviation, energy, tech, manufacturing, IT, automobiles and finance frequently engage the firm for counsel.

Arthur Ma is a key figure within the firm’s dispute resolution practice and has a particular focus on commercial litigation and international arbitration. Xing Wan is another key lawyer to note.

The firm represented China Securities in winning the first-ever (public) judgment, and its appeal, on claims of false statements in private targeted debt financing instruments in the interbank bond market, and representing a state-owned entity and its A-listed subsidiary in protracted legal proceedings across multiple jurisdictions regarding control over a Cayman-registered Hong Kong-listed company.

In early 2023, the firm hired Jue Li from Fangda Partners, who specialises in commercial disputes and international arbitration.

The firm’s impressive roster of clients includes China Huarong Overseas Investment Holdings, Henan Guoneng Huanghe Logistics, SAIF Advisers, a subsidiary of China Railway Engineering Corporation, and other major Chinese and international names.

DeHeng Law Offices is a full-service law firm with a national presence in a variety of practice areas in China. Headquartered in Beijing, the firm has nearly 30 years of history with dynamic dispute resolution practice, particularly excelling in commercial disputes. It regularly acts on securities disputes, shareholders’ disputes, contract disputes and commercial fraud. The firm is also rapidly growing its expertise in the construction and real estate, and intellectual property fields.

Key figures in the Beijing office include Ganghong Sun and Xiongwei Li, who specialise in construction and real estate, and Changbin Chen, who is an expert in commercial disputes.

One case highlight during the research period was the restructuring and insolvency of the Banshan Bandao project, which is a well-known real estate project in Hannan province. The restructuring involves more than 10 enterprises with large assets. As of today, the restructuring and insolvency of Banshan Bandao is the biggest of its kind within the tourism real estate industry in mainland China.

In addition, the firm acted for Shanghai Construction Engineering Group in contract disputes against Golden Eagle Real Estate; and also acted for Haoyisheng Pharmacy against Ping An Health Internet in a dispute over trademark infringement.

In labour and employment, the firm completed dozens of cases. Among them, the firm acted for Xinhua Asset Management in its dispute against an employee over a year-end bonus, with a deal value of Rmb3 million ($0.4 million).

Key clients include China Three Gorges Group, China South-to-North Water Diversion Project and Tianjin Binhai Development Zone Infrastructure Center.

Client feedback

“They handled the recruitment of investors for a bankruptcy reorganisation, and negotiation with creditors and investors, during which they showed strong legal professionalism and communication and coordination skills.” – Bankruptcy

Xiao Guo

“Throughout the whole process of cooperation, Xiao Guo demonstrated his profound professionalism and excellent communication skills. Not only did he know the details of the case well, but he was also able to understand and meet the needs of our company accurately and quickly. His diligence ensured that the case progressed efficiently and achieved very satisfactory results for our company.

“In addition to his professionalism, Guo has excellent interpersonal skills, which made the whole process of cooperation smooth and pleasant. We are very satisfied with the performance of this lawyer and highly appreciate his professional attitude and ability. We look forward to working with him in the future and are confident that he will achieve the results he deserves in the Lawyer Rankings.

“All in all, the lawyer is a trustworthy and recommendable professional whose professionalism and service attitude are top-notch."

East & Concord Partners is mainly recognised for its arbitration work, and many lawyers from its Beijing office are senior arbitrators of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission and other arbitration institutions. The firm is also experienced in commercial disputes and IP disputes, leading several significant cases in various industries such as finance, energy, education and insurance. The firm regularly provides litigation services for central enterprises, financial institutions, and domestic and foreign enterprises.

Qi Zhou and Chaoyi Ji are two key partners in the dispute resolution department of the firm, focusing on commercial litigation and arbitration.

The team acted as the counsel for Coca-Cola Beverage (Shanghai) Co. in an international arbitration against John Bean Technologies SpA (a subsidiary of JBT Cooperation) in Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration. In this case, the physical weight of documentary evidence submitted by Ji’s team was more than 100 kilograms, which was recognised and praised by the client. Also, the firm acted as the counsel for Ms. Lan Zhang and her companies to apply for setting aside arbitral award before the China International Commercial Court (CICC) of the Supreme Court. This is not only the first arbitration judicial review case ever directly tried by the Supreme Court, but also the first application of setting aside arbitral award filed in CICC.

Notable clients include China Banking Association, CITIC Bank, Pacific Insurance Group, Vanke Beijing and Zhejiang Longsheng Group.

Fangda Partners has risen steadily from its Shanghai roots to become a national powerhouse in China and it has also been earning a first-class reputation in the Beijing market. Its Beijing office has hundreds of lawyers with expertise in several practice areas, with prominent strengths in commercial litigation, intellectual property and international arbitration work.

Key figures in the dispute resolution team include Peter Yuen, Peibing Qi, Alexandra Pu Yang and Helen Shi.

Most cases submitted this year remain confidential. However, over the past few years, the firm has represented Shanghai Jinxin Investment Advisory and Everbright Jinhui Investment Management (Shanghai) to bring a lawsuit against a PRC-listed company, Baofeng Group, and its actual controller before the PRC Supreme Court; and represented Cinda Investment in court litigation over a contract dispute involving a real estate development operation dispute against a listed general merchandise company and its subsidiary.

In intellectual property, the firm acted for Apple in a series of litigations against iRobot. The main case before the Shanghai High Court involves the highest damages request so far in all IP fields in China. Also, the firm represented NavInfo, a market-leading Chinese navigation software and map company, on its successful copyright infringement claim against three Baidu companies found to be using “substantially similar software” without permission. The Beijing Intellectual Property Court awarded NavInfo Rmb64.5 million ($8.9 million) in damages. It is the highest damages award for copyright infringement cases in China to date.

Moonton, Alibaba Group, Giorgio Armani, Nanjing Skytech Technology and Watson Pharmaceuticals are the firm’s other key clients.

Client feedback

“Firstly, the team has excelled in the work of administrators in the reorganisation of large and medium-sized enterprises, as well as in the advisory services for creditors and investors of reorganised enterprises. Secondly, the team has achieved very good results in its research of legislative reform of reorganisations, the sorting out of judicial practice, and the annual summaries of the industry. Thirdly, the team has put in efforts to achieve results in the management of administrators' committees, and in the setup of administrators' teams. Fourthly, the team has performed well in supporting higher education institutions to carry out research on the theory and practice of bankruptcy law and academic exchange activities, reflecting a strong sense of social responsibility. Lastly, the team has performed well in its own team-building and the absorption and cultivation of new talents.” – Bankruptcy

“Fangda has extensive experience in commercial dispute resolution, both in domestic disputes and international arbitration, demonstrating its exquisite professional ability and sensitivity to business thinking. Fangda has a wealth of legal service experts around the world, who are fluent in both English and Chinese, with a global perspective and expertise across multiple legal disciplines.” – Commercial arbitration

“[Good at] coming up with litigation strategy and response in court.” – Intellectual property

“Guided our company to prepare the relevant information for arbitration and represented our company in court to complete the work of responding to the lawsuit.” – Labour and employment

“Achieved good results in responding to disputes.” – Labour and employment

Yixin Huang

“Prepared all the information for the labour arbitration and attended the labour court.”

Yang Liu

“A solid legal professional with the ability to give timely, on-point feedback to clients, very good at domestic and international dispute resolution, and with realistic business logic.”

Xueqing Liu

“Meticulous work, high level of professionalism, very comfortable communication.”

Xiaxia Zhou

“[Good at] case analysis and preparation of information prior to responding to a case.”

Bo Zhou

“He would refer us directly to the professional law firms that are responsible for our cases, and he will professionally answer case-specific questions from our group headquarters.”

Nuo Ji

“Ji has served as the president of the Shanghai Lawyers Association for many years, and currently serves as the director of the bankruptcy and restructuring committee of the All-China Lawyers Association and president of the Shanghai Bankruptcy Administrators Association, etc. He has made positive contributions to the development of the industry and the construction of the team of administrators; he has actively supported the exchanges between colleges and universities and practical experts; he serves as the head of the administrators of a number of large-scale enterprise reorganisations in Shanghai and the restructuring of the country, and he actively establishes cooperation and exchange mechanisms with international legal service organisations.”

Hong Shi

“Professional ability is exquisite, with rich experience in foreign-related legal affairs, sensitive business logic, fluent in English and Chinese, and at the same time, can help clients coordinate and recommend the most suitable legal experts in the world.”

Wen Zou

“Represented our company in IP cases, provided litigation strategies from the perspective of the whole business, very familiar with the domestic judicial environment, and handled cases with great delicacy.”

Gen Law Firm is a newly founded boutique law firm that focuses on intellectual property practice. The firm has solid experience in patent and trademark areas and covers the full spectrum of sectors, including automotive, banking and financial services, wireless communications, semiconductors, computing, medicine, retail, publishing, software, sports, chemicals, social media and advertising.

Jing He and Kefeng Zhao are key contacts at the firm.

Case highlights include representing Beijing Baocaisheng Catering Management Company in trademark infringement and unfair competition disputes; advising on a series of trademark infringement and unfair competition litigation cases for American Sentry; and acting for Mingyang Smart Energy Group in a trade secrets case.

Client feedback

“They could establish a regular rhythm to inform the client of progress or lack of thereof.” – Intellectual property

Global Law Office’s litigation and arbitration practice has a good reputation in commercial disputes, including antitrust and competition, finance, insolvency and real estate-related litigation. The Beijing office mainly specialises in representing international companies in foreign-related commercial litigation, and complex transactional disputes.

Yifeng Gao is a key partner at the firm who specialises in international trade, commercial contracts and corporate matters. Jingye Jiang is another name to note who is active in international arbitration disputes.

The firm’s disputes capability is among the most highly respected in the market. During the research period, the firm acted for a listed education group company on cases in three jurisdictions with a total dispute value of more than Rmb2.1 billion ($290 million) and represented a state-owned asset management company on a Rmb1.27 billion enforcement case.

In the IP field, the firm advised the Yoovidhya Family, the owner of the “Redbull” trademark, on the Red Bull gold can trade dress dispute; and represented AstraZeneca in its patent infringement litigation appeal proceedings before the Supreme People’s Court against generic manufacturer Jiangsu Aosaikang pharmaceutical company.

In government and regulatory, the firm acted for seven Chinese leading pharmaceutical industry associations to carry out the evaluation of compliance management practice for Chinese enterprises.

Key clients include Adidas Sports, Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, Hang Seng Bank, Red Bull, Budweiser and OPPO.

In 2023, the firm hired nine partners from firms including TianTong Law Firm, Baker McKenzie FenXun Law Firm, King & Wood Mallesons, Grandall Law Firm, SD & Partners and Zhong Lun Law Firm.

Client feedback

“[Did well] in collection of litigation-related materials, initiating litigation strategy and communication with clients.” – Construction

Kai Xiao

“Did well during the whole process of litigation services.”

Grandall Law Firm’s Beijing dispute resolution team consists of 30 partners and more than 100 lawyers and fee earners. It is best known for its commercial disputes work, covering from arbitration, banking and finance, and equity capital markets to aviation, real estate, competition and insurance.

Senior partner Zhengyu Yang is a key partner who specialises in commercial disputes.

During the research period, notable cases include acting for the Taiyuan branch of China Merchants Bank against Shanxi Property Group in a dispute over the right of recourse of negotiable instruments; acting for Guizhou Kaili Rural Commercial Bank against the Nantong branch of Hengfeng Bank in a dispute over the negotiable instruments financing; and acting for China Huateng against Shanxi Jianbang Group and Shanxi Tongcai Industry in a circular trade dispute.

Client feedback

“The law firm has served our company's contract review work for a long time, and has extensive experience in handling aviation leasing, purchase, equity transfer and other types of contract review. Feedback is fast and opinions are comprehensive. In addition, the firm is also responsible for our company's business consultation and claims dispute settlement and it is very familiar with relevant laws in the aviation industry. The combination of professional legal affairs and business legal advice helps our company solve many problems.” – Commercial disputes

Dispute resolution is one of the core practice areas of Grandway Law Firm and it is particularly good at handling commercial disputes. Gang Xie heads the dispute resolution team at the firm.

The firm submitted a few confidential cases but showcased its capabilities in handling complicated issues.

Client feedback

“[Good at] case fact mining and law and regulation search. Solid preparation of litigation materials. Flexibility in court hearings.” – Commercial and transactions

“[Good at] commercial dispute resolution.” – Commercial arbitration

“Xie Gang's team of lawyers is very familiar with a series of processes in commercial arbitration, familiar with the law and the rules of adjudication, and has the ability to provide a quick solution to resolve disputes.” – Commercial arbitration

Liaoyuan Liu

“Understanding of clients' needs; legal services are professional and in place.”

“Smooth communication, urgency and responsiveness.”

Gang Xie

“Responsive legal services from the client's perspective.”

Gaojuqi Zou

“He did a lot of preparation on the excavation of facts and evidence materials of the case before the trial, and has rich experience in professional knowledge and practice, and provides legal advice not only from the theory, but also combined with the practice.”

The litigation and arbitration department of Guantao Law Firm is widely recognised by its peers. The firm handles a variety of complex disputes matters, being especially known for commercial and transactions-related disputes, such as high-value, complex corporate and commercial disputes, and insolvency, as well as regulatory matters.

Leiming Sheng and Shaosong Sun jointly lead its disputes team, with expertise in commercial and construction disputes as well as antitrust and arbitration. Wei Jiang is also singled out for his work in the construction space.

Key clients include Ping An Property Insurance, Shenzhen Bi'an Trend Technology, SZ DJI Technology and Walmart (China) Investment.

Client feedback

“Good job on professional competence and financial literacy background.” – White-collar crime

“Good grasp of the client's needs, the overall feeling is to work from the heart. The team does not exaggerate the function of their own lawyers, do not rush, more down-to-earth.” – White-collar crime

“Good understanding of the relevant laws and regulations in Hong Kong and China, providing very practical, professional and systematic legal advice to the company's practice in the two jurisdictions.” – White-collar crime

“Provided professional advice. Very dedicated to solving customer problems and service.” – White-collar crime

“Professional and attentive, dedicated and considerate, with the intention of helping the client to solve many problems.” – White-collar crime

Ping Liu

“Liu led his team to build an anti-corruption and anti-fraud compliance system for the client from zero to one, tailoring a practical system. The team has been instrumental in helping to the client build a practical anti-corruption and anti-fraud compliance system.”

“Listening carefully to customers' needs and explaining relevant programmes in detail.”

“Gave professional and high-quality legal counselling services, with a high degree of responsibility and professionalism, and superior logical thinking skills.”

“Provided professional and in-depth legal advocacy, experienced and professional. Communication with clients is good and efficient.”

“Put himself in the shoes of his clients and solved difficult legal problems.”

“Highly professional, very dedicated, strong problem-solving skills, open-eyed and multi-faceted thinker.”

“Responsible, professional and dedicated.”

“Careful and professional presentation of various legal provisions.”

Beijing-headquartered Hai Run Law Firm was formed in January 2018 by the merger of two former longstanding firms, Beijing Hairun Law Firm and Beijing Tianrui Law Firm. Hai Run Law Firm is now home to more than 300 lawyers across six offices in China. Its dispute resolution team is active in several practice areas, such as commercial, intellectual property and insolvency.

Notable firm contacts include managing partners Jinlong Zhou and Huiyuan Luo, who specialise in commercial disputes matters.

Last year, the firm advised Huadian New Energy Development Co., one of the largest new energy power generation operators in China, in series of disputes. Also the team advised China Nuclear Investment on a financial loan contract dispute with China Nuclear (Pingtan) Science and Technology Park Investment Partnership Enterprise, Beijing Shunhua Real Estate and Bank of Beijing. This case will be a precedent for other similar cases if the plaintiff wins, given that cases of this kind are rare, despite support found in laws and regulations.

The firm has many notable clients in banking, including Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, Minsheng Bank, Hua Xia Bank and China CITIC Bank.

Haiwen & Partners has a wide range of experience across commercial litigation and arbitration relating to the banking, construction and manufacturing industries. The firm is also active in intellectual property disputes.

Key individuals include Chao Yang, Huijuan Sun, Fan He for commercial disputes, and Qiang Ma for IP disputes.

One of the commercial and transactions case highlights over the research period sees the firm advising a wholly owned subsidiary of a large-scale state-owned enterprise (SOE) in a dispute arising from a cooperative development agreement. This case involves an SOE official’s abuse of power, potential challenge of the announcement of a listing company and the risk of losing a large amount of state assets.

Notable clients are AVIC International Aviation Development, Poly Mining and Mercedes-Benz (China).

Client feedback

“The workflow is professional and meticulous, and the preparation of pre-case search is very detailed. The lawyer in charge communicates with the client in a very timely manner and responds quickly to the client's questions and requests. Litigation materials are clearly written.” – Commercial arbitration

Huijuan Sun

“She has solid legal knowledge, professional skills and rich practical experience, and has a comprehensive and profound understanding of laws and regulations. We are able to provide strong legal support and high-quality legal services by skilfully applying legal provisions.

“She possesses a high degree of integrity, in the process of representing our cases she is able to provide legal advice honestly and truthfully to the client, and she will not conceal the actual situation of the case or give false promises to the client.

“She has a high degree of responsibility, in the process of representing our cases she does her utmost to strive for the best results for our company. At the same time, she can also take the initiative to take responsibility for timely communication with us, solve the problems in the case, and be responsible for the results of the case processing. The starting point of all her work is the interests of the client, in order to maximise the interests of the client.

“She has a rigorous work attitude and high sense of responsibility. Good at communication and coordination, with good interpersonal relationship and handling ability. Not only can she keep close contact with us and take the initiative to pass on the progress of the case, but also cooperates closely with various judicial organs and relevant experts to form a synergy to solve the problem.

“In court, she was able to accurately grasp the timing of the trial and calmly deal with various defence challenges, fully demonstrating her professionalism and excellent defence skills. In the defence, she was able to analyse the evidence rationally and objectively, refute the other side's viewpoints forcefully, and strove for favourable conditions for the success of the case through reasonable arguments.

“She provided timely and generous advice and explanation of laws and regulations related to the case.”

Han Kun Law Offices has grown from its Beijing origins and has pursued an aggressive development. It has rapidly expanded the number of lawyers and is recognised in various industries, such as telecommunications, healthcare and retail. It is especially well known for its high-quality work and regularly advises clients in commercial disputes, especially in the field of private equity and venture capital.

Notable figures within the team in Beijing include commercial guru Yaxing Zhang and Dong Liu, and IP expert Yan Wang.

In the past 12 months, highlights include representing a leading Chinese furniture manufacturer in litigation with a Chinese investment company and a Cambodian manufacturer. As the dispute involved parallel proceedings in different jurisdictions – i.e., the client sued the manufacturer in Cambodia and the manufacturer's shareholders in mainland China – the team needed to assist the client in coordinating the proceedings in mainland China and Cambodia at the same time.

The team also represented a large trust company in obtaining first- and second-instance judgments in financial litigation with a well-known entrepreneur and companies controlled by the entrepreneur with a subject matter exceeding $1.7 billion.

In the government and regulatory space, the cases submitted this year remain confidential. During the past few years, the firm has conducted anti-fraud compliance investigations on behalf of a listed biopharmaceutical company against several APP operators who misappropriated the client’s identity and logo to solicit public fund raising. In another case, the firm represented a global industrial automation device manufacturer in its internal compliance investigations into the possible misconduct by several senior managers of the client’s subsidiary in China.

On the IP front, the firm acted for clients such as OPPO, Umicore and Baidu in their IP rights infringement cases.

In January 2022, the firm announced its merger with Shanghai Young-Ben Law Firm, where all its partners, business departments, and administrative teams joined Han Kun Law Offices. The firm has also grown in its geographic footprint, with new offices in Haikou and Wuhan and internationally in Hong Kong and Singapore.

Litigation clients include Guizhou Moutai Winery Group Technology Development, Proof Glass (Shenzhen), Samsung, Shenzhen Xuanyu Technology, Sino-Maple (Jiangsu) and Umicore.

Notable clients include Baidu, Estée Lauder, Kraft Heinz, Sandvik and Sohu.

Client feedback

“In terms of recommending lawyers to clients, they recommend lawyers who are in line with our company's business development and suitable for our company’s type of dispute resolution. In terms of serving clients, they are professional, rigorous and conscientious.” – Commercial and transactions

“They are good at litigation strategy, preparation of documents, collation of evidence, negotiation and keeping track of the process and risk control.” – Commercial arbitration

“Strong legal expertise and the ability to provide a more comprehensive programme to assist clients in achieving their commercial objectives. Good sense of service, with a user's perspective. They keep track of the latest practice of the industry, able to output professional views. Well-established system, with influence on the lawyer industry.” – Commercial arbitration

“Litigation lawyers are experienced and can accurately control the key issues of the case from the dispute resolution perspective and are able to better integrate the adjudicator's perspective into the case-handling work, making the case twice as effective. In terms of evidence organisation, screening and cross-examination, the team has a unique perspective, which not only helps us to eliminate unsuitable evidence materials, but also digs out the evidence submitted by the other party to prove matters in our favour. With the team's rich experience in handling cases and excellent ability in practice, the team has successfully assisted us in reversing an unfavourable situation in several complex dispute resolution cases and obtained praiseworthy work results.” – Construction

“Solid team expertise, quick feedback and understanding of the banking business.” – Labour and employment

“The legal advice provided was very professional and relevant and practical.” – Labour and employment

“Provided professional advice and timely response to client needs.” – Securities

“Answered questions professionally and patiently.” – Securities

“Able to provide relevant in-depth counselling advice relevant to the client's business situation. Provides advice with care and patience, and issues legal documents with a high degree of professionalism. Good interpretation of legal requirements and policies in specific areas and abundant industry cases to provide customers with all-round guidance.” – Technology and telecommunications

Founded in 2010, Hengdu Law Firm is a comprehensive law firm that provides various legal services in 47 practice areas. The firm hosts more than 600 attorneys with 42 offices across China, which positions it to properly serve both domestic and international clients. The firm mainly devotes itself to commercial and transactional disputes, particularly active in areas such as capital markets and corporate and M&A.

Founding partner Fengtao Jiang specialises in litigation and IP and senior partner Chao Xi is an expert in commercial transactions and construction-related disputes.

During the research period, the firm acted for Nanjing Kuozhi against Xiamen Runjing in investment agreement and repurchase agreement disputes; and also acted for Henan Haiyun against Eagle Property and Eagle Real Estate in a premises lease agreement disputes.

Notable clients include Sinopec, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Construction Bank, CITIC and China Construction Bank.

Client feedback

“The feedback is timely and problem-solving ability is professional, and also the service attitude is very good. Overall, the firm can effectively solve our doubts and problems.” – Intellectual property

Hylands Law Firm is a full-service firm founded in 1990. With more than 20 offices in China, the firm serves its clients across commercial litigation, IP disputes and construction and real estate disputes.

Partner Yu Xu is a key individual in the firm’s dispute resolution practice and has extensive experience in commercial disputes, especially active in banking and finance-related matters.

During the research period, the firm represented Tahoe Investment Management (Kunshan) on an Rmb1 billion ($138 million) corporate bond transaction dispute against Shaoxing Zhongfu Holdings and Jinggong Group. The firm also acted for Shanghai Pangzeng Investment Management Center in a contract dispute case against Guangzhou Ruifeng Group.

Beijing Construction Engineering Group, Huzhou Ronghui Jiaheng Finance Leasing, Suzhou Gold Mantis Construction Decoration and Xinyi Investment Management Consulting (Tianjin) are key clients.

Full-service firm Jincheng Tongda & Neal represents a diverse group of clients in key litigation areas, such as commercial litigation, international arbitration, real estate and construction. The Beijing headquarters is especially active in finance, investment and general business-related disputes.

Zhen Zhao is one of the key contacts to note in its Beijing office and he mainly focuses on commercial disputes and construction and real estate. 

The firm has represented several influential cases, including representing Kangdexin Composites Group in the case of Rmb12.2 billion ($1.7 billion) misappropriation of funds dispute with Bank of Beijing and Kangde Investment Group. This case involves the issue of what kind of liability the Bank of Beijing, as a cash manager, should bear in the situation of Kangde Group, as a controlling shareholder, illegally occupying the funds of listed company Kangdexin Composite Materials Group Co. The case is of positive significance for the improvement of the regulatory system of China's financial capital market.

The firm’s key clients include Fivestar Holdings Group, Guangzhou Yunshuo Technology Development, Hanlin Hui Information Industry and Tianjin Haitai Investment Guarantee. 

Client feedback

“Responsible, good service, effective communication with the court, provided feedback at all stages of the proceedings.” – Intellectual property

“Good strategy preparation, evidence collection and performance in court.” – Intellectual property

Wei Liu

“Liu led all the cases and is very responsible, as can be seen from the preparation of evidence, preparation for court appearances and preparation of post-court opinions, all of which are very heartfelt.”

Haitao Sha

“Before the trial, he was very patient and methodical in sorting out the case; during the trial, he was well reasoned and talked about the case; after the trial, he actively prepared the materials required by the court and actively communicated with the court.”

Qihang Wang

“He provided timely feedback. From the drafting of the litigation strategy to pre-trial preparation, to the court feedback and communication with the court, he can provide a one-stop service.”

Jingtian & Gongcheng’s Beijing headquarters has won praise from the market as one of the leading commercial disputes firms. Its litigation team specialises in resolving legal matters relating to trade, investment, corporate business, finance and insurance. The firm is also growing its presence in the real estate and construction space.

Partner Chungang Dong is a key name within the dispute resolution group, and he is known for his capability in commercial disputes and international arbitration.

Among the general commercial disputes, the firm represented China High-Speed Railway Technology Co. in filing an arbitration against Henan Province Luozhou Border Highway Co. at the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, at which the case was decided fully in the client’s favour. In another case sample, the team advised Shandong Gold Mining on the antitrust filing in respect of its acquisition of Yintai Gold. This case shows the latest position of the State Administration for Market Regulation on the gold mining industry and is expected to have a profound impact on the definition of relevant markets in the future antitrust filings of Shandong Gold and other similar gold mining enterprises.

In intellectual property, the firm represented CATL in an infringement of patent rights case with China Innovation Aviation Technology Co. and won the first instance judgment with a total award of Rmb14.16 million ($2 million).

On the international arbitration front, the team successfully secured dismissal for Zhong De Security in its securities fraud litigation arising from notable disclosure violations committed by Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp., Beijing, and represented it in administrative investigation procedures. The financial fraud of Leshi, which lasted for 10 consecutive years, has made the case more profound and complex than others of its kind.

During the research period, the firm welcomed several new partners: Yanping Nie, Ganlin Lin, Yi Xu, Yingyuan Xue and Bei Wang.

The firm’s litigation clients include Aha Entertainment (Shanghai), Beijing Huaye Capital Holdings, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Guangdong Chigo Air Conditioning and Guangdong Guangzhou Daily Media.

Client feedback

“[Good at] patent search and good performance in court.” – Intellectual property

“The work was good, especially the expertise shown in the analysis of arbitration strategies and the search and selection of expert witnesses.” – International arbitration

Chunhui Fang

“Fang has a professional and technical background.”

Ke Hu

“Hu has a very good understanding of the international arbitration process and is very good at analysing the strategy of an arbitration case, etc. Although he would be appearing in court against the KC barristers in the UK, Hu actively expressed his own understanding of the case. He worked together with the KC barristers to make a proposal that will be most beneficial to the client in the face of the lawsuit.”

JunHe, a Beijing-headquartered full-service law firm, is highly regarded for its commercial and intellectual property disputes. The commercial disputes team regularly acts for banking, investment, and insolvency litigation matters, while the IP team is active on trademark, copyright and anti-unfair competition.

Key partners include commercial dispute specialists Yanli Zheng and Weining Zou, Elvis Zhou as well as labour and employment practitioner Hongjuan Bai.

The firm’s involvement in commercial disputes include representing a geothermal energy development joint venture between a Sinopec subsidiary and Iceland's Arctic Green Energy in petitioning for administrative reconsideration, to successfully withdraw the local government's administrative decision to rescind the franchise agreement and revoke the administrative licence for franchise. The firm also assisted Golden Arche in winning the second instance of a lawsuit regarding environment protection and public welfare.

On the IP front, the firm represented tech giant Amazon in the final trial of the patent invalidation case before the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court. The firm’s patent team received two final judgments from the Intellectual Property Court of the Supreme People's Court, which upheld two invalidation decisions made by the Patent Re-examination Board of the State Intellectual Property Office and the first instance decisions with respect to such invalidation decisions made by the Beijing Intellectual Property Court and upheld the invalidation of two patents of a non-practicing entity company.

The firm’s dispute resolution team has had a noticeable growth in the past few years, with Xiao (Arthur) Dong and Huili (Vicky) Zhao joining from AnJie Broad Law Firm as partners, Jia (David) Gu joining from TianTong Law Firm, as well as Zhengdong Liu and Chenghao Li who joined from MHP Law Firm as partners. Partners Chenguang (Leon) Liu and Bo (Carol) Sun from YuandaWinston complete the recent additions. The firm’s IP team, additionally, has welcomed Junlin Pan from Mingsu Law Firm as a partner.

The firm’s recent client roster includes Xiaomi, Export and Import Bank of China (Jiangxi branch), JLG Industries, Mendes SA and Oceanwide Holdings.

Beijing-headquartered JunZeJun Law Firm is a full-service law firm that has a total of 19 offices in China. Its dispute resolution team is active in commercial and contract-related conflicts, cross-border matters, local arbitration proceedings and government procurement disputes.

In its Beijing office, notable key contacts include partner Weigang Shi, who is active in commercial disputes matters, and managing partner Xiuming Tao, who is active in financial litigation and international arbitration.

During the research period, lawyers who have joined the firm as partners include Qixiao Cai, Zekai Xiong and Dai Han.

Notable IP clients include Dyson Technology, Guangzhou Duoyi Network, Guangzhou Ewan Network Technology and Shanghai Ewan Information Technology Group.

King & Wood Mallesons maintains its position as one of the dominant players in China’s legal market, and its Beijing headquarters is highly praised by peers and clients. The Beijing litigation teams are particularly sought after by major domestic and international banks, leading financial institutions, government-linked companies and other multinational companies in China. The firm is also well-recognised for its work in international arbitration, asset management and securities litigation and compliance.

Key Beijing partners include commercial disputes partners Shouzhi Zhang and Yuwu Liu and IP disputes partners Zhongsheng Li and Jing Xu. 

During the research period, the firm represented a few companies on disputes arising from misrepresentation in the securities market and dozens of contract and loan disputes.

In government and regulatory, the firm advised a Chinese bank on handling the ESG investigation initiated by the Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), the environmental and social responsibility supervisory body of the World Bank Group. This case is the first in which the CAO has received complaints against a Chinese enterprise and involves IFC’s largest and most controversial equity investment in China.

In international arbitration, the firm acted for Chinese public education institution CEIBS Publishing Group as the claimant against Chengwei as the counterclaim respondents in a United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (arbitration administered by HKIAC concerning a dispute arising from a quitclaim that was executed in a cross-border composite transaction. This case also involves court proceedings and winding-up procedure in Hong Kong and potential PRC court proceedings in parallel with the arbitration.

KWM's clients include PRC companies, international companies, large financial institutions, and governmental and non-governmental organisations.

Client feedback

“They are professional and also provide additional services such as free training.” – Commercial and transactions

“The dispute resolution team is very professional and their level of understanding of products is at the forefront of the market.” – Commercial and transactions

“Professional service and timely feedback. Ability to consider issues from the customer's point of view.” – Commercial and transactions

“In the field of intellectual property, there is a comprehensive one-stop IP service, which can provide excellent lawyers in various fields and specialties in the entire chain to provide overall solutions. The lawyers who provide services are patient and meticulous, with high professional standards.” – Intellectual property

Jia (Jessica) Fei

“She is able to consider problems from the client’s perspective and provide prompt responses.”

Feng (James) Guan

“Coordinated KWM's overall resources to assist clients.”

“Lawyer Guan is very professional and he is one of the best lawyers when it comes to handling disputes over derivatives.”

Dongxia Xia

“She has the ability to resolve legal issues related to business and lawsuits for small and medium shareholders.”

Lantai Partners is a Beijing-based full-service firm dedicated specifically to commercial and financial litigation legal work. Its dispute resolution practice covers various types of contractual disputes, commercial and corporate disputes, bank loans and guarantee disputes, and construction contract disputes. The firm has also established a compliance department, which is a cross-departmental team dedicated to the legal work of compliance-related research and businesses.

Xiaomin Yao and Qing Wang are key figures for commercial disputes. 

Some of the commercial disputes during the research period include acting for CNNC Jianzhong Nuclear Fuel in a contract dispute against Sichuan Xinpeng Real Estate Development; advising the Xiamen branch of China CITIC Bank on a series of financial loan contract disputes against Xiamen Yuansheng Real Estate and Xiamen Yongrong Real Estate; and acting for Tongfang Investment in an arbitration case of entrusted financial management agreement dispute.

The firm’s dispute resolution team has welcomed Jinchuan Luo, Yingjuan Guo and Yunfeng Du in the past 12 months.

Key clients include China Development Bank, China Construction Bank, CITIC Trust and Minmetals International Trust.

Lifang & Partners’ core strength lies in intellectual property, and it enjoys a stellar reputation in the telecommunications, industrial manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and alternative energy and new media spaces. Guanbin Xie is a key contact for IP disputes.

Client feedback

“The team’s preliminary and on-site investigations are more detailed than those of other law firms. They finished their investigation in a detailed and careful way. Regarding network and resources, Li Fang is a nationally recognised law firm with good resources across the country. The firm is also familiar with the courts and assists in helping to negotiate with clients to the best of their ability.” – Intellectual property

Bin Zhang

“Zhang is very professional, especially in helping our company to achieve success in a case in Zhejiang province. Many times after this he helped us coordinate and communicate the case in court, and many times attended to help us negotiate with the customer. In the end, we settled the case for Rmb15.8 million.”

Known for its stellar intellectual property practice, Liu Shen & Associates has breadth and depth of capability to provide clients with the full spectrum of IP-related legal services, including patents and trademarks, copyright and anti-unfair competition. The firm is well placed to advise clients across a balanced spread of contentious and non-contentious IP work, with exceptional strength in patent-related matters.

Fengbo Tao heads the team that includes partners Qing Ge, Kai Yang and Guanyang Yao.

In late 2021, the firm represented Aux Group in a patent infringement case. The amount of damages in this case was the peak of patent infringement litigation in the field of home appliances, and the method of calculating damages for patent infringement now provides guidelines for patent infringement litigation.

In addition, the firm acted for Samsung against Huawei in patent licensing litigation. The case dealt with complex legal issues such as the identification of patents and trademarks, the appraisal of communications and software technologies, and the application of FRAND rules. The firm also represented Aux against Gree in patent infringement litigation, and advised Aegis Luxembourg in a dispute regarding patent invalidation.

Beijing-headquartered TianTong Law Firm is a widely recognised litigation boutique in the country. In particular, it focuses on major and complex commercial dispute resolution before the highest level of court in China. Since its establishment in 2002, the total value of commercial cases handled by the firm has reached tens of billions of yuan, and 30 cases have been selected as landmark cases by the Supreme People's Court of China.

Partner Yaoquan Chen is a leading and respected figure in the market, mainly known for commercial disputes.

During the research period, the firm represented Foton Motor in a share rights transfer case with great deal value. It also assisted a heavy industry company win a processing contract case, resolving a dispute that had been going on for more than 10 years.

Key clients include the People's Bank of China, Electric Group, Dalian Wanda Group and Evergrande Group.

Client feedback

“TianTong Law Firm once provided services for our company in an equity transfer dispute, including arbitration and enforcement procedures, and helped our company successfully recover the transfer price and corresponding liquidated damages in full. During the period, I was deeply impressed by its lawyers’ ability to adapt in court and the work mechanism of sorting out and summarising after court.” – Commercial and transactions

“With a solid legal foundation and careful work, the firm is able to provide high-quality services for dispute cases.” – Commercial and transactions

Hao Li

“Solid legal knowledge, highly professional, exceptionally eloquent, detail-oriented when it comes to case analysis, and able to provide professional legal services for controversial cases.”

Zhen Wang

“Highly professional and responsive with good teamwork coordination.”

Tiger Partners is a young boutique law firm founded in December 2019, focusing on civil and commercial dispute resolution for Chinese enterprises, financial institutions and foreign corporations.

Founding partner Yuxuan Liu is active in litigation relating to private equity, company equity and control rights, media and entertainment, real estate and construction projects.

The firm is advising a subsidiary of an investment institution that is requesting a state-owned financial institution to vacate the property and pay a royalty fee for possession. It is also working with a domestic environmental sanitation enterprise to file a lawsuit over an equity transfer dispute.

Notable clients include Youdu Xiaoman Finance, Paradise Silicon Valley, Yuanjing Venture Capital, Tiger Securities, Guoke Investment and Qiqin Technology.

The firm hired Zoe Zhang from Zhong Lun Law Firm’s dispute resolution team.

Zhong Lun Law Firm retains its prestigious standing as a leading force in litigation within China. Based in Beijing, its headquarters excels in various specialised areas and consistently garners top rankings across multiple categories, including commercial disputes, construction and real estate, international arbitration and intellectual property.

Key figures at the firm, such as Lijun Cao, Xiangwen Liu, and Ping Gu, are highly respected for their expertise in international arbitration, commercial disputes and intellectual property, respectively.

In the realm of international arbitration, the team handled significant cases during the research period, such as representing a major Chinese infrastructure company in initiating investment and commercial arbitration for a project in Ghana. They also acted on behalf of a state-owned metallurgy enterprise in a $25 million international arbitration case and the enforcement of a Singapore International Arbitration Centre award against a Pakistani public-listed steel company. Additionally, they represented affiliates of a Chinese publicly listed company in three International Chamber of Commerce arbitration cases related to a stadium project in Qatar for the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

Within the construction and real estate sector, the firm represented China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation in a substantial oil pipeline construction dispute adjudicated by the Supreme People's Court, involving a value exceeding Rmb200 million ($27.6 million). They also handled litigation proceedings for Beijing Shougang International Engineering Technology in a case before the Xinjiang High People's Court and the Supreme People's Court regarding a letter of guarantee in an overseas construction project, marking a groundbreaking litigation involving a bank and an applicant of independent guarantee arising from a contract of issuance of independent guarantee in China.

In the field of intellectual property, the team managed several high-profile cases on behalf of prominent companies. They represented Qiaodan Sports in notable disputes involving celebrity name and reputation rights against Michael Jeffery Jordan, currently ongoing in the Shanghai Second Intermediate People's Court, as well as in various trademark administrative cases in Beijing IP courts. This series of cases represents one of the most extensive trademark disputes in the history of trademark administrative litigation in China.

Notable clients of Zhong Lun Law Firm include Beijing Benz Automotive, Cinda Financial Leasing, Founder Technology Group, Guangdong Huaxing Bank and Shenzhen Prosunpro Solar Energy.

Client feedback

“[They provided] business model compliance review and long-term legal advice in our business.” – Commercial and transactions

“The sorting and argumentation of evidence, as well as courtroom debate, are well done, respecting client needs.” – Commercial and transactions

“They specialise in grasping the essence of business and commerce, providing legal advice that aligns with business logic. This sets them apart as a rare professional who offers practical legal opinions beyond mere legal prowess.

“In addition to delving into legal principles, they excel in conducting comprehensive analyses of all factors influencing case outcomes. Subsequently, they devise the most advantageous litigation strategy for the client.

“Their approach is proactive and thorough. Following the case's conclusion, they take the initiative to discuss with clients the risk factors within their contracts and operational practices, along with suggestions for enhancements.” – Competition/antitrust

“Good at compliance.” – Construction

“Zhong Lun Law Firm is one of the top law firms in China, with thousands of lawyer team members around the world, who are professional leaders and leading experts in various fields. Zhong Lun lawyers have strong professionalism, deep understanding and insight into business, and are able to provide rapid feedback and help clients find feasible solutions. When dealing with major difficult and complex legal affairs and disputes, they were able to output high-quality legal advice and service results.” – Government and regulatory

“Professional ability is very strong, and it belongs among the top co-operative law firms. Daily feedback is very efficient, and understands the needs of customers, thinks what customers think, and urgent is the customer's urgent. Communication is very pleasant.” – Intellectual property

“Provided professional litigation representation with timely responses.” – Intellectual property

“The lawyers of this team were able to complete the complicated facts in a rigorous and serious manner, quickly summarise the focus of the dispute, put forward targeted solutions and design a comprehensive strategy for responding to the lawsuit, and efficiently responded to the legal service needs of our company. The firm's offer was comparable to the legal services it provided, and the billing was transparent and reasonable.” – Securities

Xiangming Yi

“Yi is an excellent learner, showing versatility and the capacity to grasp industry-specific knowledge while providing legal advice that aligns with the business's rationale. He is a committed and attentive attorney who proactively communicates with clients about potential risks in their contracts and operational tactics, even after a case concludes. He offers strategies for enhancement, establishing himself as a reliable legal ally for clients who value his continued support. My own experience, along with the feedback from other in-house legal colleagues who have collaborated with Yi, affirm that entrusting matters to Yi Xiangming comes with a sense of certainty and no unexpected outcomes. We believe that such reliability is a form of high commendation for an attorney specialising in dispute resolution.”

“[Good at] compliance.”

Xiangwen Liu

“Liu Xiangwen led his team to provide legal services to our company for the construction of a compliance management system over the past three years. In addition to assisting the company to deal with the construction of various systems and mechanisms, he also fully mobilised and coordinated the resources of all parties in the areas of management performance, corporate governance, anti-monopoly, anti-commercial bribery, business partners, labour and employment, IPO compliance, environmental protection, and data compliance, which helped the company in the construction and improvement of its special areas of compliance. With the help and assistance of Zhonglun Law Firm, the company has also successfully passed the ISO37301 compliance management system certification, which is the first certification licence in their industry.”

Baosheng Zhang, Cui Wu

“Wu possesses a deep legal foundation, having earned degrees from Peking University and other notable institutions, where he benefited from a solid legal education and stringent, professional scholarly training. His practical experience is extensive; he has provided representation to over 70 listed companies, securities firms, and other intermediaries, skilfully navigating through a multitude of investor-initiated securities litigations. Specialising in securities compliance and litigation, Wu has honed his expertise in this area, enabling him to deliver adept legal services for both current and anticipated securities compliance and litigation needs for our company.”

Yuru Zuo

“Provided compliance and legal analysis and solutions for business models.”

Qi Zhang

“Understands the client's needs, digs deep for useful evidentiary material, favourable courtroom arguments.”

Yu Li

“[Good at] trademark Infringement litigation, prosecution, trademark invalidation, revocation and providing trademark dispute overall solution.”

Lijing Wang

“Communication is comfortable, personable, and professional knowledge is strong.”

Gang Zhao

“In response to our requirements for legal advocacy, Zhao provided prompt legal analysis and strategy. He represented our interests effectively in civil court proceedings.”

Dongxiao Ma

“[Good at] trademark Infringement litigation, procecution, and providing trademark dispute overall solution.”

“Good at representing in court.”

Zhong Yin Law Firm is highly experienced in bankruptcy reorganisation and liquidation, with a strong focus on dissolution and liquidation, bankruptcy liquidation, reorganisation, reconciliation, enterprise restructuring, debt restructuring, and the resettlement of employees from state-owned enterprises and related legal matters.

Notable figures at the firm include Xiaoyu Liu, Songzhe Zheng, Xinjian Yuan, Lihua Deng, and Yu Wang.

Among the publishable matters, the firm represented Shanxi Juli Minsheng Natural Gas Reserve Co. in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei LNG Peaking Reserve Center project, utilising the EPC general contracting method for the public tender. This project involves local government investment, consortium bidding and tight deadlines, and it is the largest inland LNG project.

In insolvency matters, the firm served as the bankruptcy manager for the merger and bankruptcy reorganisation cases of Hongye Chemical Industry Group and 28 other enterprises. Additionally, they have handled the bankruptcy liquidation case of Beijing Tianrui Xiaguang Technology Development and provided advice on the bankruptcy reorganisation case of Tangshan Fuqiang Real Estate Development.

Some of the firm's key clients include China Minsheng Bank (Tianjin branch), Shandong Baisheng Biotechnology, Shandong Yucheng Huaxin Investment, Shenji Group Kunming Machine Tool and Zhonghang Shixin Energy Saving Technology (Beijing).

Client feedback

Wang Yu

“Wang Yu, a partner lawyer at Beijing Zhong Yin Law Firm, possesses strong legal and business acumen. She has provided comprehensive legal advisory services for numerous disputes involving malicious litigation between shareholders, directors and supervisors of my former employer. Engaging in over 10 cases of various commercial conflicts, she has delivered logical, well-structured and precise applications of legal tenets to devise dispute resolution and trial strategies. Her efforts have effectively mitigated the negative personal impacts of shareholder disputes and assisted me in achieving victories or favourable outcomes in various contentious situations.”

“Wang Yu from Beijing Zhong Yin Law Firm, is responsible, professional and meticulous, looking for all the evidence in the details in favour of the client and preserving my legal rights and interests, which is very impressive.”