Guangdong

Allbright Law Offices’ Guangdong office is equipped with a team of qualified litigators who are active in some of the most important disputes. The commercial team mainly focuses on complex corporate and investment funds disputes, while the construction group is experienced in handling construction project disputes and contract disputes for major real estate and construction companies.

Likun Li is an expert in commercial and transaction practice.

During the research period, the team represented Inovance Technology's founder shareholder and other shareholders in disputes over equity holding. This is a landmark case of a dispute over the entrusted equity holding by the actual controller of a listed company in China. It was complex and has been tried six times by four courts in five years. The team successfully recovered all the losses for the client.

Client feedback

“They give timely reports and feedback on the progress of the case. They are very professional.” – Commercial disputes

Founded in 2001, the Guangdong office of Dentons is one of the largest law firms in South China. With more than 330 lawyers in its Guangzhou office, the disputes team is experienced on the full spectrum of matters ranging from corporate and government to arbitration proceedings and cross-border matters.

Senior partner Yuefeng Lu and partner Yunguang Lu are key contacts for commercial and construction disputes.  

During the 12 months, the firm represented Sinopec Engineering Company against Fude Energy and Chemical Company in a contract dispute; acted for a branch of Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank against Guangdong Fubon Financial Leasing in a financial loan contract dispute; and also represented a Chinese company against the US Sangraf Internation in an international trade contract dispute.

Key clients include Procter & Gamble, Philips, Renfu, China Overseas Land, Sino-Ocean Land, Guangdong Insurance Regulatory Bureau and Zhongshan Municipal People's Government.

DeHeng Law Offices is a full service law firm with a national presence in a variety of practice areas in China. The Shenzhen office of DeHeng was founded in 2002, with a specialised litigation division in five practice areas, including general litigation and arbitration, corporate securities, real estate and infrastructure, intellectual property, and labour relations. The IP group has an especially excellent reputation in the local market.

Senior partners Jun Cui and Menglong Li are key names within the Shenzhen office. Both of them are experts in IP.

During the research period, the Shenzhen team achieved several outstanding results in the IP sphere. For example, the team represented Shenzhen Purcotton Technology against Yichang Xinlong Sanitary Ware Materials and Xinlong Holdings in a patent infringement case. The case was selected as one of the top 10 landmark cases of IP rights by the Hubei Provincial Higher People's Court.

In another key case, the team represented Apple against GPNE, Foxconn and China Unicom in a dispute related to invention patent infringement, and the case set a record for the highest budget for intellectual property rights in Mainland China.

Other key clients include Hewlett-Packard (China), Ping An Bank, China Merchants Bank, Vanke, Shenzhen Airport, Nike Sports (China), Universal Medicine, Louis Vuitton Malletti and Tencent.

Fangda Partners has steadily risen from its Shanghai roots to become a national powerhouse in China and it has also been earning a first-class reputation in the Guangdong market. Starting in 2018, Fangda started to operate in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and has now grown to a scale of 300 people, with notable strengths in commercial litigation as well as regulatory and compliance work.

Key figures include Kate Yin and Alvin Xiao who specialise in regulatory and compliance.

In commercial disputes, the firm acted for China State Construction and its Sino-Indonesian affiliate on Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) arbitration in Singapore, insolvency proceedings in Indonesia, as well as potential court litigation in mainland China, with respect to disputes arising from a $10 billion EPC contract of a major construction project in Jakarta, Indonesia. This may be the most significant dispute for those China-oriented ‘One Belt One Road’ projects in southeast Asia, in terms of the political implications, social impacts, amount and complexity, as well as the variety of legal proceedings.

In regulatory and compliance, the team assisted Alibaba and its subsidiaries in conducting anti-corruption due diligence for their multi-billion-dollar investments in a wide range of industries, represented a leading US public company with an Asia Pacific subsidiary listed in Hong Kong in a series of complex internal investigations, and assisted a Chinese subsidiary of a Japanese multinational company in handling a customs inspection regarding the price of goods imported by the subsidiary from its Japanese parent company.

In 2021, the firm hired Fangzheng Li as counsel in its regulatory compliance team. Fangzheng previously worked at the Shenzhen Public Security Bureau.

JunHe’s Guangdong office hosts three partners and approximately 10 lawyers. The dispute team provides clients with comprehensive dispute resolution services including the compliance investigations of multilateral development banks and companies, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations, and bankruptcy and insolvency.

Key partners include Yongzhao Liu and Yanli Zheng. Both of them are good at handling commercial, regulatory and compliance matters.

Although the firm’s case highlights remain confidential, the submission showed various activities in the high courts of China. Many of the cases were up against the country’s premier counsels and law firms.

JunZeJun Law Firm’s Guangdong office is a full-service law firm that prides itself on its capabilities in commercial litigation and arbitration. The team has experience in handling commercial contract disputes, company disputes, equity disputes, company control disputes, investment and financing disputes, company dissolution disputes, and real estate and construction project disputes. In the Guangdong area, JunZeJun has offices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

Partners Yu Zhao and Ying Zhang are experts in commercial disputes practice.

During the research period, the team acted for a Shenzhen real estate company against another Chinese land developer in an equity transfer dispute. The case involved complex disputes regarding the ownership of compensation rights, which has important and typical significance in China. Also, the results of the retrial of the case were discussed and decided by the judicial committee of the Supreme People's Court of China, which is rather rare in China.

In another highlight matter, the team represented Shanghai Yiwan Network Technology against Tianjin Changwan Network Technology and Anhui Shabake Network Technology in trademark infringement and unfair competition disputes. The case involved a new type of internet-bundled software advertising dispute, which is typical and can provide a reference for similar cases.

Tian Yuan Law Firm’s Shenzhen office is a full-service branch with clients spanning a wide spectrum of industries. The office hosts more than 100 lawyers, with approximately 30 of them serving the dispute resolution team, which is mainly committed to contentious matters relating to arbitration, commercial, competition and construction.

Notable figures within the team include international arbitration specialist Wenjie Gao, commercial disputes partner Daren Wen and IPexpert Shizhan Guo.

During the research period, the team provided legal services for WeBank on a contract dispute against Sino-Singapore Technology Factoring; and also provided legal services for a Guangdong company against some foreign auto companies in a joint venture contract dispute.

The Shenzhen office of TianTong Law Firm was established in 2017 and is mainly dedicated to providing legal services for local clients in the field of major and complex commercial litigation.

Key names in the Shenzhen office include Yaoquan Chen, Yan Li, Youjun Tang, Jian Kang and Qian Li.

One of the highlighted cases is when the firm acted for Vanke against Huanglong Bailu on a joint development real estate contract dispute.

Other cases are confidential.

Wang Jing & Co was established in the 1990s and is headquartered in Guangzhou. The law firm focuses on shipping and marine insurance law and related extended legal business, with very prominent cases in the fields of maritime and admiralty, marine insurance, marine engineering, environment and energy, banking and finance, cross-border litigation and overseas arbitration.

Notable figures within the team include Xiangyong Chen, Jun Wang, and Zongcui Zou. They are specialists in the shipping industry, with extensive experience of dispute resolution and international arbitration.

In 2021, the firm acted for Skyline International Corp and NGM Energy SA against Ship Eastern on a dispute over the sale and purchase of a large oil tanker, "Nerissa". The successful handling of this case has avoided huge losses for the parties along the “Belt and Road” and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation countries. The case was selected as one of the 10 typical cases of Qingdao Maritime Court. It provides guidelines for foreign-related economic entities to handle similar disputes.

Also, the firm acted for Taiei Naviera SA and North of England Marine Consultants (Shanghai) against Dairong Shipping Company and other defendants on a dispute over soybean damage during maritime transportation. The case was selected as one of the 10 typical cases of Qingdao Maritime Court. It provides guidelines for foreign-related economic entities to handle similar disputes.

One of the dominant market players, Zhong Lun Law Firm enjoys a prominent reputation in the Chinese legal market and has solid experience across all dispute resolution practice areas. Along with its stellar Beijing and Shanghai offices, the Guangdong office also maintains a strong presence in the local disputes market. With a strong track record and extensive expertise in both domestic and international litigation, the team regularly represents clients across banking and financial services, corporate and transactions, real estate and construction, intellectual property and government compliance.

The leaders of the team are partner Furong Deng and Baisha Zhang. They focus on construction and real estate and commercial disputes, respectively.

In commercial disputes, the firm acted for Bank of Jiujiang Guangzhou branch and Meizhou Guangmei Investment Enterprise against a jewellery company, Junjue Hotel, and two guarantors of the jewellery company [WC(1] [WA(2] in respect of a loan contract dispute. The case was one of the most significant for Jiujiang and Guangmei in the last three years. Also, the firm represented Guangzhou Yuexiu Financial Leasing against Henan TV on a financial leasing contract dispute.

In international arbitration, the firm represented Guangfa Securities Asset Management in an arbitration against an A-share listed company and its ultimate beneficial owners relating to a stock-pledged repurchase agreement dispute that amounts to Rmb2.6 billion[WC(3]  before the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission. The case is a flagship for financial institutions to settle similar disputes using arbitration in Guangdong, and also concerns the recognition and enforcement of the award in Hong Kong.