Dr. Guanglei Zhang is an Equity Partner at Jingtian & Gongcheng Law Firm. He graduated from China University of Political Science & Law, where he earned his Bachelor of Laws, Master of Civil Law, and Doctorate in Commercial Law. Additionally, he obtained a Master of Laws degree from The George Washington University Law School and served as a visiting scholar at Columbia University Law School. Dr. Zhang has been admitted to practice law in China and New York State, USA, and is fluent in both Mandarin Chinese and English.
His primary area of expertise is in dispute resolution. He has extensive experience and an esteemed reputation in both domestic and international litigation and arbitration. In 2018, he was recognized as one of the "Top 10 Outstanding Young Lawyers" in China by CLECSS. In 2020, he was named among the "A-List of Elite 100 Lawyers" by the China Business Law Journal (CBLJ). The following year, he was listed as one of the "Top 15 Litigators in China" by Asian Legal Business (ALB), and in 2022, The Legal 500 recognized him as a "Recommended Lawyer in Dispute Resolution (Arbitration)". He was also included in the "Top 15 Arbitration Lawyers" by LEGALBAND in 2022 and in their "Top Ranked Lawyers" list in 2023, alongside being named a "Litigation Star" by Benchmark Litigation.
In the 2019 Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) International Arbitration Moot Competition, Dr. Zhang led Jingtian & Gongcheng to victory in the Beijing region and to a national runner-up position, personally earning the title of "Best Lawyer" in all competition rounds.
Dr. Zhang has represented clients in hundreds of civil and commercial cases before various arbitration bodies such as China International Economic & Trade Arbitration Commission, Beijing Arbitration Commission, Shanghai International Arbitration Center, Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, HKIAC, ICC International Court of Arbitration, the Supreme People's Court of China, and other levels of Chinese courts.
His expertise spans numerous industries, including real estate, finance, securities, international trade, pharmaceuticals, financial leasing, environmental protection, culture and tourism, education, telecommunications, credit investigation, internet, and industrial manufacturing. He is particularly skilled in resolving disputes in the areas of investment and financing, having successfully handled cases involving performance-based agreements, equity transfers, corporate control disputes, director and executive liability, employee stock options, and fund raising and management.
Dr. Zhang also possesses considerable experience in cross-border dispute resolution, specializing in the strategic formulation of comprehensive solutions and effective management of international litigation and arbitration cases. He has served as a counsel and expert witness in Chinese law for proceedings in the United States, Singapore, Hong Kong, and other jurisdictions.
Among the cases he has handled, many are recognized as benchmark cases in the industry. For example, he successfully represented the “Tuniu” trademark infringement case, which was acknowledged as one of the top ten intellectual property cases of the year by the Beijing High People's Court. In a high-profile arbitration case regarding the control of a listed company, he successfully defended the client's controlling interest, involving assets worth several hundred million yuan. Representing an Asian dollar fund in a dispute with a domestic state-owned enterprise, he facilitated a successful settlement, securing several hundred million yuan in expected returns for the client, marking the first successful exit among numerous domestic and foreign investors. In a cross-border licensing dispute involving an ad hoc arbitration clause, he persuaded the Hong Kong arbitral tribunal and mainland courts at two levels to recognize the validity of the clause. In an arbitration case related to the COVID-19 pandemic, he successfully applied the principle of changed circumstances to reduce the client's compensation liability by 50%, one of the few cases to use this principle to adjust performance-based responsibilities during the pandemic. In a foreign-related arbitration award enforcement case, he achieved a victory in the Supreme People's Court of China supervisory procedure, overturning the enforcement rulings of provincial and municipal courts.
