Hongji Li

Mr. Hongji LI, who heads the dispute resolution practice at Commerce & Finance Law Offices, is known as “have collaborative spirit, but a staunch advocate for clients’ interests”. Mr. LI has been recognized by Chambers for three consecutive years in 2021, 2022 and 2023 as the only “Senior Statesperson” in litigation, the only “Senior Statesperson” in arbitration and the “Most in Demand Arbitrators” in China, has been tranked as a leading lawyer in China in the field of dispute resolution by internationally renowned legal rating agencies for many times, and has been ranked first in the field of litigation by Legalband for many years.

“There are always more solutions than difficulties”, “Bring up hypothesis boldly while prove it conscientiously and carefully”, and “Only say those that can be supported by evidence and proof”. The characteristics of Mr. LI in handling cases and solving legal issues are to find the inherent logic of things and clarify the legal relations among complex or simple evidence and facts, so as to determine the focus of the dispute that determines the direction and outcome of a case.

To be well versed in the legislative considerations behind the legal provisions, the departmental law theories, and the business and processes of clients are the requirements of Mr. LI for himself and other lawyers in the team; meanwhile, the typical procedure for Mr. LI and his team to handle cases is to have each and every case fully demonstrated, sort out and clarify the relevant legal issues, formulate a reasonable plan and then put it into implementation. In this way, in the cases handled by him, the results thereof can always meet or even exceed the expectations of clients and make clients satisfied.

Mr. Hongji LI attaches great importance to team building, cultivation of young lawyers, and improvement of professional quality and team spirit; meanwhile, he requires for the pursuit of excellence. Accordingly, the team led by Mr. LI has been well-acclaimed and highly recognized in the industry for the high-quality legal services provided.

As a senior arbitrator, Mr. Hongji LI hears nearly 100 commercial arbitration cases every year, with the arbitration institutions where he has heard cases including: China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, China Maritime Arbitration Commission, Beijing Arbitration Commission, Shanghai International Arbitration Center, the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Hong Kong International Arbitration Center, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, and Swiss Arbitration Association etc.

Assisted Haisheng Juice to file a lawsuit against Morgan Stanley (Asia) for a claim on the ground that its improper advice constituted infringement. The amount claimed is equivalent to the amount of USD 40 million that is claimed in another lawsuit filed with the London Commercial Court by its affiliate Morgan Stanley (International) against Haisheng Juice with respect to a derivative contract for foreign exchange and futures hedging. In the way, “parallel litigation” is used to hedge against the financial derivatives hedging. In the end, the case was closed with a settlement reached between the parties, making it the only case at that time in which a domestic enterprise successfully refused to pay for the losses arising from the financial derivatives trading of an international financial institution.

Acted for China Construction Bank to provide legal advice for it in the first bond default of a state-owned enterprise in China (Tianwei Group); after Tianwei Group entered the bankruptcy proceedings, acted for CCB Trust in the lawsuit filed with the Higher People’s Court of Beijing Municipality against China South Industries Group Corporation, parent company of Tianwei Group, and Baobian Electric, an affiliated listed company of it, on the ground of tort, involving an amount of nearly CNY 1 billion. At present, the case is still under trial.

Acted for CCB Cultural Industry Equity Investment Fund to initiate an arbitration in the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission against the shareholders of Galloping Horse and their heirs, including Ping LI, Li LI and Yan JIN etc., involving a target amount of CNY 700 million. Under the unfavorable factors such as the death of the original actual controller, Mr. LI and his team managed to have most of the client’s claims upheld, and thus won the case for the client; moreover, in the follow-up execution procedures, Mr. LI and his team fully leveraged their skillful application of civil procedures and other procedures to actually obtain compensation for the client, thereby protecting the best interests of the client.

Acted for COSCO Huizhou Ocean Shipping Agency in the appeal regarding smuggling. In the second instance, the first-instance judgment ruling that a fine of CNY 2.4 billion was imposed on Huizhou Ocean Shipping Agency was revoked. In the process of handling the case, the Legislative Affairs Commission of the National People’s Congress made an explanation with the effect of legislative interpretation, clarifying the limit of criminal liability for the superior entity of a wholly state-owned subsidiary.

Acted for a Singapore company to initiate an arbitration against a central enterprise in the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission regarding the dispute over the transfer of a construction-in-progress, requesting the tribunal to confirm the invalidity of the other party’s notice for rescinding the contract and requesting the other party to continue to perform the contract. In the end, the foregoing claims were upheld by the arbitral award, with the commercial value involved exceeding CNY 4 billion.

• Commercial Disputes
• Commercial Arbitration
• Corporate Governance
• International Arbitration
• Litigation

• Banking
• Energy
• Financial Services
• Investment Management
• Real Estate

• Chinese Lawyer
• New York State Lawyer

• Arbitrator of China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission
• Arbitrator of China Maritime Arbitration Commission
• Arbitrator of Beijing Arbitration Commission
• Arbitrator of Shanghai International Arbitration Center
• Arbitrator of Shanghai Arbitration Commission
• Member of the Administrative Reconsideration Committee of the People’s Government of Beijing Municipality (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Session)
• Master Tutor of Peking University Law School

• Cornell Law School, LLM
• McGill University Faculty of Law, LLB
• China University of Political Science and Law, Master of Laws
• Peking University, Bachelor of Laws