The Legal 500

Bird & Bird’s standalone TMT practice is headed by Marcus Vass in Hong Kong, and includes Grace Chen in Beijing. The ‘excellent’ Weishi Li in Shanghai recently joined from O’Melveny & Myers LLP; she has ‘excellent subject matter expertise and the ability to understand the business driving decisions on technology-related agreements’. The team was recently instructed by Octopus Group on high-profile data protection issues, and the firm advised Citibank Hong Kong on the use of digital signatures of its customers. The firm is advising T-Systems International on various telecoms regulatory issues, and it is a trusted advisor on commercial and media matters throughout Mainland China for long-standing client Ferrari. Other clients include Condé Nast, which instructs the firm on matters relating to publishing, advertising and distribution for some of its China editions.

Morrison & Foerster’s practice is split between Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. Gordon Milner in Hong Kong heads the group, while Gregory Tan is the primary contact in Shanghai. It receives regular instructions from high-profile clients such as Dell China and Standard Chartered. It is currently advising Rakuten in relation to its joint venture with Chinese internet service provider Baidu, and is acting for Harbin Pharmaceutical in its asset acquisition of Pfizer’s swine vaccine technology and business in China. Further highlights included an instruction from Kirin relating to its joint venture with China Resources Enterprise.

Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP’s consolidated Hong Kong and China team includes Jeanette Chan and Xiaoyu Greg Liu in Beijing. The team has recently been advising the Shanghai Government and Shanghai Shendi on the creation of the Shanghai Disneyland theme park. Further highlights included advising Motorola as regional international counsel on the sale of its networks business to Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) in Hong Kong and China, and acting for Ericsson in purchasing Nortel Network’s multi-service switch business (MSS).

Allen & Overy LLP’s combined Hong Kong and mainland practice includes managing partner Ji Zou, Richard Kim and Victor Ho in Shanghai. The firm regularly advises Thompson Reuters and is assisting with its proposed acquisition of two PRC software and media businesses. Additionally, it is acting for True Corporation, a leading telecoms operator in Thailand, on its Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) agreement and mobile network lease with CAT Telecom. It also advised Huawei on a cooperation agreement with wireless technology company Option.

‘Accessible and prompt’, Baker & McKenzie ‘provides an excellent service’, with the China arm of the practice spearheaded by Howard Wu in Shanghai and Jon Eichelberger in Beijing. The team is advising Disney on its joint venture with Shanghai Shendi, and is project counsel for the planned development of the Shanghai Disneyland theme park. It was recently instructed by an investment bank on documenting an agreement for co-operation with another investment bank to develop software for the trading of certain funds in China. It is also advising the client on viability and regulatory risks for its China subsidiary to provide business process outsourcing services.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s full-service TMT practice operates out of Hong Kong and mainland China, and is particularly renowned for complex commercial and regulatory work as well as M&A and contentious issues. Led by practice head Connie Carnabuci, the group acted for Imagi International Holdings on its acquisition of Toon Express, and advised AXA on its regional business process outsourcing to Genpact. Further highlights included acting for Reed Elsevier on the IP and IT aspects of its acquisition of China Business Information (CBI), and advising China Unicom on its agreement with Telefónica to enhance its existing strategic alliance.

Hogan Lovells International LLP’s team is led by Shanghai-based Andrew McGinty and Beijing-based Jun Wei. The team includes IP specialist Geoffrey Lin and media expert Steven Robinson. In 2010, the group advised TI on establishing its first wafer fabrication facility in China, and represented Corning in various negotiations involving its investment of some $800m to build a factory in Beijing to make liquid crystal display glass. It is currently advising RIM on standards-related patent licensing matters in China, and conducted a trade mark audit and handled trade mark prosecution work for the client.

Simmons & Simmons recently recruited Davis Wang from King & Wood to its Shanghai office. Hong Kong-based Damien Bailey heads the overall practice. Recent work includes advising Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) on the introduction of a new cloud computing solution, and acting for China Telecom on its new data centre service. The team provides ongoing advice to Yahoo! on its e-commerce payment system, and further clients include Cathay Pacific, Logitech, AVG, eBay and Warner Bros.

Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ practice in Beijing and Shanghai is led by Steven Xiang, a renowned M&A practitioner whose TMT experience includes representing GE in its joint venture with AVIC. The firm has considerable private equity and venture capital expertise, and acts for a number of venture-backed PRC businesses from the TMT sector. Anthony Wang regularly advises private equity and venture capital firms on China-focused TMT transactions.

The team at White & Case LLP has ‘good strength in depth’. A recent highlight was representing China Development Bank (CDB) in relation to two $350m Sinosure-backed senior secured term loan facilities to the Aircel Group in India, the proceeds of which will be used to procure telecoms equipment and services from ZTE and Huawei Technologies. Beijing-based Xiaoming Li led the deal. In the Shanghai office, John Leary is noted for his extensive work on behalf of long-term client Publicis Groupe, which instructed the firm on its expansion into Greater China.