Fund structuring specialist firm Fangda Partners has long stood amongst the market’s pioneering firms. Advising clients through the full life cycle of the fund, the ‘resourceful and practical‘ team is led by Richard Guo who draws on a wealth of experience in the formation and operation of alternative investment products, funds of funds, co-investment funds and corporate venture funds using both USD and RMB currencies. Zhen Chen, Zhiyi Ren, Candy Tang and Flora Qian are further names to note, and count Morgan Stanley and Sequoia as their main clients.

Han Kun Law Offices covers private, venture capital and private equity funds in the majority of industry sectors and provides a ‘knowledgeable‘, ‘practical‘ and ‘efficient‘ service. Practice head Daisy Qi has a decade of experience in fund formation and investment management. Lin Zhou focuses her practice on the formation and operations of various types of funds, including the structuring and the formation of venture capital funds, private equity funds, M&A funds, film and entertainment funds, sports funds, infrastructure funds, real estate funds, logistics funds and more. Lu Ran is another name to note.

King & Wood Mallesons investment funds lawyers advise on fund formation, structuring and negotiations on business and legal terms with investors, as well as providing various drafting services. The firm provides ‘tremendous support’ on both private equity and venture capital fund formation. Assistance on the establishment of funds overseas is a key strength of the practice. Mulong Gong has extensive experience in enterprise restructuring, domestic and overseas listings as well as PE fund investment, formation and fund-raising of PE funds; he co-leads the team with Ma Tianning.  Alan Du has advised on several major high-profile fund formations and has expertise in foreign direct investment. Minxiu Wan has been promoted to partner. Zhaoyan Wang is well recommended by clients.

‘Reliable and timely’ in their advice, Zhong Lun Law Firm‘s investment funds practice acts as regular counsel to a number of prominent private equity and venture capital firms and has also represented numerous emerging companies in fund-raising transactions. QDLP and QDII funds also form a core part of the practice. Private equity and asset management specialist Catherine Chen and the highly experienced Ping Zhang are among the key names in a strong bench of partners. Zhang has worked for over ten years in the field and has expertise in the formation, operation and project investment of domestic and offshore private investment funds as well as their management entities. Ursula Li is another name to note.

DaHui Lawyers has a burgeoning investment funds practice representing a number of dynamic clients. Cloud Li leads the China practice from Shanghai, while Zheng Zha operates in both Beijing and New York, serving large US funds investing in China. The firm provides services in the establishment, investment, maintenance, restructuring and dissolution of funds and also in dispute resolution following the dissolving of a fund. The team helps fund founders, institutional and high-net-worth individual investors with the establishment of RMB funds, USD funds, parallel funds, close-end funds, feeder funds and cross-border funds.

Global Law Office advises on fund formation for clients in various sectors, including semiconductors, pharmaceutical, mining and new energy. The practice also represents some of China’s largest insurance companies as well as multinational real estate investment firms. Yuan Yuan, who focusses on structuring and forming private funds, and Amy Dai co-lead the practice. Dai advises RMB funds, USD funds and joint venture fund with various structures including QFLP, QFGP and funds of funds. Xianlai Liu, who demonstrates extensive knowledge of the Chinese private equity and venture capital markets, is another key name.

At Jingtian & Gongcheng, Yong Wang advises on various aspects of the life of a fund, including formation, structuring, marketing and as well as dissolution and liquidation. The practice provides legal services to domestic and foreign-invested RMB funds, cross-border investment funds (QFLP and QDLP) such as venture capital funds, private equity funds, industry funds, M&A funds, and securities investment funds. Wang’s team represent both domestic Chinese funds and a range of well known multinational companies in the financial services sector, alongside funds in various specific sectors such as healthcare and technology. Bangwei Xu, who has also a background in commercial litigation and intellectual property, assists Wang in this practice.

JunHe LLP offers a tailored service in fund formation, assisting clients to implement a range of structures and strategies. Its large team is led jointly by Xiyong Zhao, Wang Man and Qing (Natasha) Xie, who displays ‘exceptional‘ industry knowledge. Each advises an impressive array of both state backed and private clients assists with fund manager registration, fund formation, fund filing, funds of funds investment and secondary investment. Jie Tang is another name to note but Fei Pei has left the firm.

Llinks Law Offices provides an impressive technical offering co-led by Charles Qin and Sandra Lu, who trained as an economist before becoming a lawyer and brings this experience to bear in her market analysis. The practice advises domestic and foreign fund management companies and their subsidiaries, working on both private equity and venture capital funds. The firm also has expertise in advising trusts as well as insurance, asset management and securities companies. Selena She is an experienced advisor to large funds, and the firm has a promising next generation of partners exemplified by Candice Du and Daisy Ding. The practice offers consultation on fund establishment and advises on fund formation.

Industrial funds and funds set up by provincial governments form the bulk of the AllBright Law Offices practice. The firm advises on the establishment of investment funds, registration and filing, major event changes, fund raising, fund structure design and fund contract drafting and negotiation as well as dispute resolution in case of exit. Shi Yubin is active in M&A and dispute resolution, while Fuzhi Lin is another key name at the practice, with experience advising SOEs.

Jing Zou and her team at Grandall Law Firm advises a range of clients, including medical investment groups and green development funds. It has experience in both private equity and venture capital, and represents both state backed and private organisations. Naijin Liu is another key name. The team provides services in fund formation, filing and licensing, investment, securities, dispute resolution and dealing with risk events.

Fund formation, downstream acquisitions and exit strategies all fall within the scope of the Haiwen & Partners investment funds practice. The team, co-led by Wang Lei, covers funds work in various industries from agriculture to e-commerce and can also offer expertise in offshore fund formation and cryptocurrency investments. Xue Tang joined the team from Jingtian & Gongcheng.

Hilda Li and Steven Zhao lead the practice at Shihui Partners, a boutique firm which advises on the establishment and structuring of funds as well as investments. The team has a special area of expertise in tech funds, an example being their advice provided to integrated circuit industry investment funds. Private equity funds work also forms a large part of the practice, as does venture capital.