Guangzhou is the capital city of the Guangdong province and is the key economic hub in the South China region. The major industries that are driving the city’s economy include automobiles, electronics, petrochemicals, gaming, wholesale and retail trade, and real estate. Its location allows it to be a connecting hub for China, Hong Kong and Macau, and the government of China is further pushing for its economic importance with key initiatives such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area plan. The opening of the local legal market to Hong Kong and Macao is seen as key in promoting the construction of the Greater Bay Area, leveraging the professional advantages of lawyers in Hong Kong and Macao, and promoting the integrated development of legal services in these three places. The Greater Bay Area refers to the Chinese government’s scheme to link 11 cities including Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland Chinese cities around the Pearl River Delta into an integrated economic and business hub. With less than one percent of China’s land space, the Greater Bay Area contributes about 11% of China’s economy.Shenzhen, known as China’s Silicon Valley, is home to China’s second biggest tech companies Huawei Technologies and Tencent, Chinese holding conglomerate Ping An Insurance Company of China, delivery services and logistics company SF Express, residential real estate developer Vanke and other household names across a wide range of industries. As one of the first regions opened to foreign investment, Shenzhen has been at the forefront of the past 20 years of economic reforms and market innovation and is an economic, trade and technological centre for south China. The city also houses the Shenzhen Stock Exchange and a large number of red circle, Beijing- and Shanghai-headquartered PRC firms as well as local full-service firms. The period under review saw an increase in the number of disputes, particularly those in the lower value range. Affected by the pandemic in the first half of the year, a large number of cases were not heard as scheduled. Since June 2022, court hearings have largely resumed to pre-pandemic numbers. All red circle firms have a prominent presence in Shenzhen, as well as a large number of Beijing- and Shanghai- headquartered full service and boutique firms, such as AllBright Law Offices, Grandall Law Firm, Tian Yuan Law Firm, DeHeng Law Offices, Guantao Law Firm and TianTong Law Firm.The Guanzhou table features a mix of national firms with headquarters in Beijing and Shanghai and Guangzhou-based local firms with an impressive regional footprint. The Shenzhen table includes highly regarded local firms and other mid-market firms that are active in the Shenzhen legal market.

ETR Law Firm is a Guangzhou-headquartered firm with offices across China. It handles a broad range of work including financing, fund formation, investment, restructuring and dispute resolution. Xuefang Zhang specialises in securitisation and structured finance, Jie Xie handles commercial disputes, restructuring, listing and private client matters, Yuanle Chen focuses on M&A and IPOs, and Chaonan Yang has a particular expertise in corporate governance, commercial disputes and antitrust matters.

Jincheng Tongda & Neal‘s Guangzhou and Shenzhen teams work closely with its Hong Kong and Sanya offices, handling commercial, financing, M&A, big-ticket IPOs and private equity and venture capital investments, restructurings and dispute resolution. Shenzhen-based Yinhong Liu who focuses on capital markets transactions and Guangzhou-based private equity specialist Meihua Liang are the key names to note.

Jingtian & Gongcheng works closely with the firm’s network of offices across China; it is a popular choice for handling big-ticket capital markets, international trade, dispute resolution, compliance and real estate matters. It continues to expand its Greater Bay region offering with a number of recruits. Among them, in Guangzhou, Linming Jin joined from Broad & Bright Law Firm and focuses on the real estate sector; Jianling Wang joined from Beijing DHH Law Firm and excels in international trade and shipping matters; and Tao Yu who joined from an in-house role focusing on private equity and real estate funds; in Shenzhen, Tian Jin, who handles capital markets, M&A, and restructuring mandates joined from Jia Yuan Law Offices and dispute resolution partner Long Zhang joined from King & Wood Mallesons.  Pengfei Xu and Bangwei Xu jointly lead the regional practice from the firm’s Shenzhen and Guangzhou offices respectively.

JunHe‘s south China regional coverage includes offices in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Haikou. The 24-partner team is jointly led by Guangzhou-based Ally Huang and Pete Zhang and Shenzhen-based Jianwei Zhang, all of whom have extensive experience in handling domestic and overseas IPOs representing Chinese companies as well as advising on the acquisition and restructuring of publicly listed companies. The team also includes Donnie Wang, who has notable expertise in IP litigation, commercial and criminal law matters; Joe Wan, who counts Guangzhou-based listed and state-owned companies as his main clients; and Catherine Miao, who specialises in real estate, distressed and special situation investments. Its recent caseload includes a broad range of capital markets, bankruptcy and insolvency mandates and a number of restructurings in the real estate sector.

King & Wood Mallesons‘ Greater Bay regional offices has an impressive caseload that includes corporate reorganisation, insolvency restructuring, IPOs and M&A transactions as well as a broad range of contentious matters. The sizeable Guangzhou and Shenzhen teams are jointly led by Lixin Wang and Xianlong Zhao. Wang is the managing partner of both the firm’s International Centre in the Greater Bay Area and the Guangzhou Office, and focuses on overseas listings and bond issuance, and Zhao excels in real estate, infrastructure construction and securities mandates. In the Guangzhou team, Jianxue Wang and Le Zhang handle capital markets and M&A transactions; Xiaoquan Yang specialises in aircraft and project finance; and Mingfei Sun is a key name to note for intellectual property and commercial disputes. In Shenzhen, Siyu Song focuses on contentious matters and capital markets compliance issues while Zhangqi Tao is a key name for real estate matters.

Shu Jin Law Firm is a Shenzhen-headquartered full-service firm with particular strength in securities and investments, and corporate and M&A mandates.  It advises issuers and underwriters on IPOs in the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Shenzhen Stock Exchange, Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Singapore Stock Exchange, Korea Stock Exchange, and NASDAQ, handling security and equity-linked capital markets transactions from asset restructuring and mergers and acquisitions to follow-on equity offerings, and overseas securities issuance. The team also handles insolvency and restructuring, IP, dispute resolution, and compliance matters. Xiaochun Lin and Tianhui Wei and Yunyun Hu are recommended for capital markets transactions, and Chenting Wu and Rongsheng Chen focus on corporate and M&A and private equity matters.

Headquartered in Guangzhou, Wang Jing & GH Law Firm continues to expand its team and offering in the areas of employment, private clients, capital markets, litigation and intellectual property. The team excels in foreign-related commercial matters and has extensive expertise in the shipping, real estate and gaming sectors. Sam Huang, Jianhui Li and Yingzi Cai focus on real estate transactions, and Jing Wang and Wilson Wang are highly experienced shipping practitioners. Jeff Yang specialises in data compliance and counts CGB Bank, Guangzhou Shiyuan Electronic Technology Company and Mentholatum as his key clients.

Jointly led by Guangzhou-based antitrust and competition specialist Baisha Zhang and Shenzhen-based Boming Qian, Zhong Lun Law Firm had another stellar year handling a broad mix of antitrust, data compliance, M&A transactions in the new energy sector, IPOs, IP disputes, and major infrastructure projects. Qixiang Zhang, Tao Jin and Shenzhen-based Bijun Huang have notable experience in listings, M&A and private equity investments, and Wayne Wang and Yonghong Wang focus on the TMT sector, and contentious and non-contentious intellectual property matters respectively. In its Shenzhen office, Yonghong Wang and  Feng Dong have a solid track record in commercial disputes, while Shengfeng Xu,  Haijun Wang and Sheng Zhang excel in restructuring and insolvency matters.