Regional coverage: Guangdong Province: Guangzhou and Shenzhen in China

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, wholesale and retail trade, and real estate. It’s location allows it to be a connecting hub for China, Hong Kong and Macau, which 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 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 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 a list of highly regarded local firms only and other mid-market firms that are active in the Shenzhen legal market.

Jincheng Tongda & Neal enhanced its Greater Bay area offering when it established its Guangzhou and Hong Kong associated offices in 2021. The team continued to expand with the hire of 12 partners from other local firms to join its Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices. The team advises on a broad mix of commercial, financing, M&A and IPO matters. Yinhong Liu and Meihua Liang are key corporate partners from its Shenzhen and Guangzhou offices, respectively. Liu is particularly active in the real estate and financial services sector, and Liang is noted for compliance, securities and capital markets, and private equity and venture capital investments.

Jingtian & Gongcheng‘s Guangzhou office broadened its corporate and M&A, shipping, international trade and international arbitration offering when it hired four partners from Wang Jing & Co, two partners from Wei Tu Law Firm and four partners from other local firms. Working closely with its Shenzhen office, it handles a steady flow of big-ticket Hong Kong IPOs, M&A and international arbitrations. The team is jointly led by Pengfei Xu and Bangwei Xu  and includes Li Li, who joined from JunZeJun Law Offices and focuses on restructuring and insolvency, financing and real estate and construction matters; Jian Hu, Shuzhou Zhao and Bo Yang, who handle international trade, shipping, insurance and contentious matters; and Kehua Zhang who specialises in employment, IP and M&A matters. Xuan Zhou, Pengfei Xu and Sanqiao Xu are key names to note in its Shenzhen office.

Established in 2011, JunHe‘s Guangzhou office is part of its south China regional offering with offices in Shenzhen, Haikou and Hong Kong. The 18-partner team is jointly led by Guangzhou-based Pete Zhang and Shenzhen office managing partner Jianwei Zhang, both focus on M&A, restructuring and financing mandates. Further names to note include corporate partners Ally Huang and Joe Wan who ‘has a high enthusiasm for the emerging industry of smart cars‘; Donnie Wang who specialises in intellectual property and corporate crime leveraging his previous prosecutor role which he dealt with anti-corruption and bribery investigations; and Catherine Miao who splits her time between Shanghai and Guangzhou and has a niche specialism of advising on overseas special situation funds on their non-performing loan acquisitions and restructruings.

King & Wood Mallesons has offices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The sizeable practice which includes over 70 partners and over 300 non-partner level practitioners, handles FDI, large-scale corporate restructuring, real estate, cross-border financing and commercial disputes. The team also has a number of highly regarded bankruptcy and insolvency specialists including Jia Wu and Kunchen Zhao, who regularly handle reorganisation, corporate liquidation and debt restructuring. Guangzhou-based Jianxue Wang specialises in capital markets, corporate finance, and venture investment; Kevin Cheng splits his time between Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and focuses on financial, commercial and real estate and construction disputes and special asset disposals and transactions.

Headquartered in Chengdu, Tahota Law Firm's Shenzhen office handles corporate and M&A, finance, securitisation, IP and commercial disputes. Areas of industry expertise include real estate and construction and insurance, and it counts government agencies, SOEs, educational establishments and financial institutions as its main clients. The team recently advised on a number of major restructurings and listing matters. Yuanbing Huang leads the team, which also includes Jin Jiang who is recommended for real estate acquisition, infrastructure investment and financing and dispute resolution.

Wang Jing & GH Law Firm has a niche industry focus and regularly advises on transactional and contentious matters for major local and regional clients in the shipping, real estate, and gaming sectors. Jing Wang and Wilson Wang are highly recommended for shipping matters, and Sam Huang, Jianhui Li and Yingzi Cai are key names for real estate transactions.

Zhong Lun Law Firm‘s Guangdong province team is jointly led by Boming Qian, who focuses on contentious matters, and managing partner of the Guangzhou office Baisha Zhang, who is noted for disputes, and antimonopoly and M&A matters. The team regularly handles multibillion-RMB M&A, restructuring, and real estate and construction transactions, and major litigation and arbitration, and teams up with its Beijing and Shanghai team on major complex transactions and disputes. Within the team Aron Hu and Wayne Wang are the key names to note for corporate and M&A transactions; Mingcheng Yan focuses on arbitration and anti-corruption investigations; Fen Quan and Junge Cheng are active in capital markets transactions.