The Legal 500

China: Antitrust and competition

Antitrust and competition: PRC firms

Antitrust and competition: PRC firms - ranked: tier 1

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP's five-partner team is widely regarded as the 'leading antitrust practice with a wealth of experience in the full spectrum of antitrust matters'. Demonstrating this, the team handled a large number of merger control filings; represented a Fortune 500 company in investigations initiated by both NDRC and State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC) on an alleged abuse of dominance; advised multinational, Chinese SOEs and private companies on antitrust compliance issues; and represented a software company in an anti-monopoly administrative litigation. Yingling Wei heads the group, which also includes Janet Hui and Audrey Chen, who are experienced in merger control filings and cartel investigations respectively.

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China: Banking and finance

Banking and finance: PRC firms

Banking and finance: PRC firms - ranked: tier 1

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP provides 'high-quality' service in aviation finance and general loan transactions, and is instructed in the development of new financing products. In one particularly stand-out matter, Fang Yi advised Standard Chartered Bank (Hong Kong) and HSBC on a refinancing transaction involving onshore and offshore facilities. Headed by Hui Zhou, the team is also active in transactions involving non-performing loans. For example, Qinghui Miao advised Bain Capital Credit Group on its acquisition of a significant non-performing loan portfolio from Huarong AMC Jiangsu Branch. The department also has experience in real estate finance and project finance, where it has advised borrowers such as Shanghai Lingang Wind Farm. Liang Deng handled a number of high-value investment transactions, and Gang Wang specialises in asset and aviation finance. Associates Jianwei Yang and Yifeng Yuan are also recommended.

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China: Capital markets

Capital markets: PRC firms

Capital markets: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP’s ‘very professional’ team possesses ‘strong business knowledge and industry awareness’. Clients include major international corporations such as JP Morgan, Jaguar Land Rover, Philips, Barclays and HSBC. The team assisted Clenergy with its listing on the Shanghai stock exchange, and Chou Tai Sheng Jewellery instructed it on its IPO of A-shares. The team is led by Tao Zhang and Yi Wang, which also includes the highly regarded Chunyang Shao, Tiejun Shi and Yongqiang Yu. Other names to note include Jiang Wenjun who ‘is able to maintain a good balance between legal matters and business judgement’; Dana Zhang and Gu Jingling who are both singled out for their ‘professionalism, commitment and responsiveness’, and Lao Chengzhe who has ‘solid capital markets experience, a rigorous work attitude and gives pragmatic legal advice’.

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China: Corporate and M&A

Corporate and M&A: PRC firms

Corporate and M&A: PRC firms - ranked: tier 1

JunHe LLP

Renowned for its multi-jurisdictional M&A capabilities, JunHe LLP combines transactional strength with a full-service offering, fielding impressive private equity, antitrust and compliance teams. 2017 saw the team advising Vanke on a number of transactions. Among them, Yongqiang Yu assisted Vanke Hong Kong with its investment in the privatisation of Global Logistic Properties with a consortium of investors. A Beijing-based team, led by Yu Zheng and Hongbin Zhang, acted for Xinhua Net, and its subsidiaries Xinhua New Media and China Economic Information Group, on their joint venture with Hangzhou Ali Venture Capital Investment and Hangzhou Shu Wen Yun Investment Partnership for the establishment of Xinhua Wise Cloud Technological. Shenzhen-based Jiayu Lin  assisted Cardinal Health with the $557m sale of its China drug distribution business to Shanghai Pharmaceuticals. Within its sizable team, Adam Li specialises in advising US companies in cross-border investments, M&A, private placements, public offerings and privatisations; Warren Hua is particularly experienced acting for SOEs in their outbound investment and handling foreign investment in Chinese A-share listed companies; Kirk Tong has particular experience in foreign direct investment, capital markets and antitrust matters; M&A expert Wei Xiao is recommended for share acquisitions and compliance matters, as is private equity specialist Binxue Sang, who advises multinational on cross-border transactions.

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China: Dispute resolution

Dispute resolution: PRC firms

Dispute resolution: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP's practice has expertise in a diverse range of areas such as commercial litigation, arbitration, FCPA and bribery investigations and internal investigations. The team is highly active in IP litigation, as well as financial and bankruptcy disputes; for example, Zhaolin Wang and Jiangang Wang represented Sogou.com in a patent infringement litigation resulting the successful invalidation of two patents of Baidu.com, and IP specialist Qiang Ma is acting for a Chinese client in trade mark litigation before the Beijing IP court. Other highlights include representing an SOE in an arbitration in relation to a joint venture dispute, handling a series of EPC contract and construction disputes, and acting for a Chinese manufacturing company in a claim pertaining the liability of infringement of shareholder interest. The department is led by Zhenyong Ye, Weining Zou, Qing Li and Zhao Wang which also includes the highly recommended Li Cai, Yanli Zheng and Xiang Chen.

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China: Healthcare and life sciences

Healthcare and life sciences: PRC firms

Healthcare and life sciences: PRC firms - ranked: tier 3

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP specialises in major institutional investors mandates, with capability of handling regulatory, IP and contentious matters. The team includes Fan Yang who advises life sciences and healthcare sector clients as well as private equity funds; Xudong Tao whose expertise lies in the formation and restructuring of companies and private equity funds; and Feng Zhou who is experienced in handling high-profile M&A transactions. The team handled a number of M&A and joint venture mandates.

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China: Intellectual property

Intellectual property: PRC firms

Intellectual property: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP provides a ‘very good level of service', has 'strong subject matter expertise’ and advice is ‘excellent value for money’. The team adeptly handles prosecution, unfair competition and enforcement matters, among others. Key clients include corporations such as Honda, Ferrero and Amazon as well as educational institutions such as Cornell University. The ‘savvy and experienced’ team renders ‘advice that is direct and to the point’ and ‘understands what clients need and keeps them informed’ which ‘assists in making intelligent and practical decisions’. Zhaohui Wang has ‘excellent patent litigation expertise and provides strategic advice’; Chumeng Xu, who is experienced in trade mark protection matters, and senior associate Huafeng Zhao successfully represented BMW in its appeal against the refusal of BMW's sound trade mark registration in China.

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China: Investment funds

Investment funds: PRC firms

Investment funds: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP has advised on a large number of fund formation projects, including parallel funds, umbrella funds, feeder funds, and mezzanine funds. It acted for Zhongan Huixin Fund, which invests mainly in network information security industry-related businesses, on a fund formation contract. Sammuel Zhao acts for a variety of domestic funds, including industry investment funds, particularly regarding fund establishment and investments; Man Wang has extensive experience in fund formation; Nelson Zhou recently advised private equity houses on their investments in financial institutions.

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China: Labour and employment

Labour and employment: PRC firms

Labour and employment: PRC firms - ranked: tier 1

JunHe LLP

'One of the leaders in China's labour legal market', JunHe LLP provides 'practical and reliable advice' across contentious and non-contentious labour matters. The team has 'a solid grasp of legislative dynamics and local judicial practice' which gives the group 'a clear advantage in labour disputes'. The team's clients include some of the most widely recognised names in the technology, pharmaceuticals, energy and engineering and manufacturing industries. In the non-contentious space, Hongjuan Bai assisted a multinational confectionery company with the integration of multiple China-based operations involving hundreds of employees, which required various resettlements, salary adjustments and employee terminations. Jianjun Ma assisted a European software company with settlement agreements with 400 employees following a staff optimization exercise. The team also advised on litigation and arbitration strategies for Chinese subsidiaries of foreign companies, and is highly recommended for employment disputes.  Yimu Bu has 'a wealth of experience in labour disputes' and is identified by clients as 'one of the team's most promising young partners'.

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China: Private equity/venture capital

Private equity/venture capital: PRC firms

Private equity/venture capital: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

With ten partners dedicated to private equity and venture capital matters, JunHe LLP's clients include private equity and venture capital funds, general partnerships and limited partnerships of funds and fund management companies, as well as investment companies and banks. The practice includes fund establishment, fundraising, liquidation, dissolution and day-to-day management, and M&A and exit deals; it acts for established companies and start-up entities in all stages of financing in China. The team acted as PRC counsel to Goldman Sachs and Carlyle Group in their equity investments in OneSmart, which involved the establishment of a red-chip structure, the exiting of onshore RMB funds, and regulatory changes. It also advised Jiangsu Dewei New Materials on its proposed investment in US Hybrid Corporation and US Fuel Cell Corporation; and assisted an affiliate of China Aoyuan Property Group Company in its acquisition of shares in Shenzhen Qiuming Investment Development Company. Nelson Zhou is recommended for his advice to international and domestic financial institutions and private equity investors on going-private transactions of listed US companies, and acts for private equity houses on their investments in the TMT, real estate, education and healthcare sectors. Other key advisors are Xiyong Zhao and Man Wang.

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China: Projects and energy

Projects and energy: PRC firms

Projects and energy: PRC firms - ranked: tier 1

JunHe LLP

The team at JunHe LLP has experience with a variety of project structures and provides 'service of the highest level in the domestic market' across significant power and energy, transportation, water, and chemical projects. Moreover, the team 'fully understands the business and commercial practices of domestic and international organisations' and 'is able to effectively bridge the language and cultural barrier'. In the transportation space, Fang Yi is advising two development companies on two separate PPP projects. Additional highlights include Elvis Zhou (who recently joined the team from DeHeng Law Offices) acting for two domestic contractors in relation to the review and further negotiation of a contract concerning a petrochemical plant in Kazakhstan. Other key contacts include Yu Qin, Deting Li, George Zhu, and department head Jianan Yuan, who is instructed by a prominent state owned enterprise (SOE).

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China: Real estate and construction

Real estate and construction: PRC firms

Real estate and construction: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

Working from its Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen offices, JunHe LLP’s 'reliable and highly experienced' real estate and construction team comprises over 30 lawyers; its core areas of practice include real estate-related investment and M&A deals, developments, financing, leasing, and sales of real estate projects and properties. It also assists with construction-related bidding, design, construction and supervision issues and acted for a Chinese life insurance company in its acquisition of an office building. Xueping Yu heads the team; the 'always impressive' Liping Zhang's expertise includes real estate development, sales, acquisitions of buildings and project companies, lease transactions and finance structures. Haifu Li and Yu Yongqiang are also experienced practitioners.

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China: TMT

TMT: PRC firms

TMT: PRC firms - ranked: tier 2

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP's multidisciplinary team handles a broad range of mandates for TMT sector clients. Among its recent highlights, the IP team successfully assisted a Chinese e-commerce company with a patent infringement litigation, invalidating two key patents of its major competitor, and represented a Chinese multinational conglomerate company in filling trade mark opposition before the China Trademark Office (CTMO) ; the capital markets team including Yi Wang and Wenjin Jiang advised Uxin Group on its $500m financing; the corporate transactional team advised Youzu Interactive on its €80m acquisition of Bigpoint HoldCo, a German online gaming company and handled Jiafu's acquisition of ETL Public Company. The team also counts BMW as a major client which it advises on various telecoms-related regulatory matters including automobile telematics services, internet mapping and positioning service. Maochang Li advises private equity funds with a focus on the hi-tech and IT industries, and Jun Gong has notable experience handling corporate transactions for media sector clients.

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China: Tax

Tax: PRC firms

Tax: PRC firms - ranked: tier 1

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP's tax department assists domestic and international clients with investment and fund-related tax structuring, bilateral tax treaty advice, PRC tax aspects of inbound and outbound M&A and tax disputes. In the non-contentious space, Julie Cheng advised a European engineering company on the PRC tax issues associated with the client's disposal of two entities to a Chinese entity, while Tingting Zhao advised a Chinese investment fund with the VAT and tax structuring aspects of its establishment of a secondary debt fund. Contentious work has included the team acting for an industrial company in relation to a Chinese tax bureau's claim for back tax payment.

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China: WTO/international trade

WTO/international trade: PRC firms

WTO/international trade: PRC firms - ranked: tier 3

JunHe LLP

JunHe LLP has particular expertise in handling US Section 337 investigations, and has recently advised on numerous trade investigations involving the solar panel industry. Department head David Tang represented Canadian Solar, with respect to its operation in China, in the third review of a major trade investigation initiated by the US. Similarly, Tang has acted for JinkoSolar in relation to trade investigations in Turkey and the EU. The team is also representing a US chemicals company in an investigations initiated by MOFCOM. Jin Wang and Zhiqin Zhou are also recommended.

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