About

French multinational energy management company Schneider Electric has had operations in China since 1987 and has invested over RMB 3bn in that period. Allen Zhou joined the company in 2009 as vice president and general counsel for the Greater China region. In the role, Zhou has recruited approximately 30 professionals into his team who he encouraged to become subject matter experts. He has also led the team through a number of successful M&A, real estate and intellectual property activities. In addition to setting up the company’s internal policies and procedures for risk management and control, Zhou and his team have gained particular recognition for their role in integrating a number of high profile M&A transactions including the global acquisition of Invensys worth over $5bn in 2013. Guided by Zhou, the team has recovered hundreds of millions of yuan in investment through the restructuring of joint ventures and successfully handling hundreds of counterfeiting and trademark infringement cases. For Zhou, solid legal and financial knowledge, outstanding business acumen and management skills are key traits of successful general counsel. Prior to his role at Schneider Electric, Zhou was a partner at Paul Hastings for one year after spells as general counsel at GE Capital China and Xinhua Finance. Outside of the office, he has spoken at number of legal conferences, been recognised with industry awards and has a strong presence in the in-house legal community.