Chinese legal powerhouse Zhong Lun Law Firm is ranked ‘Outstanding’ across various practice areas and industry sectors with its well-established teams in both the transactional and contentious arena. With its exceptional experience in complex and high-profile restructuring, M&A and various other transactions, it has assisted many hi-tech businesses in their development and expansion. Construction and project development have traditionally been the firm’s core practices, its expertise has also expanded to real estate, infrastructure and PPP, energy, public facilities and industrial manufacturing. Key partners to note from the firm are Shanghai-based partner Anthony Zhao, who specialises in capital markets, private equity, and cross-border investment/M&A, and Beijing-based partner Jihong Wang, whose practice covers corporate governance, health, safety, environmental protection and financing. The firm welcomed six partners including Qunwei Lu to further boost its first-class capital markets practice during the research cycle.
Client feedback
“We are served by the firm's team led by partner Chongwen Li. They responded to our needs promptly, professionally and meticulously. They are good at grasping the core legal issues in complex cases and proposing effective solutions. I attended the hearing of the case in Jilin High People’s Court and was impressed by the excellent argument skills of the two counsels.” – Dispute resolution
“We were deeply impressed by the service quality and service level of Zhong Lun Law Firm and their team. The lawyers can accurately and quickly understand our needs and can respond – and respond accordingly. In terms of professional ability, they are very familiar with the laws and regulations in the professional field and can make professional judgements based on our problems.” – Regulatory
“Firstly, the background of the project is complex, involving changes in actual use and the newly issued rental housing policy, and there is a relatively complex transaction structure. They quickly grasp new information, understand the essence of transactions, and complete the work with high quality. Secondly, they are able to complete heavy work in a tight time frame, which was highly praised by both parties.” – Real estate
“Professional and high quality.” – Real estate
“The Zhong Lun bankruptcy team is a professional, responsible and highly cooperative team. Zhong Lun consistently provides satisfactory solutions and problem-solving paths for its clients.” – Restructuring and insolvency
Chongwen Li
“He is always able to grasp the latest legal trends. In addition, he always puts his clients first, prioritises our needs.”
“Very professional and leads a well-coordinated team. Always helps us to obtain favourable results.”
Xiangwen Liu
“Mr. Liu Xiangwen has excellent professional ability. In specific projects, he can understand our internal pain points and proposes practical solutions for enterprises based on the actual situation of those enterprises.”
Fangrong Wu
“Professional, efficient, high quality and timely.”
Shengfeng Xu
“Mr. Xu has been deeply involved in bankruptcy law for over 20 years and has handled numerous influential cases in China. Several of his cases have been selected as typical cases by the Supreme People's Court. His professional capability has been recognised and praised by courts, clients, and intermediary institutions. In addition to a PhD degree, he is proficient in writing and has published multiple books and articles on bankruptcy law.”
Rui Zhang
“She has strong work abilities and is able to complete complex tasks under heavy pressure.”
Work highlights
Advised China Building Materials (Anhui) New Materials Industry Investment Fund Partnership, Sinopec Group Capital, China State-owned Enterprise Mixed Ownership Reform Fund, Kegai Ceyuan (Chongqing) Private Equity Fund Partnership and Three Gorges Capital Holding on their investments in Sinoma Lithium Battery Separator.
Advised Moore Threads Technology on its Series B financing round of over more than $200 million.
Advised Beijing Huayi Life E-Commerce on its C+ round financing from NICE Group and a private equity fund managed by CICC focusing on the investment of consumer goods and services.
Key clients
Accel-KKR, Decheng Capital, Farizon Auto, H.I.G. Capital, Sequoia Capital China, Shanghai ArtechMed.
Work highlights
Acting as counsel for the China headquarters of a Fortune-500 foreign-owned automobile company and its subsidiaries and advising the client on day-to-day employment inquiries as well as labour disputes with several employees.
Advised a European leader in high value-added coatings and resins on mass redundancy due to liquidation.
Advising a domestic company in the mobile payment and financial services industry focusing on the overseas market in labour disputes with tens of its employees.
Work highlights
Representing Netgear (Beijing) Networking Technology in 12 patent infringement cases and seven patent invalidation cases against Global Innovation Aggregators before the Beijing IP Court, Liuzhou Intermediate Court and Jinan Intermediate Court.
Advised New Dimension Systems on an international source code transaction project with Siemens.
Representing JCET Group in four patent ownership disputes, two trade secret misappropriation cases and 10 patent invalidation cases against Forehope.
Key clients
Adobe, Beijing iQIYI Science & Technology, Huawei Technologies, Lepu Biopharma, Motorola Solutions.
Work highlights
Represented Bank of Jiujiang (Guangzhou Branch) and Meizhou Guangmei Investment Enterprise on a lending contract dispute.
Provided legal services for construction contract disputes between Wuzhou Urban Construction Investment and Development and Hongyu Construction Group and Guangxi Wuzhou Xijiang Four Bridges Project Investment Management.
Advised China United SME Guarantee Corporation on a bond default dispute and the resulting judicial disposal of pledged shares of a listed company.
Successfully represented Yantai Dongcheng Biochemical, a listed domestic pharmaceutical company, to handle serial litigation disputes and negotiation matters.
Key clients
Beijing Beike Digital Medical Technology, Haitong Securities, Peking University Asset Management, Peking University Founder Group.
Work highlights
Advised on the initial public offering of the China Asset Management Beijing Affordable Housing Center Rental Housing Closed-end Infrastructure Securities Investment Fund. This REIT’s IPO is among the first batch of the affordable housing C-REITs pilot scheme and sets up a precedent for other affordable housing C-REITs deals.
Represented Nantong Xinyuan Investment Development to conduct legal due diligence on 11 private equity fund managers at the same time and issue 11 legal due diligence reports within three weeks.
Key clients
Bank of Communications Capital Management, Centurium Capital, China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Holdings, China Railway Construction Chongqing Investment Corporation, Wuxi Yuanyue Private Equity Fund Management.
Work highlights
Advised Beijing New Mileage Health Industry Group on its investment in the reorganisation of Hengkang Medical Group.
Advised Zhejiang Unifull Industrial Fiber on its reorganisation proceedings.
Appointed by the court as the bankruptcy administrator of a company which built and operated the first CBD of Yangzhou city, whose debate volume is about Rmb400 million ($55 million).
Key clients
Macrolink Holding, Nanjing Fullshare Industrial Holding Group, Sanpower Group, Shenzhen Huaxun Fangzhou Investment.
Work highlights
Advised Pipe China on its acquisition of minority shareholders' equity of United Pipeline.
Advised SIG on its acquisition of Clean Flexible Packaging, a global leader in flexible packaging solutions for an enterprise value of approximately $1.535 billon.
Advised Sinomine Resource Group on its acquisition of African Minerals Limited & Amzin Mineral and Bikita Lithium Mine.
Key clients
Brookfield Singapore, CapitaLand Investment, China Yangtze Power, Cummins (China) Investment, SoftBank Vision Fund II, Yuehai Property Management.
Work highlights
Advised Atour on its IPO on Nasdaq. This deal is widely regarded as “icebreaking”, as the first China IPO in the US with a valuation exceeding $1.5 billion for the past 16 months, and also as the first overseas IPO in which the issuer successfully passed a PRC cybersecurity review.
Advised Shenyang Fortune Precision Equipment on its listing on the STAR Market of the Shanghai Stock Exchange. The prospectus of Shenyang Fortune Precision Equipment is the first prospectus written by PRC legal counsel for an issuer in the PRC capital market, breaking the habit in PRC where the prospectus is usually written by sponsors.
Advised Structure Therapeutics on its Nasdaq IPO.
Key clients
BofA Securities, CICC, Haitong International, HSBC, Qingdao Magene Intelligence Technology, Sichuan Qian Li Beoka Medical Technology, UBS.
Work highlights
Advised Shanghai Yingmai Culture Communication against Sports & Entertainment (Beijing) Culture Communication. This case demonstrates that exclusive licensing of intellectual property does not constitute a monopoly. It will have a great impact on the development of the commercial photo industry. This case was selected as a "typical anti-trust case in 2022" by the Supreme People's Court.
Represented Tongfang Knowledge Network (Beijing) Technology in dealing with the State Administration for Market Regulation antitrust investigation on the abuse of dominant market position. This case is the first anti-monopoly case of abuse of dominant market position in the field of platform economy that was publicly filed in 2022. It is also the first anti-monopoly case of abuse of dominant market position since the establishment of the National Anti-Monopoly Bureau of China.
Key clients
Beijing Jingdong Century Trading, China Resources Wine Holdings, Gezhouba Yipuli Guangxi Weiqi Chemical, Guangdong Administration for Market Regulation, SIG Combibloc Group.
Work highlights
Advised International Finance Corporation on its $700 million loans to two Vietnamese subsidiaries of a Chinese listed company.
Representing China Yto Group Finance Corporation on its dispute involving misrepresentation and insider transaction against Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.
Advised East West Bank on its acquisition financing to a Hong Kong fund to finance the fund’s acquisition of a PRC target company.
Advised Blackstone Group on the financing of its offshore private equity fund at an amount of around $960 million granted by the syndicate arranged by ANZ, Barclays and DBS for the acquisition of Interplex from Baring Private Equity Asia.
Key clients
Bank of Communications, Bizlink Holding, China Construction Bank Corporation, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, Export-Import Bank of China.
Work highlights
Advised TBEA Hengyang Transformer on its project of engineering, procurement, and construction of 108 smart warehouses in Cote d'Ivoire.
Provided legal services for Greentown’s development and construction of the Hangzhou Chunyue Jinlu project.
Advised PowerChina Roadbridge Group Central China Branch on its ecological protection and green development project of the Yidu section of Yangtze River.
Key clients
Beijing International Resort, CICC, Hangzhou Hua’an Real Estate, Shanghai Shangshi North Bund New Landmark Development.
Work highlights
Provided comprehensive data compliance services for China Mobile.
Advised China Baowu Steel Group Corporation on the setup of an overseas compliance risk prevention and control system.
Assisted a global medical device giant in dealing with the detention of its imported culture media by customs.
Key clients
Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy Group, Shanghai Ying Yi Investment Center, Victoria’s Secret, Yuexiu Group.
