9 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA COVER STORY used in daily work, having local presence is no longer a prominent advantage. To Li, developing a firm into a large and competitive firm in Qingdao and even in the circum-Bohai sea area requires a lot of work. “Since its establishment more than two years ago, W&H Law Firm (Qingdao) has been actively attracting many professional talents to enhance our comprehensive competitiveness. On the other hand, we are also working hard to build up our own stronghold in practice areas, gathering the strength of the entire team to constantly explore and test new business directions and build our professional brand.” Wang Qun, Deputy Director, Senior Partner and Management Committee Member of Wincon Law Firm, feels that 2023 has been a year of significant challenges for the entire legal services industry. “We understand that revenue growth of firms in Shandong Province has slowed down. So it is really not easy for Wincon to still manage to grow its revenue in 2023.” According to Wang Qun, in the past two years, Wincon has accelerated the expansion of its presence in various cities in Shandong Province, adding six new offices in Linyi, Dongying, Dezhou, Binzhou, Tai’an and Weihai. “Led by top law firm directors locally, these offices have enjoyed good development momentum, and some have already become top local firms after a year. The rapid development of local offices has also provided support for the development of the headquarters.” OPPORTUNITIES STILL ABOUND Despite all uncertainties, the lawyers interviewed all believe that economic development of the circum-Bohai sea area is still deepening and that the legal services market remains full of opportunities. “The circum-Bohai sea economic circle is located in the increasingly active central area of the Northeast Asian economic circle, playing a crucial role not only in the development of China’s coastal economy but also in the division of labor and cooperation in international economic development in Northeast Asia and even the Asia Pacific region,” says Wang Yongli, Partner of Wang Jing & Co. Law Firm’s Qingdao Office and rising lawyer winner. Citing Shandong Province as an example, Wang Yongli explains that “as the largest economy in the circum-Bohai sea area, Shandong Province has entered a new stage of economic development, with transitioning to new development drivers from old ones, strengthening the marine industry, green development, construction of free trade zones, etc. being elevated to key strategies. The continuous expansion of economic sectors in both breadth and depth will certainly drive the vigorous growth of the legal services market.” According to him, the transition from old development drivers to new ones contributes to the boom of new technology and new energy enterprises; policies introduced to strengthen the marine industry will prioritize sea-related industries, such as increasing investment and support for port engineering, offshore wind power projects and marine ranching projects; green development involves various fields of environmental protection; and the construction of free trade zones touches on foreign investment, import and export trade, etc. Therefore, demand for legal services in these fields is bound to increase. “The legal services market in this region has enormous potential. Legal practitioners can drive forward not merely progress but significant progress.” Qu Zhiyong, member of the National Management Committee and Director of the Dalian Office of SGLA Law Firm, and Pan Bo, member of the National Executive Committee and Director of the Dalian Office Executive Committee of the same firm, share with ALB government strategies for Northeast revitalization and the construction of the Northeast Asia hub, the coastal advantages of Dalian, as well as Dalian’s “Two Pioneering Areas” (a pioneering area for industrial structure optimization and a pioneering area for economic and social development) and “Three Hubs” (Northeast Asia international shipping hub, Northeast Asia international logistics hub and regional financial LAW FIRMS 环渤海地区律所 AllBright Law Offices 锦天城律师事务所 Dacheng Law Offices 大成律师事务所 DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所 Grandall Law Firm 国浩律师事务所 Jincheng Tongda & Neal Law Firm 金诚同达律师事务所 Join & High Law Office 四方君汇律师事务所 Jointide Law Firm 众成清泰律师事务所 JunHe LLP 君合律师事务所 King & Wood Mallesons 金杜律师事务所 Long An Law Firm 隆安律师事务所 SGLA Law Firm 中联律师事务所 Shandong Deheng Law Firm 山东德衡律师事务所 Tahota Law Firm 泰和泰律师事务所 TianTai Law Firm 天驰君泰律师事务所 W&H Law Firm 炜衡律师事务所 Wang Jing & Co. Law Firm 敬海律师事务所 Wang, Wu, Yang & Ma Law Firm 辽宁同方律师事务所 Wincon Law Firm 文康律师事务所 Zhong Lun Law Firm 中伦律师事务所 Zhonglun W&D Law Firm 中伦文德律师事务所
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA0NzE4Mw==