Offshore law firm Appleby has hired Kitty Chan as a partner in Shanghai and as a registered foreign lawyer in Hong Kong pending admission.

The Hong Kong office of PRC firm DeHeng Law Offices has hired disputes lawyer Stan Cheung as a partner, the first lateral hire made by the firm after officially combining with Chungs Lawyers in March this year following their three-year association.

Chinese auto insurance technology platform Cheche Group has recently completed its merger with the Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) Prime Impact Acquisition I, formerly listed on the New York Stock Exchange. As of Sep.18, the merged entity has become a publicly traded company listed on NASDAQ.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Zhejiang T&C Law Firm have advised Lygend Resources & Technology on its $472 million initial public offering in Hong Kong, with Herbert Smith Freehills and Commerce & Finance Law Offices advising the sponsors.

General counsel working in China’s financial sector have endured a particularly challenging period of late. On the one hand, regulation and innovation continue to intensify; on the other hand, new concepts such as ESG and green financing also require legal departments to employ new ideas to support the research and development of financial products. On top of that, in times of uncertainty, financial institutions are increasingly looking to their GCs to play a strategic leadership role. GCs in China’s financial sector discuss how these trends are impacting their work, and what they expect the future to bring.

Gansu Province, Qinghai Province and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwestern China have a long history and rich resources. They are China’s “green barriers” and bases for agricultural and energy reserves. With infrastructure construction, new energy and new materials, digital economy, new agriculture and other sectors booming, this region will advance its future development that promises to be green, digitalisation and open, bringing more opportunities for the legal sector.

In early June, Shanghai finally relaxed its strict COVID control measures, measures that had been in place for more than two months. These allowed for production of goods and international shipping to resume. Given Shanghai’s important role in the global supply chain and its status as a major shipping hub in China, the lockdown has had far-reaching effects, once again bringing the issue of supply chain resilience back to the public eye.

Shandong Province enjoyed steady economic growth in the past year, with its GDP exceeding 6 trillion yuan in the first three quarters of 2021,.and the province has had a number of growth highlights as it transitions from old growth drivers into new ones. Lawyers from Jinan and Qingdao share with ALB their observations on upcoming opportunities brought about by this economic transformation. 

As the Year of the Tiger opens, partners at domestic and international firms in China share with ALB the lessons they have learnt from 2021, and how they will use those to navigate market changes. They also discuss their strategies to attract and retain talent, their observations of the profound changes taking place in China’s legal industry, and their outlook for the coming year. 

Shanghai-headquartered AllBright Law Offices has opened an office in Singapore, the firm’s fourth overseas outpost after Hong Kong, London, and Seattle.