China’s Law Firm Taps into Abundant Opportunities in Hong Kong and the Region

Headquartered in Shanghai, China’s commercial law firm Fangda Partners is expanding its Hong Kong team to cater to the growing demand for top-quality legal services in the region.

Founded in 1993, Fangda Partners operates five full service offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The firm advises Chinese and international clients in all the principal areas of commercial law, including general corporate, dispute resolution, project finance, banking, regulatory, investment protection, anti‑trust and IP. Fangda is meeting the growing demand for legal services delivered by a strong Chinese law firm with an international perspective and a long track record of cross-border deals and cases.

Peter Yuen, Managing Partner, stated that the decision to open an office in Hong Kong in 2012 was part of the firm’s strategic objective to be able to assist clients in all their Mainland-related business. “Trying to establish a legal practice in Mainland China with global footprints has become extremely challenging without a strong Hong Kong office,” he said. Fangda’s Hong Kong team has grown significantly in the past seven years, and there are now more than a hundred lawyers advising on the full range of commercial matters.

Fangda’s dispute resolution team in Hong Kong alone has 15 fee earners, making it one of the largest such teams in the city. “Hong Kong’s jurisdiction is recognised as the Rolls Royce of dispute resolution in Asia, for a number of reasons,” Yuen added. “First, Hong Kong is the world’s leading international dispute resolution centre. Second, Hong Kong’s judiciary is consistently recognised as being one of the leading sets of judges experienced in arbitration. Third, the city has a sophisticated and dynamic legal community that includes a large pool of local and foreign registered lawyers.”

Opportunities from Mainland China’s Latest Economic Initiatives

The Belt and Road Initiative has generated a high level of Chinese outbound investment activity. In order to advise clients on how best to protect their investments, last year Fangda Hong Kong launched a dedicated investment protection practice. “With our dedicated team, including lawyers with many years’ experience of advising on international investment issues, Fangda is ideally placed to design, structure and service investment projects out of Hong Kong,” Yuen said. The Ministry of Commerce of China has included Fangda Partners on its panel of investment law experts for Chinese outbound investment in recognition of Fangda’s expertise in this area.

In addition, Fangda is one of the very few law firms that has a large Greater Bay Area (GBA) presence through its offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, with lawyers specialised in the full range of commercial practice areas, including project finance, banking, corporate, dispute resolution (including IP litigation), regulatory and investment protection.

Since its establishment in 2012, Fangda Hong Kong office has participated in several international events and legal conferences organised or supported by InvestHK on topics including investment, trade and dispute resolution. “InvestHK has been very successful in highlighting the benefits to business of Hong Kong’s jurisdiction. Fangda’s development and expansion owes a lot to InvestHK’s initiative on this score,” says Yuen.