In this issue, China Business Law Journal presents our inaugural A-List of the top 100 private practice lawyers for the China market, a list our editorial team compiled based on extensive research into the opinions of the legal service industry and, more importantly, their clients, as well as our years of collective experience in analyzing the country’s legal market.
So, what does it take to be a top lawyer in this competitive market? The clients’ ultimate concerns are usually what their legal advisers can achieve for them.
Knowledge of legal theories certainly counts, but will not suffice. Their immersion in specialized industries, international horizons, business mindset, ability to engineer commercially oriented legal strategies, and team spirit all help them to gain more trust, and approval, from their clients.
In A fraction too much friction, we turn to the often prickly relations between China and its trade partners, especially the developed economies.
Stoked by the torpid global economy, a penchant for protectionism and distaste for free trade are growing worldwide, affecting many markets, and China will certainly not be left untouched. In the first eight months of this year, 20 countries launched 85 trade investigations into China’s exports, according to the Ministry of Commerce.
The article reviews the anti-dumping and anti-subsidy measures by which Europe and the US are trying to build walls against an influx of Chinese products. Legal experts say clever Chinese exporters are gauging the option of moving operations to a third country that has more favourable arrangements with developed markets.
Domestically, infrastructure development is high on the government’s working agenda. For that purpose, the public-private partnership (PPP) is the project model strongly supported by the government.
However, the legal framework has yet to be complete and effective. Building blocks explores the most loved projects in the market, and alerts private investors to possible problems under the current PPP model. Confusion caused by the large number of overlapping rules, issued by different ministries, is probably what investors find the most difficult issue to grabble with.
In Unity in Asia? we watch a significant initiative in the legal landscape across Asian countries. For the purpose of promoting the convergence of Asian business laws, Sundaresh Menon, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and other leading experts in the region’s legal community, launched the Asian Business Law Institute earlier this year. Menon shares his views on the possibilities and challenges in bringing the diversified legal systems in Asia closer to each other.
