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Shanghai Office

In 2006, Orrick opened offices in Shanghai and Beijing with most of the lawyers from the previous Shanghai and Beijing offices of Coudert Brothers, long considered to be the pioneering foreign law firm in China. In 1979, Coudert Brothers was the first foreign law firm to establish a permanent presence in Beijing. In 1992, it was the first foreign law firm to obtain an official office license in China (in Beijing) under the new regulatory system of China's Ministry of Justice. Twenty years earlier, in 1972, Coudert Brothers was the first foreign law firm to open an office in Hong Kong. Coudert Brothers was also one of the first foreign law firms to open an office in Shanghai, where it obtained a license in 2001. In 2005, Coudert's entire 25-lawyer team in Hong Kong also joined Orrick.

For more than thirty years, Orrick's China Team lawyers have served as the founders, creators and counselors of precedent-setting developments in business, finance and law that made it possible for local and multinational companies to participate in China's commercial and financial markets. The lawyers in Orrick's Shanghai and Beijing offices have an impressive and unmatched history of providing Chinese, Hong Kong and foreign parties with local and cross-border assistance involving China-related legal matters. Our Shanghai and Beijing lawyers have the historical relationships and detailed knowledge of the local business, financial and governmental environments that are required to assist clients in the most effective and efficient manner possible.

Our clients include private equity and venture capital firms, multinationals and financial investors involved in foreign direct investment in manufacturing, media and technology, Chinese companies with respect to listings and offerings of securities in the United States, China and Hong Kong, all parties in M&A transactions, distressed asset investors, foreign financial institutions, emerging and established hi-tech companies, energy producers and real estate developers, financiers, purchasers and managers. We have also represented a number of foreign companies in arbitration proceedings before the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), including assisting a China joint venture in successfully reversing an adverse award by CIETAC and obtaining substantial damages on its counterclaims.

Cutting-Edge Transactions

As China's business and regulatory environments continue to change, Orrick's Shanghai and Beijing lawyers have a well proven record of successfully resolving challenging legal matters in China. For example, years before many foreign law firms opened offices in Shanghai and Beijing, our local lawyers were already pioneering creative solutions to complex legal matters in China, including:

First foreign equity joint venture under China's Joint Venture Law, which involved the construction of the Great Wall Hotel in Beijing in 1979
First foreign lawyers to act as counsel in connection with the issuance of Renminbi B shares to overseas investors on the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges
First domestic management buyout of a foreign investment enterprises using domestic venture capital in Shanghai
First privatization of an H share company dual-listed in Hong Kong and New York (which involved the first delisting of H shares from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and American Depository Receipts from the New York Stock Exchange)
First overseas listing of a Chinese enterprise – a dual listing in Hong Kong and the United States in connection with the company's initial public offering.
First motion picture joint venture in China
First internal investigation of a Chinese domestic bank by a foreign law firm
First bank loan to a Chinese joint venture
First use of a foreign-invested enterprise to satisfy domestic ownership requirements for a Shanghai vehicle-manufacturing joint venture
First judicial liquidation of a Chinese joint venture

Awards and Recognition

Orrick is proud to provide clients with a team of lawyers who have dedicated their service to the China market for more than thirty years. As pioneers in China, Orrick's China team has developed a reputation as leaders in China-related legal matters. Prominent global publications continue to recognize our lawyers for their cutting-edge work:

Best Law Firm for Mid-Size IPOs
New Fortune recognized our Beijing and Shanghai lawyers as the “Best Law Firm for Mid-Size IPOs” in 2004 and described the lawyers' “IPO legal consultation services” as “remarkable.” New Fortune highlighted the team's work on three Hong Kong IPOs – Weiqiao Textile Company (HK$ 2.441 billion), Wumart Stores, Inc. (HK$549 million, the largest IPO on the GEM Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2003) and Lianhua Supermarket Holdings Company Limited (HK$668 million).

Asia Deal of the Year Finalist
Our China Team lawyers served as Hong Kong and U.S. counsel to Sinopec Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Company Limited in its US$500 million privatization transaction by China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, which the International Financial Law Review selected as a finalist for "Asia Deals of the Year" in 2006. The transaction "stood out for the level of legal complexity and innovation" and it "pioneered a new way for PRC companies to privatize overseas listed companies." The transaction involved the first case of delisting of H shares from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and American Depository Receipts from the New York Stock Exchange. The transaction was also selected as a finalist for the 2006 "M&A Deal of the Year" by Asian Legal Business.

Lawyer Qualifications

Orrick's Beijing and Shanghai lawyers have significant experience in corporate, commercial, securities, finance, litigation and arbitration matters under the laws of the multiple jurisdictions where they are qualified - China, Hong Kong and the United States.

Lawyers in our Shanghai and Beijing offices are fluent in English, French, Japanese, Mandarin, Shanghainese, Cantonese and other Chinese dialects and have obtained advanced degrees (J.D./LL.B, LL.M., M.A., B.A. and B.S.) from many of the world's most well respected universities, including Beijing University, China University of Politics and Law, Fudan University Law School, Harvard Law School, Yale Law School, Columbia University, Hitotsubashi University, New York University, Northeastern University, Smith College, University of California (Berkeley), University of Chicago, Beijing's University of International Business and Economics, University of Paris, University of Pennsylvania and University of Virginia. The Beijing and Shanghai offices are also staffed with legal assistants, trainee solicitors and translators.

Representation of Key Foreign and PRC Companies

In addition to multinational corporations such as ABB Lummus, Kodak Company, Jarden Corporation and Reed Elsevier, one of the distinguishing features of our Shanghai and Beijing offices is the large number of prominent Chinese company clients for which we provide local and cross-border services. For example, we have provided Chinese, Hong Kong and/or U.S. securities services as issuer's counsel in securities transactions for the Chinese companies listed below.

Wumart Stores, Inc. -- the largest retail chain store operator in Beijing
Weiqiao Textile Company Limited – the largest manufacturer and exporter of textiles in China
China Shipping Development Company Limited – the largest coal and oil shipping company in China
Shenzhou International Group Holdings Limited - the largest vertically integrated knitting manufacturer in China
Kasen International Holdings Limited -- the largest leather products and upholstered furniture manufacturer in China by revenue
Beijing Yanhua Petrochemical Company Limited - one of the largest ethylene manufacturers in China with the highest sales of resin and plastic
Shanghai Petrochemical Company Limited - one of the largest modern petrochemical enterprises in China
Jilin Chemical Industrial Company Limited - one of the largest producers of basic chemicals and chemical raw materials in China
Angang New Steel Company Limited - a manufacturer of a variety of steel products, whose state-owned parent company is China's second largest steel manufacturer by capacity