Morgan Lewis's team in mainland China and Hong Kong advises clients on matters spanning a broad spectrum of industry sectors, including energy; financial services (banking, private equity, and investment management); food and drugs; infrastructure; life sciences and healthcare; manufacturing; real estate; retail and consumer goods; automotive; education; natural resources; and technology, media and telecommunications.
With offices in Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Shenzhen*, our multinational lawyers—many of whom have practiced together in China for well over a decade—understand the issues multinational clients encounter in China and those Chinese clients encounter abroad.
As the economic and regulatory landscapes in China are changing rapidly, our local knowledge helps Western clients understand and adapt to new laws and regulations, and identify business risks and opportunities. No matter where our clients need assistance in the Greater China region, our team ensures seamless, high-quality, and cost-effective legal services.
Our experience strengthens our advice regarding corporate and business transactions in China, including mergers and acquisitions; joint ventures; real estate investments; cross-border finance; telecommunications matters; and intellectual property and technology licensing issues. Our local knowledge is particularly important to our regulatory services advice with respect to the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and to issues related to antitrust and competition and labor and employment. And as Chinese companies merge with and acquire new companies abroad, they require not only sophisticated support in complex transactions, but also with respect to regulatory advice and international dispute resolution.
We have extensive experience assisting all sizes of state-owned and private Chinese businesses and institutional and boutique investment management companies as they invest in China and throughout the world. Our lawyers advise on all types of investment funds and pooled investment vehicles, including retail mutual funds, hedge funds, private equity funds, and specialty funds. We also advise on a full range of issues, from the formation and regulation of investment funds to the acquisition of fund businesses, to issues of compliance and best practice.
Our labor and employment team in Beijing and Shanghai advises on the toughest workforce questions and challenges companies face in China. We help clients navigate the full range of labor, employment, benefits, and immigration issues while taking into account China’s evolving employment laws and US and China anti-corruption laws. Our team advises on restructuring, hiring, termination, workforce reductions, and contract drafting, as well as the development of handbooks, policies, wages and hours, executive compensation, employee benefits, international secondment, and expatriation. We conduct internal investigations on employee and third-party compliance, counsel on data privacy, and advise on employment and compliance matters before, during, and after mergers and acquisitions.
*Our Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen offices operate as representative offices of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. In Hong Kong, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius is a separate Hong Kong general partnership registered with The Law Society of Hong Kong.