China's Evolving Legal Market

In the early 1990s, inbound foreign investment into China was channelled through Hong Kong. In the decade from 1995 to 2005, the focal point for foreign investment in China moved to Beijing and Shanghai. The current wave of foreign investment extends well beyond Beijing and Shanghai into the key regional economic centres all across China.

Over this period the roles of international and local Chinese law firms have evolved dramatically. For major transactions and disputes, international and local legal counsel now routinely work side-by-side to offer the full range of legal services required by foreign clients in China. And increasingly, critical legal issues in the regional centres are managed locally by lawyers who are integrated with the local community.

International law firms in China cannot provide certain specified core China law services, and local Chinese law firms do not have the capability to provide the full range of international-standard strategic advice and management for cross-border matters. As virtually all cross-border legal matters in China involve both a domestic and an international element, both categories of legal services are required in the evolving China market.

Prior to the establishment of the SGLA, no international law firm in China and no domestic Chinese law firm was able to provide foreign investors with the full range of international and domestic and support on an integrated, coordinated basis across all key regions of China.

The SGLA Value Proposition

The SGLA combines the resources and capabilities of a leading international law firm, Lovells, with the full-service Chinese law capability and government relations connections of leading Chinese law firms in each of the key regions of China. Each local SGLA member is a clear market leader in its own jurisdiction and was identified by Lovells through an extensive, ground-breaking market survey and due diligence process. More importantly, the alliance provides a one-stop shop where clients can access both top-shelf international and domestic Chinese legal services in a coordinated manner.

Because member firms in the SGLA are independent law firms and the alliance cooperation is non-exclusive, clients can work directly with Lovells, with one of the local member firms in the alliance or with any combination thereof. We are client-focused and client-driven. You determine how best to utilize the unmatched resources and coverage of the SGLA to achieve your commercial objectives.

Our Integrated Practice Areas

The SGLA features five core cross-firm specialized practice area platforms, or virtual practice groups. These practice groups include:

• Corporate and Commercial
• Dispute Resolution
• Intellectual Property
• Real Estate and Construction
• Financial Services.

These practice groups are comprised of lawyers from each of the member firms. Members of each practice group meet regularly, share standard templates and best practices and local knowledge and experience. We can direct you to the best lawyer in the best law firm in the particular practice area you require in each city in the SGLA network, and we can work on a coordinated basis to provide both cross-province and cross-border service.

How the SGLA Can Assist You in China

Examples of how the SGLA can help foreign companies in China include:

• Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): drawing on their collective experience with thousands of FDI projects across all industries and regions of China, SGLA lawyers can assist foreign investors with all aspects of FDI matters in all parts of China, including structuring and establishment of representative offices, wholly foreign-owned enterprises (WFOEs), Sino-foreign joint ventures and other strategic projects and commercial transactions. Each of the SGLA firms has a designated group of lawyers fluent in English and several other foreign languages and experienced in assisting foreign clients in China. Using shared standard FDI templates, the SGLA member firms all start from a common foundation and you can chose to work through Lovells to access the local on-the-ground resources of the SGLA or to work directly with the relevant SGLA member firm.
• Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A): The SGLA member firms have experience with all aspects of in-bound M&A in China in all industries, including share and asset acquisitions, venture capital / private equity deals, acquisitions of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and private company targets, public company takeovers, etc. SGLA firms have acted both on the buy-side and the sell-side and know how to bring both sides together to overcome obstacles and close the deal. The SGLA member firms working in concert can offer true international-standard deal structuring and deal management together with local on-the-ground expertise to help manage due diligence and regulatory compliance issues in the most efficient and cost-effective manner. The SGLA competitive advantage is particularly apparent in in-bound M&A projects involving operations and assets in multiple regions of China, as only the SGLA has the resources, geographical coverage, local connections and overall deal management and coordination skills to tackle the largest cross-province M&A projects in China.
• Intellectual Property (IP): Collectively, the SGLA has one of the leading Intellectual Property practices in China. With Lovells ranked as one of the best international IP practices in China, Asia and Europe, the SGLA has a highly integrated IP practice which offers foreign clients a complete profile of contentious and non-contentious IP services ranging from IP portfolio management, brand protection strategies, trademark management, commercialisation and enforcement of IP rights and patent protection. Foreign companies benefit from the rich local skills and knowledge of SGLA lawyers, who are capable of providing immediate and on-the-ground responses throughout China, especially to reactive IP cases, which are often litigated in local jurisdictions. SGLA lawyers have the ability and experience to work effectively across borders in numerous jurisdictions, languages and cultures to ensure foreign companies receive the best legal advice on effective protection and exploitation of their IP rights.
• Commercial Disputes: The SGLA offers a wide range of litigation and dispute resolution services with an emphasis on providing cost-effective resolution to the problems faced by foreign businesses in China. SGLA lawyers have considerable experience in assisting foreign clients in cross-border investigations, litigation and arbitration, negotiating settlements and advising on alternative ways of resolving disputes. SGLA firms work collaboratively on litigation cases in China and are highly capable in the conduct of both international and domestic arbitrations. On the international side, Lovells has conducted numerous ad hoc arbitrations and arbitrations under the rules of the major international arbitration institutions. This international strength combines with the domestic expertise of SGLA member firms, who are able to bring effective local enforcement actions by having local counsel present in each major economic centre throughout China. 
• Real Estate and Construction: The complexity of engineering and construction projects in China makes it crucial for international investors, contractors, and consultants to have an in-depth understanding of the legal issues relevant to this important industry sector. The SGLA offers a clear advantage through its local expertise. SGLA firms have worked on a number of ground-breaking deals with clients from all sectors of the construction industry, including projects in real estate, power, transport, energy and water. Our collective experience ranges from advising foreign investors on the establishment of investment vehicles, such as foreign invested real estate enterprises, WFOEs, equity joint ventures (EJVs) and co-operative joint ventures (CJVs), to drafting of joint venture agreements, negotiating the terms of construction contracts and advising on disputes arising during the construction process.
• Business Restructuring and Insolvency: SGLA member firms have broad financial restructuring experience which covers equity, senior debt, high yield bonds and securitisation, advising clients on a full range of business restructuring issues, including debt rescheduling and restructurings, workouts and restructurings, debt-trading, receiverships and liquidations, creditor advice and directors' duties. The SGLA member firms and Lovells are also expert in providing creative exit solutions for investors in China, including both onshore and offshore options. Our experience includes divestiture and the sale of China assets, offshore liquidations and the sale of foreign holding companies, onshore liquidations of WFOEs, EJVs and CJVs, onshore liquidations of government "window" companies and large state-owned enterprises, and PRC fraud and regulatory investigations. Clients include insolvency practitioners and turnaround specialists from all major accountancy firms, banks and financial institutions, as well as creditors and directors of companies in financial difficulties.
• Commercial lending: SGLA member firms have significant experience in providing a wide range of banking and finance services. Drawing on their practical experience and in-depth knowledge of the legal, regulatory and commercial environments in China, SGLA member firms are well-positioned to provide practical advice on banking, capital market and project finance transactions. SGLA lawyers have the experience and expertise to advise on complex transactions with innovative structures, particularly in regard to leveraged and acquisition finance, trade finance, banking regulatory and financial regulations. On the capital market side, SGLA member firms are equally knowledgeable on securitisations, repackagings, structured products and debt capital markets.

For more information on how the SGLA can assist your company's business in China, please contact us at contact@sglalaw.com. For more information on the collective capabilities of the SGLA in a given practice area, please click on the approriate Practice Group link in the side bar to the left. For more information on the practice area capabilities and experience of the individual SGLA member firms, please click on the Member Firms tab above.