Recently, King & Wood Mallesons ("KWM") has announced the addition of 6 new partners and 12 new counsels (1 of which is senior counsel), and the promotion of another 6 associates to counsels from within. With years of experiences in real estate investment and financing, securities, banking, finance, infrastructure and other fields, these new partners/counsels will further expand KWM's teams in different regions, especially in the Greater Bay Area and East China. They will not only provide more extensive and profound services for clients in a professional manner, but also contribute more resources and strength to the firm's internationalization that ripples from international hubs.
With nearly 30 years' experience, Yan Jun is a renowned senior lawyer in China's legal field, especially in South China. He specializes in real estate, infrastructure and M&A, and also has rich experience in dispute resolution, corporate restructuring, banking and structural finance. During his practice in KWM from 2001 to 2012, Mr. Yan made pioneering contributions to KWM's dispute resolution, non-performing assets, Restructuring & Insolvency, PPP, real state, water and environment practice teams thanks to his outstanding capabilities in business development and innovation. In recent years, under Mr. Yan's strong leadership, his team has ranked atop in real estate, PPP and asset securitization fields in China. The team also shines in healthcare, education, culture and tourism fields. Mr. Yan has engaged in hundreds of major projects and cases and has provided legal services for many Chinese and international well-known companies, governments at different levels and other organizations. Mr. Yan has been invited to engage in project review, subject research and training and deliver speeches as a specially-invited expert for Ministry of Finance, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, China Development Bank, Ministry of Water Resources, governments of Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Changsha, and many other large-scale enterprises. Having participated in more than 200 of these projects, Mr. Yan is one of the most active lawyers in the market-oriented reform of China's municipal utilities and infrastructure sectors involving public private partnership (PPP) projects. As a good team player and strong leader, Mr. Yan has introduced and cultivated many outstanding partners for KWM. Mr. Yan now serves at KWM Shenzhen office.
Mr. Yan said: "It's a great pleasure to be back at KWM again! Here are many old friends and I feel honored to be able to work with them again! KWM's stable development and advancing internationalization inspire me a lot and I'm willing to grow with this far-sighted team together." He added: "I'd like to work in the Greater Bay Area, digging into corporate restructuring, dispute resolution, real estate development and operation, green finance and environmental service, healthcare and elderly caring, culture and tourism and other sunrise industries, by integrating resources and bringing in new consultation and investment products. I would also explore an integrated way of development featuring consultation-based model innovation and investment-based integration of resources to contribute to KWM's deep development and team building in this area."
Two new partners in Guangzhou office:
Li Wenming specializes in asset securitization and structural financing. Li served as a partner at a well-known law firm before joining KWM. Li is one of the top lawyers in assets securitization and structural financing field with rich experience in leading a number of innovative and benchmarking assets securitization projects, which helped her win many professional awards in the legal and financial sectors. Li keeps a close eye on the financial industry and market trends and leads an outstanding team, enabling her to provide clients with creative value-added services that are highly recognized by the market.
Li Chunkai specializes in real estate investment and finance, infrastructure and M&A. Li practiced at a well-known law firm in China and served as a partner there before joining KWM. Li has extensive experience in PPP programs, as well as the construction and operation of municipal infrastructure projects (including park development, rail traffic, city roads, land arrangements, water treatment, and garbage disposal), investment and financing, franchising, tendering and bidding and M&A. As the designer of the mechanism, mode and structure in the urbanization process featuring new district development and urban renewal and the integrator of cooperation results, Li was highly acknowledged and trusted by clients for her cost-effective legal service.
New partner in Nanjing office:
Ma Xiaoyun specializes in cross-border investment and M&A, banking and private equity, covering a range of practice sectors such as smart manufacture, new energy and environment protection, healthcare and biopharmaceuticals, financial institutions. Ma served as a foreign legal affairs partner at a well-known law firm in China before joining KWM. With more than 15 years of experience, Ma has led many influential projects, including those relating to BRI investment, overseas park development and regional economic and trade cooperation. Ma is also a veteran in private fund raising and investing fields. Having a deep perception in industries and adequate judgement and understanding, Ma helps clients to optimize their business plans and share industry resources by offering comprehensive legal services.
New partner in Hangzhou office:
Liang Jin, specializeing in corporate merger, overseas listing and finance, has more than 10 years of experience in the securities and capital markets. Liang served as a partner at a well-known law firm in China before joining KWM. Liang has advised on a series of SOE reform, SOE asset restructuring, state-owned equity transfer and merger projects in a range of industries including real estate, construction, healthcare, automobile, logistics and high-tech. Meanwhile, Liang, familiar with the operating mode of traditional industries and keen to identify emerging development trends, is highly trusted and acknowledged by clients.
New partner in Sanya office:
Wang Yao specializes in dispute resolution, particularly in civil and commercial cases. Specifically, she advises on various contract disputes in the real estate, construction, commercial housing sales sectors, as well as other legal bases like equity transfer. Before joining KWM, Wang worked at a university in Hainan as a civil law and commercial law lecturer, and served as a senior partner in well-known Sanya and Haikou law firms. Wang has more than 10 years of experience in the legal field in Hainan. She has also been actively participated in various law publicity and education activities held by the judicial and administrative authorities of Hainan and acted as a keynote speaker. She has made her contribution to the development of the local industry, which won her great reputation among her peers in Sanya.
New senior counsels in 2019 are:
Compliance: Zhang Suqiang (Beijing, senior counsel)
Zhang Suqiang specializes in tax planning, tax advisory, dispute resolution between tax authorities and enterprises, and tax processing of cross-border transactions and related transactions. Mr. Zhang has nearly thirty years of professional experience in the taxation sector in China, including ten years' experience in a tax authority. He has established a good working relationship with tax authorities at all levels. Zhang helps clients solve many thorny problems and is well acknowledged by clients.
New counsels in 2019 are:
Corporate: Lin Huan (Beijing), Liu Ning (New York, US), Shantanu Surpure (Silicon Valley, US)
Securities: Yang Peng (Ji'nan), Chen Yi (Hangzhou)
Intellectual Property: Guo Yu (Beijing), Zhang Xuejun (Beijing)
Dispute Resolution: Yang Fan (Shenzhen), Le Yuxin (Shanghai), Yan Anran (Ji'nan), Xiao Wei (Ji'nan)
New promoted counsels in 2019 are:
Finance and Capital: Li Jia (Beijing)
Dispute resolution: Zhang Haomin (Shanghai), Zhao Fei (Shenzhen), Ouyang Jingsong (Shenzhen)
Corporate: Motoki Kondo (Tokyo), Junichi Yamazaki (Tokyo)
Zhao Xiaohong, China Management Committee Executive Partner of KWM said: "Welcome Yan Jun's return! And also welcome new partners and counsels to join KWM! Congratulations to all of you! After regional restructuring, our firm has registered a strong growing momentum in south and east China, especially in our International Center in the Greater Bay Area. Our innovative and leading projects in these markets have attracted many talents. And your joining demonstrates that our firm has always attached great importance to talent strategy and practices since the setup of the International Center. I firmly believe that you will bring more vitality and resources to this blue sea and boost the firm's internationalization through close cooperation with other teams around the globe."
