Guangdong

King & Wood maintains its position as one of the dominant players in China’s legal market, and its Beijing headquarters is highly praised by peers and clients. The Beijing litigation teams are particularly sought after by major domestic and international banks, leading financial institutions, government-linked companies and other multinational companies in China. The firm is also well-recognised for its work in international arbitration, asset management and securities litigation and compliance. With over 100 partners and more than 400 lawyers, the team is among the largest in China. Key Beijing partners include commercial disputes partners Shouzhi Zhang and Yuwu Liu and IP disputes partners Zhongsheng Li and Jing Xu. 

During the research period, the firm represented Industrial Bank, one of the defendants, in the collective redress case arising from securities misrepresentation brought by bond investors. In the case, the issuer Dalian Machine Tool Group Corporation issued super and short-term commercial paper in the inter-bank market, with Industrial Bank acting as the lead underwriter. Due to the failure to pay timely the principal and interest of the bond, the investor filed a lawsuit, seeking to hold Industrial Bank and other intermediaries liable for the issuer’s misrepresentation. The case involves disputes such as whether the misrepresentation infringement system applies to bonds issued in the inter-bank market, how to determine misrepresentation following the cancellation of pre-suit condition, and the determination of causation in transaction. There is no precedent for these disputes. 

In government and regulatory, the firm previously advised a Chinese bank on handling the ESG investigation initiated by the Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), the environmental and social responsibility supervisory body of the World Bank Group. This case is the first in which the CAO has received complaints against a Chinese enterprise and involves the International Finance Corporation’s largest and most controversial equity investment in China. The firm is adept at finding practical solutions in complex compliance investigations, ranging from those conducted by the US regulators under the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, multilateral development banks, and those conducted by Chinese administrative enforcement authorities and criminal prosecution authorities. 

In international arbitration, the firm represented a renowned South Korean cosmetics company in multiple distribution contract disputes with its domestic distributor. The case involved complex and emerging practical challenges, including asset preservation of goods (notoriously difficult to execute), the transfer of e-commerce platform distribution rights, and the coordination of asset preservation and arbitration procedures between Hong Kong and mainland China. Through a multi-jurisdictional arbitration strategy, the team facilitated a comprehensive settlement for the client, successfully recovering disputed goods and minimising financial losses. 

In 2025, the firm promoted 33 new partners and senior advisors across its China offices and recruited several partners from Linklaters in Hong Kong. The firm opened new offices in Shanghai’s Lin-gang, Changchun in Hunan and Wuxi, Jiangsu.