Zhejiang

With 100 partners and over 300 lawyers, AllBright Law Offices’ litigation and arbitration practice is well regarded for its handling of commercial disputes. The firm frequently advises on matters involving the real estate, mining and metals, and financial services sectors, and is regularly instructed by both multinational companies and major domestic enterprises. Building on a strong track record in litigation, the firm is also expanding its presence in the international arbitration arena. 

Rui Guo is a key partner, serving as lead counsel in most matters relating to banking and financial services, construction, and real estate. Other notable practitioners in the commercial disputes and international arbitration space include Frank Cao, Wilber Wang, and Leo Wang. 

The firm has been active in a series of disputes arising from the failure of an asset management plan—issued by Zhongzhou Xingsheng Asset Management and distributed by Debon Securities and Zhongzhou Futures—to redeem on schedule. The matter involves 176 investors across the country, with total claims amounting to RMB 780 million filed in multiple courts. AllBright is representing Debon Securities and Zhongzhou Futures in litigation focusing on whether financial institutions fulfilled their suitability obligations when marketing and providing high-risk financial products and related services. 

AllBright also represents clients in the “Shanshui Cement” equity dispute series. The firm acted for the client in one of the two most high-profile corporate control disputes in China’s capital market—the Shanshui Cement case—securing a decisive victory after six years of litigation. 

Headquartered in Shanghai, the firm also has branches in cities including Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Fuzhou, Xi’an and Chongqing, all of which have been recognized by Benchmark Litigation China. 

Notable clients of the firm include Brother Industries, CITIC Securities, Huawei Technologies, and Jiangsu Guojing Holding Group.

Headquartered in Beijing, W&H Law Firm is renowned for its expertise in bankruptcy law. The practice serves a diverse clientele, including large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises, government agencies, financial institutions, public institutions, multinational corporations, foreign-invested enterprises, private companies, high-tech firms and internet platforms. 

The team has shown exceptional performance in litigation, arbitration and the enforcement of notarised creditor instruments, particularly in high-stakes financing disputes, real estate sales and leasing conflicts, construction engineering disputes, private lending and guarantee contract disputes, and tort litigation. 

W&H Law Firm represented Industrial Bank in a groundbreaking collective redress lawsuit involving bond investors’ claims against Dalian Machine Tool Group Corporation. The case addressed novel legal questions, such as the applicability of misrepresentation liability to bonds traded in China’s inter-bank market and the determination of causation in bond transactions – issues that had not been previously addressed by the courts. 

In the intellectual property sector, the team defended Samsung in high-stakes patent infringement disputes in China, setting new standards for cross-border IP enforcement. They also represented Midea in a trade secret dispute recognised by the Guangdong High Court, reinforcing judicial standards for corporate confidentiality protections. 

Over the past year, the firm has further strengthened its capabilities by adding four senior partners: Fengmin Lu, Ji Shao, Jianyao Shan, and Bin Wu. In 2025, Zhan Feiyang was approved as a senior partner, and Ren Peng was promoted to senior partner in the Beijing headquarters. 

City Development Law Firm occupies, and some would argue dominates, a construction-focused space in the Shanghai legal market. The firm’s construction team consists of star lawyers with both legal and civil engineering backgrounds. The team has always been in a leading position in the field of construction with a particular forte in infrastructure, public utilities and landmark projects. Deputy directors Zhongchun Song, Rubo Han and La Wei are key names to note. 

In an ongoing contract dispute, the firm is acting for a world top 500 construction enterprise in China in Evergrande’s failure in payment. The firm also acted for a large real estate enterprise affiliated to Fangyuan Group and suing the general contractor, the Fourth Construction Bureau of China, over allegations of overdue completion arising from a commercial housing project. In another matter, the firm represented Yunnan Construction Investment Sixth Construction in an Rmb640 million construction contract dispute initiated by Yunnan Jianqiang Construction Labor Service. 

Some of the firm’s recent clients include Henan Jinjian Construction, Shanghai Road & Bridge (Group), Shunjie Construction (Group) and Yangquan Vocational and Technical College. 

In 2023, the firm hired one partner Jiao He from Beijing-based Yi An Lawyers. More recently, in 2025, the firm’s Chengdu office promoted several lawyers to partnership, including Hu Lianlin, Yang Han and Xie Sijie as first-level partners.

Jingtian & Gongcheng’s Beijing headquarters has won praise from the market as one of the leading commercial disputes firms. Its litigation team specialises in resolving legal matters relating to trade, investment, corporate business, finance and insurance. The firm is also growing its presence in the real estate and construction space. Partner Chungang Dong is a key name within the dispute resolution group, and he is known for his capability in commercial disputes and international arbitration. 

Among the general commercial disputes, the firm represented China High-Speed Railway Technology Co. in filing an arbitration against Henan Province Luozhou Border Highway Co. at the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, at which the case was decided fully in the client’s favour. In another case sample, the team advised Shandong Gold Mining on the antitrust filing in respect of its acquisition of Yintai Gold. This case shows the latest position of the State Administration for Market Regulation on the gold mining industry and is expected to have a profound impact on the definition of relevant markets in the future antitrust filings of Shandong Gold and other similar gold mining enterprises. 

In intellectual property, the firm represented CATL in an infringement of patent rights case with China Innovation Aviation Technology Co. and won the first instance judgment with a total award of Rmb14.16 million. 

On the international arbitration front, the team successfully secured dismissal for Zhong De Security in its securities fraud litigation arising from notable disclosure violations committed by Leshi Internet Information and Technology Corp., Beijing, and represented it in administrative investigation procedures. The financial fraud of Leshi, which lasted for 10 consecutive years, has made the case more profound and complex than others of its kind. 

During the research period, the firm welcomed several new partners: Yanping Nie, Ganlin Lin, Yi Xu, Yingyuan Xue and Bei Wang. In 2025-2026, the firm added several prominent partners, including Liu Honghuan (senior partner, dispute resolution), Shi Bisheng (IP, former judge at Beijing IP Court), and Jiang Liwei (IP expert, former senior partner at Lian De and former judge). 

The firm’s litigation clients include Aha Entertainment (Shanghai), Beijing Huaye Capital Holdings, Beijing Institute of Architectural Design, Guangdong Chigo Air Conditioning and Guangdong Guangzhou Daily Media. 

Commerce & Finance Law Offices is renowned for its expertise in commercial disputes, banking and finance, fund and trust, and international trade. In recent years, the firm has also expanded into international arbitration. Key partners at the firm’s Beijing headquarters include Hongji Li, Qiang Cui, Jialu Wang, and Xiaoming Guo, all specialising in commercial disputes. 

During the research period, Cui’s team represented Growth Steal Group in the largest civil litigation case in China’s history, the Suzhou toxic land billion-yuan infringement case, involving Rmb10 billion. This case, heard by the Jiangsu Higher People’s Court in the first instance, is the largest civil litigation case since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, given the high threshold for first-instance cases in higher courts. 

Li and his team represented Hainan Rubber Group in a dispute with China Huayang over joint venture control. Despite contributing 90% of the capital, Hainan Rubber Group held only 35% of the shares. After the court rejected their request to dissolve the joint venture and recover the investment, Commerce & Finance devised a plan. They filed a capital contribution dispute, won the case, and initiated a forced execution procedure to transfer China Huayang’s 65% equity to Hainan Rubber Group, making it the 100% owner. This strategy helped Hainan Rubber Group gain control quickly. 

The firm has also bolstered its team by hiring five partners from Jincheng Tongda & Neal, and two others from Kingpound Law Firm in Guangzhou and Beijing W&H Law Firm. In 2025, the firm recruited four partners in Hong Kong, including Bonnie Rong (from Han Kun), Chi-ho Kwan (from Jingtian & Gongcheng), and Kung-Wei Liu and Frank Fu (both from A&O Shearman). 

Headquartered in Shanghai, Grandall Law Firm is a leading name in commercial dispute resolution, renowned for its expertise in arbitration, banking and finance, equity capital markets, aviation, real estate, competition law, and insurance. Senior partner Zhengyu Yang is a key partner who specialises in commercial disputes. 

Grandall represented Shanghai Jin Feng Wine, a historic enterprise originally established in 1954 as Shanghai First Food Store and restructured into a public company in 1992. The case arose when Xu et al. claimed inherited shareholder rights based on 1992 paper stocks allegedly owned by Xu’s father, asserting that his initial shareholder registration had been omitted. The plaintiffs also named the People’s Bank of China Shanghai Branch, the original listing authority, as a third party. Faced with missing archival records, partner Zheren Zhou and his team meticulously reconstructed the stock’s issuance history, analysing physical attributes, regulatory protocols, and issuance methods. Their efforts successfully disproved the plaintiffs’ claims, leading the court to rule in favour of Jin Feng Wine and reject the inheritance demand. 

In a landmark equity transfer dispute valued at Rmb3.4 billion, Grandall’s Nanjing office secured a decisive victory for World Group, a leading agricultural machinery company, against Thaihot Group, a former listed real estate firm. The dispute centred on a 2017 agreement requiring Thaihot to pay Rmb3.8 billion for full equity in a real estate project. Amid financial strain and a market downturn, Thaihot halted payments and sought to terminate the agreement. World Group filed suit to enforce a Rmb600 million instalment, while Thaihot countersued to reclaim Rmb2.8 billion already paid. After consolidating the cases, the Supreme People’s Court upheld most of World Group’s claims, rejecting Thaihot’s termination request and affirming the enforceability of the payment obligations. 

Grandall’s Hangzhou office represented Hangzhou JinTou Group through a complex Rmb1.1 billion debt restructuring involving Dexin Real Estate and ZheShang Asset. The team resolved a mix of non-litigious negotiations and litigious proceedings, addressing intricate financial and legal challenges to stabilise the client’s position. 

The firm defended China Merchants Bank’s Taiyuan branch in a negotiable instruments recourse dispute against Shanxi Property Group. It also represented Guizhou Kaili Rural Commercial Bank in a negotiable instruments financing clash with Hengfeng Bank’s Nantong branch. In another matter, Grandall acted for China Huateng in a circular trade dispute against Shanxi Jianbang Group and Shanxi Tongcai Industry. 

The firm’s clients include financial institutions, state-owned enterprises, and multinational corporations, reflecting its broad sectoral influence. Collaborations across its Shanghai, Nanjing and Hangzhou offices, coupled with deep regulatory insights, solidify its reputation as a powerhouse in cross-industry dispute resolution. 

In 2025 and early 2026, the firm added equity partners in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Fuzhou and Wuhan. 

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.