Opening ceremony of the first joint venture of law firms comprising law firms from PRC, Hong Kong & Macau

We are pleased to announce that we have recently set up a Joint Venture law firm—ZLF Law Firm (“JV”) with Zhong Yin Law Firm (“Zhong Yin”) and Rato, Ling, Lei & Cortes (“Rato”). The opening ceremony of the JV was held on 15th February, 2016 at Chimelong Hengqin Bay Hotel.

The JV is established in Hengqin free trade zone, Zhuhai City. Our JV partner—Zhong Yin is one of the leading law firms in the PRC, and has been ranked as the 3rd largest law firm in PRC and Asia by the Asian Legal Business Magazine in 2015; it has more than 1,200 lawyers and over 20 offices. Rato is one of the largest Macau law firms. Fongs is a leading local law firm, capable of providing full-range of professional and high-quality legal services to local, PRC and international clients ranging from multinational companies, listed companies, large-scale enterprises, financial institutions and small and medium- size enterprises to individuals.

The discussion and preparation of the present JV began half a year ago. This JV was led and actively promoted by Mr. Li Bing Yong, the Director of Zhuhai Justice Bureau, Mr. Zhou Jian Chun, the Director of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Bureau of Zhuhai, and Ms. Chen Yi, representative of Zhong Yin and the director of ZLF Law Firm. The JV has then been duly approved and a license was granted by Guangdong Provincial Department of Justice before the Chinese New Year. Up to the present date, there is a quota of 10 of such JV licenses granted by the PRC government to law firms. Our JV is the tenth law firm granted, but the first joint venture law firm comprising of law firms practicing in PRC, Hong Kong and Macau.

The main objective of our JV is to provide cross-border international legal services with Zhong Yin specializing in PRC, Rato in Portuguese speaking countries, and us Fongs in Hong Kong and also providing legal services to French clients. The JV has three main areas of services: (1) cross-border investment, (2) cross-border corporate finance and (3) international intellectual property law.

THE CEREMONY

The ceremony began with a brief introduction of the JV by Mr. Niu Jing, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee of Hengqin New Area and Director of the Administrative Committee of Hengqin New Area.

The opening ceremony was conducted by (from the left) Mr. Zhang Qiang, Vice Mayor, and Director of CPC Committee of Public Security Bureau; Ms. Liu Jia, Standing Committee member of CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee, and Secretary of Party Committee of Hengqin New Area; Mr. Liu Xiao Long, Standing Committee member of CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee and Executive Vice Mayor; Mr. Li Jia, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, and Secretary of CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee; Mr. Li Ju, Senior Partner of Zhong Yin; Ms. Paula Ling Hsião Yun, Senior Partner of Rato; Dr. Edmond Fong, Founder and Managing Partner of Fongs.

To conclude the ceremony, representatives of the each firm of the JV and the government officials took photos together, indicating the strong bond among them.

Government Representatives:
Mr. Li Jia, Standing Committee member of CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, Secretary of CPC Zhuhai Municipal Committee (the 6th from the left of the upper photo)
Mr. Li Bing Yong, Director of Zhuhai Justice Bureau (the 4th from the left of the upper photo)
Ms. Wang Li, Vice Director of Zhuhai Justice Bureau (the 5th from the left of the lower row of the lower photo)

Representatives from Zhong Yin:
Mr. Li Ju, Senior Partner (the 6th from the right of the upper photo)
Ms. Chen Yi, Director the ZLF Law Firm (the 3rd from the left of the upper photo)

Representatives from Rato:
Mr. Frederico Rato, Founding Partner (the 5th from the right of the upper photo)
Mr. Pedro Cortés, Senior Partner (the 4th from the right of the upper photo)

Representatives from Fongs:
Dr. Edmond Fong, Founder and Managing Partner (the 3rd from the right of the upper photo)
Mr. Ray Sze, Professional & Business Development General Manager (the 1st from the right of the upper photo)

PRC GOVERNMENT HELD A FORUM ON THE JV

A week after the ceremony, on 23rd February, 2016, representatives of the JV as well as PRC government officials attended a discussion forum held in Shenzhen regarding the JV. Each of the parties shared their experiences and expressed their ideas and expectations towards the JV.

Each party to the JV expressed their determination to establish a good, flexible cooperation mechanism, so as to enhance the international competitiveness of the three firms, and to provide the clients of the JV high-quality cross-border legal services.