On April 20, 2023, the Summit Forum on Legal Services for High-quality Enterprise Development and the 30th Anniversary Celebration of ZhongYin Law Firm was successfully held in Beijing. Hundreds of people, including authoritative experts, industry representatives and representatives of ZhongYin head and branch offices, gathered together to discuss hot legal issues in the new economy and under the new situations, analyzed the legal risks faced by enterprises and entrepreneurs and proposed systematic solutions, and explored strategies and tactics for providing high-quality legal services to help enterprises achieve high-quality development.
At the beginning of the event, LI Zheng, the Secretary of the Party Committee of ZhongYin head office, delivered a speech for the forum and warmly welcomed the guests, clients and friends from all walks of life. Looking back on the 30-year journey despite of hardships, Secretary LI Zheng shared ZhongYin’s development experience in “party building leads firm building, and firm building promotes party building”, democratic management, specialization and other aspects, and pointed out that the legal profession is facing severe challenges brought by the integrated management upgrading of large-scale law firms, the rapid iteration of new technologies such as AI, and the slowdown in macroeconomic growth, and hoped that ZhongYin even China’s legal profession will continue to grow spiritedly and make brilliant achievements in the new era.
ZHAO Zenghai, the Vice President of Beijing Lawyers Association, a Member of the Party Committee of Beijing Legal Profession, and Member of Council /Deputy Chairman of Financial Professional Committee of All-China Lawyers Association, sent a blessing video for the event. Mr. ZHAO reflected on his years of working with ZhongYin, and was deeply gratified to have witnessed the step-by-step growth of ZhongYin from a small firm to a large firm and to a strong firm. He firmly believed that ZhongYin will continue to fully support to build high-quality business environment and escort enterprises along with their sustainable and healthy development in the future.
LIU Weidong, the Vice President of Beijing Lawyers Association, expressed warm congratulations to ZhongYin Law Firm on its 30th anniversary. He said that the 30-year journey of ZhongYin mirrors the 30-year ups and downs of China’s legal profession, and the forum, on the theme of promoting the high-quality development of enterprises through the high-quality development of the legal profession, reveals the key driver and important direction of the future development of the legal profession. He also expressed that both the review and the outlook are of great significance.
Professor CHENG Lei, Deputy Dean and PhD Mentor of Law School of Renmin University of China, expressed his heartfelt congratulations on the 30th anniversary of ZhongYin on behalf of Law School of Renmin University of China. Professor CHENG said that after 30 years of leapfrog development, ZhongYin Law Firm has become one of the most influential large-scale law firms in the areas of securities and capital market, banking and finance, and investment and M&A. He hoped that ZhongYin and Law School of Renmin University of China will continue to deepen cooperation and develop in a win-win manner in the pursuit of the goal of becoming world top class players.
YAN Penghe, the Chairman of the Management Committee of ZhongYin head office, on the theme of “30 Brilliant Years of ZhongYin”, reviewed ZhongYin’s extraordinary 30-year extraordinary journey of striving to thriving, displayed ZhongYin’s achievements in party building, social responsibility, specialization, large-scale development and globalization from multiple angles, and forecasted ZhongYin’s strategic development in the next 5-10 years. He said that today, ZhongYin has formed a legal service network consisting of Beijing head office (core) + 35 branches with more than 500 partners + more than 2,000 practicing lawyers across the country, and moreover, it has built a global legal service system by partnering with law firms in Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and other countries, so that with unique advantages in scale of firm, brand influence, professional experience and so forth, it can not only provide clients with localized, fully-ecological and good legal services, but also provide international clients with global, cross-jurisdictional and comprehensive solutions. Moreover, many ZhongYin lawyers also serve as representatives of the national and provincial/municipal NPC and CPPCC committee, and hold positions in lawyers associations, chambers of commerce, law societies and universities at all levels, helping to build a socialist country under the rule of law, promoting the integration of law and business, and providing greater value to the clients.
At the end of his speech, YAN Penghe forecasted ZhongYin’s development planning in the next 5-10 years, and described ZhongYin’s high-quality development goals in party building & leadership, practice globalization, service upgrading, team specialization, innovation-driven development, social responsibility and so forth, laying the foundation for ZhongYin to achieve sustainable development and build itself into a century-old law firm.
“ZhongYin Legal Practice Series” Program is launched
On the occasion of ZhongYin’s 30th Anniversary Celebration, a program named “ZhongYin Legal Practice Series” was grandly launched. At the launch ceremony, Liu Zhenyu, a Member of the Management Committee of ZhongYin head office, introduced that ZhongYin has a culture and tradition of learning and sharing, and has published more than 30 professional books, covering important areas such as securities, equity, bankruptcy, intellectual property, and such other litigation practice. He said that the purpose of the program “ZhongYin Legal Practice Series” is to publish dozens of professional books in the next two to three years leveraging the firm’s high-quality resources, in order to improve the expertise, reputation, and popularity of the firm through originality, uniqueness and practicality of the books.
SUO Canjie, the Chairman of the Supervision Committee of ZhongYin head office, said that ZhongYin Law Firm has sufficient experiences and professional strength to guarantee the successful progress of the program of “ZhongYin Legal Practice Series”. The launch of the program can expand ZhongYin library, which is both professional and practical, help ZhongYin lawyers grow rapidly, and assist legal professionals in relevant areas in learning and advancing.
Thereafter, LIU Zhenyu and SUO Canjie invited Dr. PENG Benhui, a Senior Counsel of ZhongYin (Guangzhou), and representatives of the contributors to the book series, namely LIU Xiaoyu, LIU Guoliang, HUANG Yunyan, JI Yali and YANG Baoquan, to jointly launch the program “ZhongYin Legal Practice Series” on the stage. The book series covers corporate practice, criminal defense, foreign-related commercial affairs, commercial negotiation, guide to laws of Taiwan, banking and securities, equity incentive, equity conflict management, corporate compliance, bankruptcy and reorganization, property rights protection, capital market dispute resolution, due diligence and such other relevant areas. The launch of “ZhongYin Legal Practice Series” program demonstrates ZhongYin’s profound professional strength and practical experiences, helps to shape the professional brand image of ZhongYin Lawyers, provides legal expertise and contribute ZhongYin wisdom to different areas inside and outside the industry.
Assisting enterprises to develop in high quality by Professionalism
In the afternoon, a “Forum on Hot Legal Issues in the New Economy and under the New Situations” and a “Forum on Legal Risk Management for Enterprises and Entrepreneurs” were held in turn. Special guests Professor LIU Shaojun, Professor ZHANG Zixue and other famous experts at home and abroad as well as outstanding partner representatives of ZhongYin were invited to the forums and offered a wonderful professional feast to the audiences. The forums focused on discussions on reform of financial system, registration-based IPO system, virtual currency, digital economy, overseas investment and such other issues in the new economy and under the new situations, and provided enterprises and entrepreneurs with new insights into legal risk management in compliance, intellectual property strategy, anti-monopoly practice, enforcement in other jurisdictions, bankruptcy and reorganization, and so forth.
Focus on the new economy and new situation and discuss cutting-edge legal issues
LIU Shaojun, a Professor, PhD Mentor, Director of Financial Law Research Center of China University of Political Science and Law, the Vice President of China Banking Law Society, and the Director of Academic Committee , on the theme of “Reform of Financial System and Adjustment Trend of Financial Law”, sorted out the financial system reform initiatives of the National Administration of Financial Regulation and local administrations of financial regulation, and introduced the adjustment trends mainly in the areas of law such as financial stability law, law on People’s Bank of China, banking supervision law, law on commercial banks, and anti-money laundering law.
ZHANG Zixue, a Professor of Commercial Law Institute, Civil, Commercial and Economic Law School, China University of Political Science and Law, and a member of the Law and Self-regulation Supervision Committee of Asset Management Association of China, gave a speech focused on the future development direction of the registration-based IPO system, and discussed ex-ante admission and ex-post accountability. In terms of ex-ante admission, Professor ZHANG Zixue sorted out relevant regulations governing securities issuance, and discussed the regulatory trend of ex-ante admission under the registration-based IPO system in light of China’s national conditions. In terms of ex-post accountability, he compared cases of administrative punishment for violation in securities issuance between China and the United States, and proposed to maintain the reform toward a registration-based IPO system through targeted, efficient and powerful ex-post law enforcement after analyzing the causes behind the cases.
WU Zetao, a Senior Partner and the Director of Capital Market Dispute Resolution Department (Research Center) of ZhongYin head office, shared his views on “Opportunities and Challenges Faced by Enterprises Going IPO under the Registration-based IPO System”. WU Zetao revealed that enterprises going IPO under the comprehensive registration-based IPO system will get new opportunities such as high-quality expansion of capital market, efficient guidance, diverse path options, and wide latitude in listing transfer, while noting the new challenges that requiring the enterprises to further improve quality and the intermediaries to further fulfill their responsibilities as gatekeeper, and he summarized new enlightenments such as higher threshold, more rigorous review, precise positioning, and strict self-inspection.
LIU Xiaoyu, a Senior Partner and the Director of Blockchain and Digital Currency Legal Research Center of ZhongYin head office, shared his views on the theme of “Virtual Currency Policy Review and Risk Prevention”. By reviewing the virtual currency policy, and using big data technology, LIU Xiaoyu analyzed the judicial adjudication related to virtual currency in the past five years. By focusing on different aspects such as the primary market and the secondary market, he summarized the rules of judicial adjudication on different types of cases, such as entrusted wealth management contract disputes, virtual currency trading contract disputes, borrowing contract disputes, and disputes over improper gains.
ZHENG Jia, an Internal Partner and the Director of Data Compliance and Personal Information Protection Department of ZhongYin head office, shared her views on the theme of “Data Compliance and Trading in the Digital Economy”. ZHENG Jia first introduced the data regulation and trading mechanism, and emphasized the meaning of the National Data Administration and the new generation of “data exchange” to the industry. After revealing the severe challenges of data compliance on enterprises operating across multiple jurisdictions, she summarized their important statutory obligations, provided professional suggestions regarding due diligence + compliance rectification and data compliance system construction, and proposed a clear security assessment process based on the scenarios of cross-border data transactions.
HUANG Yunyan, a Senior Partner and the Director of Investment and M&A Department of ZhongYin head office, shared her views with a focus on “Risks associated with Overseas New Energy Investment and M&A”. HUANG Yunyan first emphasized the importance of overseas new energy investment and M&A, and introduced the risks associated therewith o, including market access risk for foreign investment, security review risk for foreign investment, and land use risk for new energy project, as well as the responses to these risks. Finally, she summarized that only the rule of law can safeguard the future of new energy investment and M&A.
Igor Mazilin, the founder and CEO of Ingvarr, shared his views on the theme of “Business Investment in Russia”. Starting with the highlights of Russia’s recent economy, Mr. Igor Mazilin focused his speech on introduction of Russia’s foreign investment regime and regulatory system. He said that Russia has set up about 50 free economic zones to promote foreign investments and help trading partners deepening exchanges. Mr. Igor Mazilin also predicted the prospects of Chinese companies’ investments in Russia from the perspective of Sino-Russian trading partnership.
Adhering to legal risk management from the perspective of enterprises and entrepreneurs
YANG Baoquan, Senior Partner and the Director of Compliance and Risk Management Department of ZhongYin head office, took “Labor and Employment Compliance” as his main angle of view, revealing the importance of corporate compliance management in the new era. Yang Baoquan systematically introduced laws and regulations, internal and external drivers and organizational management system related to corporate compliance. He stated that rules and regulations should be legal and may come into force only upon deliberation at employee assembly or employee representative assembly and upon public announcement, and through labor and employment cases, sorted out the principles for corporate employment and recruitment, attendance and leave, reward and punishment, performance, and departure, and other specific management rules and regulations.
GAO Jinghe, Senior Partner of ZhongYin (Shenzhen), shared the perspective themed “Competition in Intellectual Property”, by elaborating on intellectual property strategies in two dimensions, namely time and space, emphasized that an enterprise’s intellectual property strategy should be forward-looking, dynamic and practical, aroused reflections on prosecution and protection of IP rights, local and global and practical considerations on intellectual property, and summarized the key features of good intellectual property strategy for enterprises: favorable and powerful, effective and efficient, synergy -focused, both offensive and defensive.
ZHANG Huawei, Partner of ZhongYin head office, shared her views on the title of “Anti-Monopoly Compliance: Concentration-of-undertakings Reporting Practice”. ZHANG Huawei first summarized the main types of concentration of undertakings, and through cases, illustrated the consequences of failure to report a concentration of undertakings. Regarding the issue of how to identify a concentration of undertakings, she summarized two judgment criteria: change in control and turnover. Moreover, based on the actual situation, she explained how to avoid errors/mistakes such as error in turnover calculation, error in control determination, false start, and failure to report overseas concentrations to China’s law enforcement agencies.
LI Huanjiang, Partner of ZLF Law Office, a Member of the Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao under the NPC Standing Committee and Member of the CPPCC Beijing committee, shared his views on “Homologation and Enforcement of Chinese Mainland/Hong Kong Court Judgments and Arbitral Awards in Macao”. LI Huanjiang first introduced the basic process, legal basis, judicial assistance and inter-jurisdictional protocol for/on enforcement of judgments of foreign courts and arbitral awards in Macao. He then reviewed the specific procedures for and relevant cases of homologation and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards of Chinese Mainland/Hong Kong court in Macao, and provided a series of practical suggestions.
YUAN Xinjian, Senior Partner and the Director of Bankruptcy and Reorganization Department of ZhongYin head office, shared his views on the title of “Aligning with the Trend of Economic Development, Empowering Practicing Bankruptcy Law”. Based on the macroeconomic situations, YUAN Xinjian analyzed the growth trend of bankruptcy practice in various segments of legal services, identified its characteristics such as high threshold, fierce competition and obvious regionality, and revealed important opportunities for legal services related to bankruptcy of local urban investment companies, listed companies under the registration-based IPO system, real estate enterprises and individuals.
ZhongYin Law Firm’s 30th Anniversary Celebration
Looking back on 30 years journey in the past, Thanksgiving to our fellows accompanying throughout ZhongYin’s youth
As China embarks on a new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way, ZhongYin Law Firm has also gone to the 30th year of its youth, which was resonating with China’s economy and forging ahead together with to the growth of rule of law in China. On this day of renew and flourishing, colleagues from all over the country gathered in Beijing to celebrate the 30th anniversary of ZhongYin Law Firm.
The Secretary of Party Committee, LI Zheng, the Director CHEN Yongxue, The Chairman of Management Committee, YAN Penghe, and the Chairman of Supervision Commission, SUO Canjie from ZhongYin head office, and the former Directors/former Chairman of Management Committee, LI Ju and LIU Guangbin from ZhongYin head office delivered speeches on the stage, reviewed the difficulties that ZhongYin has experienced in the past 30 years of growth, expressed their affirmation of the achievements made by ZhongYin in this process, and gave thanks to all ZhongYin colleagues and friends from all walks of life for their strong support to ZhongYin over the years.
Later on, representatives of lawyers from Singapore and Russia, as well as from Hong Kong and Macao SAR, sent warm and enthusiastic blessings on the stage one after another. ZhongYin’s partners around the world also sent congratulations to ZhongYin on its 30th anniversary across time and space through VCR.
In order to commend the fellows who have made outstanding contributions to the development of ZhongYin, the firm granted many significant awards such as “Good Work in Party Building”, “Top 8 by Scale”, “Brand Building with Branch’s Characteristics”, “Brand Influence”, “Professional Contribution”, “Excellence in Integration”, “Outstanding Contribution”, “Pro Bono Practice”, “Innovation-driven Development”, and “Event Innovation for 30th Anniversary Celebration”. A number of award-winning representatives and branch leaders sent their sincerest wishes to ZhongYin on its 30th anniversary, fully recognized and affirmed ZhongYin’s culture of sharing, inclusion, openness and democratism, and expressed their full confidence in ZhongYin’s future development.
Moments in Beijing
Watched by people within and outside China
Grain rain falls slowly as if it’s lingering on spring
or recalling with ZhongYin’s 30-Year splendid journey
With guests crowded at hall
Young and old
Discussing on new economy and new trends
Enterprises and entrepreneurs
The scene of cheerful legal and commercial with no bounds
Jointly celebrate the past
Unite as one for a new journey
ZhongYin sets sail again
The successful holding of this event marks a milestone in ZhongYin’s pursuit of expertise, innovation in management model, and leading the development of the legal industry, and it is also an epitome of ZhongYin’s new thinking, new planning and new reform in the new era. In the future development, ZhongYin Law Firm will keep our original intentions in mind, adhere to our positioning as “Founder of Listed Companies and Manager of Legal Risks”, drive team building and practice globalization by professionalism, promote service customization and make our practice more intelligent through integration of law and business, and moreover, continue to actively fulfill our social responsibilities, pay attention to pro bono legal services, and create greater, deeper and more diversified value for our clients and the society.