On April 20, 2025, Asian Legal Business (ALB) announced its 2025 Top 15 Litigators in China. JunHe partner ZHAO, Zhen made the list.
Mr. Zhao has had a long judicial career, presiding over and participating in thousands of cases. His experience gives him a unique perspective, allowing him to accurately predict breakthroughs in cross-border legal applications. This happened when Mr. Zhao represented a case involving damages to shareholder interests heard under the first-instance jurisdiction of the Second International Commercial Court of the Supreme People's Court. He petitioned the Supreme Court to establish applicable rules for the governing law of overseas red-chip companies through their meeting minutes. In a case involving a central enterprise's false statement liability, Mr. Zhao persuaded the court to reconsider the necessity of the procedural prerequisite for accepting cases regarding civil compensation for securities false statements. This became an important driving force for the amendment of judicial interpretations. In a dispute over a shareholders' meeting resolution between Chubb Tempest Reinsurance Ltd. and Huatai Insurance Group involving a foreign acquisition worth tens of billions of yuan, he successfully defended the client's business through a lawsuit on the validity of the resolution on the grounds of corporate governance procedures.
With his legal expertise, rigorous and meticulous logical thinking, and keen and precise judgment, Mr. Zhao has earned an outstanding reputation and many accolades in the industry. Two cases he handled were recognized by China Business Law Journal as 2024 Deals of the Year in the cross-border dispute resolution category i.e. CFLD’s Investment Dispute with 1955 Capital and a case involving Alpha Advantage Global and Dynamic Fame v. ATA Creativity Global. These cases have significance in their innovation and provide important references for the future adjudication of similar cases. Mr. Zhao has been recognized consecutively for six years by The Legal 500 as a Leading Partner in the dispute resolution: litigation category and has been recommended in the dispute resolution: arbitration category. He has also been named a Litigation Star in the China region by Benchmark Litigation for four consecutive years. In 2023, Mr. Zhao was included in The Legal 500's inaugural Arbitration Powerlist China.
Reflecting on his nearly two-decade career, Mr. Zhao is grateful to have witnessed the robust development of China's economy and the profound changes in the legal industry, through his different roles and perspective as a judge and lawyer in handling dispute cases. A client commented: "Mr. Zhao is meticulous and responsible. He is adept at anticipating risks and formulating strategies from the different perspective of judges, arbitrators, and even opponents, and can flexibly adapt and respond calmly at every stage of dispute resolution."