China: A Corporate/Commercial: Sichuan: Non-Contentious (PRC Firms) Overview

Legal Architects for the Development and Operation of Industrial Cultural Tourism Projects

In the intricate ecosystem of large-scale industrial and cultural tourism projects, their success or failure often begins to take shape during the initial phase. This hinges not only on capital depth or management capabilities, but more crucially on the ability to weave together commercial vision, cultural heritage, community relations and regulatory requirements into a legal and commercial framework that is clearly defined in terms of rights and responsibilities, controllable in risks, and resilient yet adaptable. In this process, commercial lawyers transcend their traditional role as legal advisers, evolving into indispensable “legal architects”. They engage deeply throughout the project life cycle, employing structured thinking for top-level design, and providing continuous legal solutions to navigate uncertainties. This ensures lawful project advancement, risk mitigation, and the realisation of commercial returns.

Deep involvement in the whole process: from project initiation to exit

Lawyers’ services span the entire life cycle of cultural tourism projects, with their value embedded in four key phases.

Early-stage strategy and project initiation: the “prophecy maker” of risks and the “architect” of opportunities

At this stage, the lawyer collaborates with the investment team to conduct strategic analysis and preliminary review of proposals prior to project initiation, with core tasks including the following.

• Feasibility legal assessment – Conduct legal evaluation of the project’s core business rationale and financial projections; perform preliminary due diligence on the proposed site to anticipate legal pathways and potential obstacles for land use adjustments and planning modifications.
• Legal embedding of business models – Transform initial business concepts into a sustainable legal framework, preliminarily design the legal entities for different business segments, and evaluate their tax compliance, regulatory compliance and risk isolation effects.
• Policy leveraging – Analyse and apply local policies and incentives in cultural-tourism integration, rural revitalisation, cultural industries and regulatory compliance. Assist in designing projects aligned with policy objectives to establish a compliant foundation for securing policy support.

Investment and construction period: the “structured engine” of complex transactions

This is the most intensive phase of legal design, where lawyers focus on crafting transaction frameworks that creatively align core business objectives with compliance requirements.

• Integrated land acquisition strategy design – To address the mixed-use requirements and diverse land characteristics typical of cultural tourism projects, legal professionals must develop comprehensive solutions incorporating multiple approaches such as land transfer, leasing, equity participation and operational rights transfer. For instance, core facilities may be established on transferred land to secure legal rights, while ancillary operations can be accommodated through long-term leases of collectively owned construction land. A robust network of contractual clauses should be designed to bridge the legal stability gaps between different rights structures, thereby establishing a solid foundation for asset rights.
• Legal innovation in financing structures – Given the capital-intensive and long-term nature of projects, lawyers’ core value lies in legally packaging future revenue rights and specific intellectual property income rights as “assets” to enhance creditworthiness. By designing legal frameworks such as real sales and bankruptcy isolation, these future cash flows become eligible underlying assets for financing, thereby removing legal barriers for projects to explore diversified financing channels like asset securitisation.

Operational phase: the “night watchman” of dynamic compliance

The project’s launch signifies that legal services now navigate a more complex equilibrium between dynamic compliance and evolving commercial interests.

• The operation of the cultural tourism industry differs significantly from traditional commercial projects that primarily rely on leasing. Within the same project, various transaction models – such as equity partnerships, investments, IP incubation and joint ventures – are often required to meet operational needs and accommodate different business formats. Lawyers must provide legal documents tailored to these diverse co-operation models, offering comprehensive support throughout the operational process.
• Facilitate the development of a dynamic compliance management system, encompassing data security, consumer rights, property management, business operations and cultural heritage preservation. This system integrates compliance into operational workflows, transforming abstract legal obligations into sustainable business practices and legally binding relationships.

Asset optimisation and exit period: the “path designer” of value realisation

The preliminary design by the lawyer is now being tested for its value. An excellent legal framework should inherently provide multiple and flexible exit mechanisms.

• Legal framework for exit mechanisms – The shareholder agreement and articles of association drafted during the project’s initial phase explicitly stipulate provisions for delayed sale rights, sale-in-contingency rights and repurchase rights, while also defining decision-making procedures and priority arrangements for various exit modalities.
• Removing barriers to capitalisation – Through end-to-end compliance management and transparent asset ownership documentation, projects can avoid costly legal redress when undergoing mergers, acquisitions or securitisation. The legal counsel’s ongoing support essentially provides continuous legal certification and credit enhancement for the assets.

The structured thinking of lawyers

The backbone of end-to-end legal services is a structured legal mindset that runs through the entire process. This requires lawyers to do the following.

• Conduct 3D deconstruction and layered design – Break down the project into three tiers – the “Asset Layer” (land, buildings, etc), “Operational Layer” (content, services, etc) and “Rights Layer” (intellectual property, franchise rights, etc). For each tier, determine the most suitable ownership structure, financing methods and tax arrangements. Then, through a rigorous contractual network, integrate these elements synergistically to achieve risk isolation and optimal efficiency.
• Practise the art of dynamic equilibrium – Striking the optimal legal balance between “preserving cultural resource integrity” and “enabling flexible commercial development” as well as between “meeting regulatory rigidity” and “maintaining innovation space for business models”. This is often reflected in carefully designed conditional permits, flexible contractual terms and multi-tiered dispute resolution mechanisms.
• Establish a risk firewall – Through strategic legal entity design, effectively segregate business units with varying risk levels to prevent single-unit risks from affecting core assets, thereby safeguarding the overall security of investors.

Epilogue

In the high-stakes domain of large-scale industrial and cultural tourism investments, the pinnacle of legal practice is to function as a “productive factor”. Professional commercial lawyers, through their comprehensive involvement throughout the entire process, forward-looking structural design, and continuous solution delivery aligned with project growth, not only mitigate risks but also proactively participate in the discovery, creation and realisation of value.

产业文旅项目开发运营的法律架构师

在大型产业文旅项目的复杂生态中，项目的成败往往在启动之初便已埋下伏笔。这不仅取决于资本的厚度或管理能力，更在于能否将商业愿景、文化遗产、社区关系与监管要求，编织成一个权责清晰、风险可控、兼具韧性与流动性的法律与商业结构。商事律师在此过程中的角色，超越传统法律顾问，演变为不可或缺的 “法律架构师”，深度参与项目全周期，以结构化思维进行顶层设计，并通过持续的法律解决方案陪伴项目穿越不确定性，保证项目依法推进、降低风险并实现商业收益。

全流程深度参与：从项目立项到退出的闭环

律师的服务参与产业文旅项目全流程，其价值贯穿四个核心阶段：

前期战略与立项：风险的“预言者”与机会的“架构师”

在此阶段，律师需与投资团队一同进行战略研判以及立项前的方案初审，核心任务包括：

• 可行性法律判断：对项目所依托的核心商业逻辑和测算进行法律判断；对意向地块进行前置法律尽调，预判土地性质调整、规划变更的法律路径与潜在阻力。
• 商业模式的法律嵌入：将初步的商业构想转化为可承载的法律结构图景，初步规划不同业务板块应置于何种法律实体之下，并评估其税务、监管与风险隔离效果。
• 政策杠杆的识别与运用：精准解读地方在文旅融合、乡村振兴、文化产业、合规监管等方面的特殊政策与激励措施，协助设计符合政策导向的项目方案，为获取政策支持奠定合规基础。

投资与建设期：复杂交易的“结构化引擎”

这是法律设计最为密集的阶段，律师的工作核心是提供交易架构，创造性地将各方核心商业诉求与合规性进行结合。

• 土地获取的复合方案设计：针对文旅项目常见的混合用地需求和多样化的用地性质，律师需设计包含出让、租赁、作价入股、经营权流转等多种方式的组合方案。例如，将核心设施置于出让土地上以确权，将配套业态通过长期租赁集体建设用地解决，并设计严密的合同条款网络，以弥补不同权利形态在法律稳定性上的差异，构筑稳固的资产权利基础。
• 融资结构的法律创新：针对项目重资产、长周期的特点，律师的核心价值在于将项目未来收费权、特定知识产权收益权等进行法律上的“资产化”包装与信用增级。通过设计真实出售、破产隔离等法律结构，使这些未来现金流成为可融资的合格基础资产，为项目拓展资产证券化等多元化融资渠道扫清法律障碍。

运营阶段：动态合规的“守夜人”

项目开业标志着法律服务进入更为复杂的动态合规与动态的商业利益关系的平衡。

• 文旅产业的运营，与传统商业项目以出租为主的经营方式存在很大不同，在同一个项目中，常常需要依据运营需要，结合不同的业态类型，建立起例如股权合作、投资、IP孵化、联合经营等多种交易；律师需要根据不同的合作模式提供法律文件，全方位地支持运营。
• 协助建立起动态的合规管理体系：其中，包括数据安全、消费者权益、物业管理、商业管理、文化资源保护等方面，将合规管理嵌入到运营管理的环节，将抽象的法律责任转化为可持续的商业实践与法律关系。

资产优化与退出期：价值实现的“通路设计师”

律师的前期设计，在此刻迎来价值检验。优秀的法律架构应天然预设多元、灵活的退出接口。

• 退出通道的法律准备：在项目初期拟定的股东协议与公司章程中，便已设定清晰的拖售权、随售权、回购权等条款，并明确了不同退出方式下的决策程序与优先权安排。
• 为资本化扫清障碍：全流程的合规管理与清晰的资产权属记录，使得项目在面临并购或证券化时，无需进行代价高昂的“法律修复”。律师的持续陪伴，本质上是在为资产进行持续的“法律确权”与“信用增级”。

律师的结构化思维

全流程服务的背后，是贯穿始终的结构化法律思维。这要求律师能够：

• 进行三维解构与分层设计：将项目解构为“资产层”（土地、建筑等）、“运营层”（内容、服务等）和“权利层”（知识产权、特许经营权等）。针对每一层设计最合适的持有主体、融资方式和税务安排，再通过严谨的合同网络将其协同整合，实现风险隔离与效率最优。
• 实施动态平衡的艺术：在“保护文化资源完整性”与“实现商业开发灵活性”之间，在“满足监管刚性要求”与“保持商业模式创新空间”之间，寻求最佳的法律平衡点。这往往体现在那些精心设计的附条件许可、弹性合同条款以及多层次的争议解决机制中。
• 构建风险防火墙：通过法律实体的精巧设计，将不同风险等级的业务板块进行有效隔离，确保单一板块的风险不会传导至核心资产，保护投资主体的整体安全。

结语

在大型产业文旅投资这一高难度领域，法律工作的最高形态，是成为一种 “生产性要素”。专业的商事律师，以其全流程的深度参与、前瞻性的结构化设计，以及伴随项目成长的持续解决方案，不仅为项目规避风险，更主动参与价值的发现、构建与实现。