Shengxing Yu

Practice Areas

International Trade law, Foreign investment law, Corporate law

Career

2001–2003: Consultant, Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Centre

2003–2011: Lawyer and Partner, Shanghai Branch of Beijing Tianda Law Firm / Beijing Gaopeng Tianda Law Firm / Beijing Gaopeng Law Firm

2012–2025: Senior Partner, Member of the Management Committee, and Dean of Haihua Academy, Hiways Law Firm

2025–present: Managing Partner, Sunwell Law Firm

Professional Memberships

· Decision Advisory Expert, Department of Commerce of Jiangsu Province

· Advisor, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce

· Representative to the People’s Congress, Changning District, Shanghai

· Arbitrator, Shanghai Arbitration Commission

· Expert Mediator, Shenzhen Commercial Legal Services Mediation Center

· Expert Member, China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Yunnan South Asia and Southeast Asia Legal Service Center

· Adjunct Professor and Master’s Supervisor, East China University of Political Science and Law

· Adjunct Professor and Master’s Supervisor, Shanghai University of International Business and Economics

· Adjunct Master’s Supervisor, Kaili School of Law, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

· Adjunct Master’s Supervisor, Fudan University

· Council Member, China Society of International Law – WTO Legal Research Association

· Standing Council Member, Shanghai Association of Jurisprudence – “Belt and Road” Legal Research Association

Publications

· Research on the Dispute Settlement Mechanism of Sino-US International Economic and Trade Disputes, by Yu Shengxing, Shanghai People’s Publishing House, July 2017

· Study on the Trade Remedies Cooperation Mechanism among BRICS Countries (Editor: Yu Shengxing), May 2014

· “A Study on the Cooperation in Trade Remedies among the BRICS Countries” (in English), Regional Cooperation and Free Trade Agreements in Asia (Volume I), 2014

· “U.S. Court of International Trade Overview: Non-Market Economy Cases in 2011,” Georgetown Journal of International Law (in English), Autumn 2012, Issue 2

· “China’s New Anti-Dumping Regulations: Improvement to Comply with the WTO Rules,” World Trade (in English), October 2002

· “Top Ten Issues of U.S. ‘Double Remedies’” (Series Articles), WTO Economic Guide

· “U.S. Countervailing Duty: Buying Tickets After Boarding the Train,” First Financial Daily, March 7, 2012

· “New Trends in Obama Administration’s Trade Relief Measures toward China,” co-authored by Pan Rui and Yu Shengxing, American Studies, February 2011

· “The Global Financial Crisis and Dramatic Shifts in Trade Frictions,” by Yu Shengxing, WTO Economic Guide, September 2008

· “Re-evaluation of the Initial Ruling in the U.S. Retaliation Case on Chinese Warm Water Shrimp,” by Yu Shengxing, WTO Economic Guide, April 2007

· The Cancún Ministerial Conference and the First Round of WTO Negotiations (Co-editor: Yu Shengxing), Shanghai People’s Publishing House, October 2004

· The Doha Ministerial Conference and the First Round of WTO Negotiations (Co-editor: Yu Shengxing), Shanghai People’s Publishing House, October 2002

· “One of the Risks and Prevention Measures for Chinese Enterprises Going Global: The U.S. EPA Investigation,” International Market, Issue 3, 2020

Personal

Prior to private practice, Dr. Steven Yu served at Shanghai WTO Affairs Consultation Centre, the first Chinese World Trade Organization (WTO) service body, where he advised government agencies, enterprises and industry associations on trade compliance upon China’s WTO access.

Dr. Yu started his private practice in 2003, focusing on trade law, foreign investment law (including Chinese enterprises’ foreign investments and foreign investments in China), corporate and commercial. He leads the Firm’s team advising foreign chambers and many international companies on a day-to-day operation basis, and for their interest in front of Chinese authorities as well as courts.

Yu worked in Washington-based law firms for several years. Between December 2008 and June 2011, he worked in a Washington D.C. law firm as of counsel while he was a visiting researcher at Georgetown University Law School. Due to his expertise in international trade practice, Dr. Yu is regularly interviewed by primary media at home and abroad.

Yu is a senior law and policy adviser for Jiangsu MOFCOM and Shanghai MOFCOM. He is an arbitrator for Shanghai Arbitration Commission. Yu is adjunct professor for the outstanding law schools in China, including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, East China University of Political Science and Law and Shanghai University of International Business and Economics. He is a writer or contributor to many publications on WTO and trade law and practices.

Languages Spoken

Chinese ; English

Work Highlights

· Representing a Chinese-invested enterprise in Vietnam to participate antidumping duty and countervailing duty investigation as a mandatory respondent, secured a tax rate significantly lower than that of other non-cooperative enterprises.

· Representing the Modern Heavy Industries (Taicang) Co., Ltd (“MHI”) to participate antidumping duty investigation pertaining fabricated structural steel products from China in the U.S. as a mandatory respondent, and Shanghai Matsuo Steel Structure Co., Ltd (“Matsuo”) as a mandatory respondent in the countervailing duty investigation with regard to the same matter. Both of cases obtained satisfactory results.

· Representing the Marton Heavy Industries (Taicang) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Matsuo Steel Structure Co., Ltd and Yanda (Haimen) Heavy Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. to participate in the injury investigation before the International Trade Committee(“ITC”). In the end, the case was terminated by ITC declaring that no injury was caused by Chinese importation.

· Due diligent investigations for many international and Chinese companies concerning merger and acquisition projects in various industries;

· Structure, negotiation and agreement for purchase and sales of foreign shares concerning assets in China;

· Standing legal advisor for a US listed company with its operation in China;

· A big State-owned company for its investment dispute in the USA;

· EU Chamber of Commerce, legal analysis on the WTO compliance of China’s measures concerning imported cosmetics from BSE countries;

· A Thai invested wholly foreign owned company for due diligent investigation and a later crisis of labor strike in Suzhou Industrial Park;

· Negotiation and litigation for an international company for its dispute with a Chinese business partner;

· Litigation and other means to safeguard intellectual property rights for foreign companies, in front of government agencies and court;

· Defence of interest in a section 337 investigation for Baosteel Group;

· Antidumping Investigation by the EU on Grain-oriented Silicon Steel Originating from China (The client Baosteel was assigned the lowest AD rate among all the subject countries);

· Antidumping Investigation on Leather Footwear from China by the EU (Helped an Adidas excluded over 95% of the subject products, and advised to form a coalition for Chinese exporters to defend their interest collectively);

· In the US anti-dumping case of activated carbon from China, representing a private enterprise in antidumping administrative review to obtain zero tax rate/minimum tax rate for consecutive years.

· Antidumping investigation by the USA on Multilayered Wood Flooring from China (The client Samling Group was excluded from the antidumping duty order with a court order); and

· Antidumping investigation by the EU on Crystalline Silicon Photovoltaic Cells from China (we represented several big producers and successfully reached price undertaking with the EU Commission);

Awards

Education