Shihai Zhang

Practice Areas

Shihai has seasoned experience in compliance matters of MNCs operating in mainland China. He is also highly experienced in government investigation response and has successfully helped numerous clients to handle investigations involving advertising, anti-unfair competition, anti-commercial bribery, anti-monopoly and other matters, some of which involve administrative hearings, administrative reconsiderations and administrative litigations,. He specializes in legal services in advertising, anti-unfair competition, anti-monopoly, anti-commercial bribery, trademark and trade secret infringement, consumer protection, corporate governance, government relations, etc.

Shihai has published multiple law reviews on official AMR journals such as Biweekly of Administrative for Industry and Commerce and China Market Regulation News (former China Industry and Commerce News). He was invited by various forums, conferences and foreign chambers of commerce for speeches and trainings.

Career

Shihai Zhang graduated from Southwest University of Political Science & Law. He first practiced in 2006 and worked as a law enforcement officer for 5 years in the former law enforcement system of Shanghai Administration for Industry and Commerce (now Shanghai AMR), during when he was responsible for law enforcement on advertising, anti-unfair competition, product quality, consumer protection, etc.

Publications

·Interpretation of Ten Key Provisions of “Implementing Regulation for the Consumer Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, China Market Regulation News, May 15, 22, 29, 2024.

·Highlights and Compliance Tips of “Interim Provisions for Anti-Unfair Competition on Internet”, Wolters Kluwer, May 17, 2024.《

·China Advertising Law Enforcement Report (2023), Apr. 26, 2024.

·China Anti-Commercial Bribery Law Enforcement Report (2023), Mar. 29, 2024.

·An Exploration of Livestreaming Compliance, Co-authored with the experts from law enforcement agencies, China Industry and Commerce Press,Jan.1,2024.

·China Cosmetic Industry Advertising Law Enforcement Report (2022), Jun. 6, 2023.

·National Quality Inspection and Testing Center et al., Cosmetics Advertising Compliance Reference Book, China Industry and Commerce Press, April 2023.

·Legal Obligations of Platform Operators in Providing Internet Information Services for Advertising Activities on the Platform, Biweekly of Administration for Market Regulation(8th,2023).

·Eight Revision Points and Compliance Tips of “Administrative Measures for Internet Advertising," Wolters Kluwer, Mar. 24, 2023.

·China Anti-Commercial Bribery Law Enforcement Report (2018-2022), Wolters Kluwer, Mar. 17, 2023.

·Key Points in “Anti-Unfair Competition Law (draft amendment for comments)," Wolters Kluwer, Nov. 24, 2022.

·Discussion on the Regulation of Advertising by livestreamers in Live E-commerce, China Market Regulation News, Aug. 10, 2022.

·China Cosmetic Industry Advertising Law Enforcement Report (2021), Wolters Kluwer, May 25, 2022.

·China Anti-Commercial Bribery Law Enforcement Report (2021), Wolters Kluwer, Mar. 15, 2022.

·Case Analysis – Shall an Employee’s Product Promotions on WeChat Moments be Considered as Advertisements? The Administrative and Judicial Identification of “Private Domain” Advertising, China Market Regulation News, Jan. 19, 2022.

·China Cosmetic Industry Advertising Law Enforcement Report (2020), Wolters Kluwer, Jul. 20, 2021.

·China Anti-Commercial Bribery Law Enforcement Report (2020), Wolters Kluwer, May 12, 2021.

·The Market Regulation Perspective on Ten Highlights of the New Administrative Penalty Law, China Market Regulation News, Mar. 3, 2021.

·China Anti-Commercial Bribery Law Enforcement Report (2018-2019) (bilingual), Wolters Kluwer, Oct. 14, 2020.

·Analysis and Suggestions on the Regulation of Marketing Activities in Live E-commerce, China Market Regulation News September 24, 2020.

·Analysis of the Definition of “Influence” in Commercial Bribery, China Market Regulation News, May 28, 2019.

·Notes for Promotions of Drugs and Medical Devices – Starting from the Illegal Advertisement Case of Stryker Beijing, Wolters Kluwer, Mar. 13, 2019.

·Comments on GuaZi's “Far Ahead” Illegal Advertisement Case, Wolters Kluwer, Dec. 2, 2018.

·Can We Still Enjoy Dinner? – Starting from a penalty for a ¥604.80 Meal, Wolters Kluwer, Nov. 16, 2018.

·Summary and Compliance Tips of Difficult Issues of the Advertising Law Enforcement, published under the title “Standardizing Enforcement and Unifying Standards," China Industry and Commerce News, Mar. 6, 2018.

·Analysis of Commercial Bribery Risks in Free of Charge Equipment Placement under the New Anti-Unfair Competition Law, China Industry and Commerce News, Mar. 22, 2018.

·Key Points of the New Anti-Unfair Competition Law, Wolters Kluwer, Nov. 5, 2017.

·Analysis of the Commercial Bribery Clause in the Anti-Unfair Competition Law (Draft), China Industry and Commerce News, May 17, 2017.

·The International Comity Doctrine in the Extraterritorial Effect of the U.S. Antitrust Law, Shanghai Competition Law Society Paper Collection 2016, Nov. 12, 2016.

·Front-burner Issues of Advertising Law Revision and Corporate Compliance, Wolters Kluwer, Oct. 19, 2015.

·Compliance Analysis of Free of Charge Equipment Placement with Respect to Commercial Bribery, Biweekly of Administration for Market Regulation (13th. 2015).

·Administrative Litigation Case Compilation regarding Administrative for Industrial and Commercial Penalties, China Industry and Commerce Press (1st ed. 2014).

Personal

Honors and Awards

·Band 4: Corporate Investigations/Anti-Corruption (PRC Firms) ，Chambers Greater China Region Guide 2025

· “2024 Annual Clients’ First Choice Lawyers ” among the “Best Lawyers & Law Firms Recommended by GC” list initiated by Legal Hall of Fame and Legal Guru Club in 2024

·“Legal Hall of Fame – Clients’ Best Choice” among the “Best Lawyers & Law Firms Recommended by GC” list initiated by Legal Hall of Fame and Legal Guru Club in 2023

Clients

Shihai Zhang provides perennial legal advisory services to over thirty Fortune 500 companies, and offers legal support for governmental investigation response and internal investigations to multiple Fortune 500 companies, covering industries such as pharmaceuticals, medical devices, daily chemicals, food, toys, appliances and cosmetics, etc.

Work Highlights

Attorney ZHANG has made it his specialty to offer assistance to multinational corporations operating in mainland of China with compliance difficulties, the prevention of criminal offenses, and criminal defence. With in-depth understanding of legal trends and industry competition, he is able to fully integrate law enforcement practices and corporate business purposes to provide clients with solutions that maximize their interests.

For example, he once represented a well-known Japanese clothing company in dealing with a case of commercial bribery involving employees in its Chinese procurement department. Attorney ZHANG efficiently assisted the Client in conducting an internal investigation and reporting to the public security and economic investigation bureau, ultimately forcing the employee to return to China and surrender, successfully helping the Client recover more than CNY 9 million in losses.(please keep this part of information confidential)

Moreover, attorney ZHANG also has strong capabilities in responding to government investigations. During his 5-year tenure at the Shanghai Administration of Industry and Commerce, he participated in coordinating work for joint investigations by the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the Supreme People’s Procuratorate of the People’s Republic of China (now Supervisory commission) and the Economic Crime Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security, reviewing hundreds of cases of anti-commercial bribery.

Therefore, attorney ZHANG is very familiar with the process of handling cases of anti-commercial bribery and can provide clients with professional and technical solutions from multiple perspectives.

Based on the needs of enterprise development, he has successfully handled a large number of government investigations involving advertising, anti-unfair competition, and anti-monopoly, and has provided compliance consulting services to many MNCs, including numerous Fortune 500 companies. For example, he represented a US pharmaceutical company in handling a government investigation. The Client was reported to the local discipline inspection commission and multiple market supervision bureaus for various signs of non-compliance. Attorney ZHANG worked closely with a US FCPA lawyer to conduct extensive analysis and judgment work. In the end, law enforcement agencies accepted attorney ZHANG’s opinion and gave up on filing a case against the Client.(please keep this part of information confidential)

Industry Sector Expertise

In 2025, attorney ZHANG handled 60 cases in the field of corporate investigation and anti-corruption, with legal services concentrated in sub-fields such as legal support for government investigations, internal anti-fraud investigations, anti-bribery compliance system improvement, and business model risk assessment and improvement suggestions.

Languages Spoken

Chinese & English

Experience

Shihai has seasoned experience in compliance matters of MNCs operating in mainland China. He is also highly experienced in government investigation response and has successfully helped numerous clients to handle investigations involving advertising, anti-unfair competition, anti-commercial bribery, anti-monopoly and other matters, some of which involve administrative hearings, administrative reconsiderations and administrative litigations,. He specializes in legal services in advertising, anti-unfair competition, anti-monopoly, anti-commercial bribery, trademark and trade secret infringement, consumer protection, corporate governance, government relations, etc.

Education

Awards