Zhiwei Hou

Practice Areas

Mr.Hou's main practice areas include mixed-ownership reform of state-owned enterprises, restructuring and listing, major asset restructuring, domestic and overseas listings, domestic bonds, cross-border financing, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, foreign direct investment, and outbound investment. His experience covers a wide variety of industries, including culture, logistics, real estate, insurance, TMT, advertising, healthcare& pharmaceuticals, medical devices, aircraft finance leasing, mineral resources, traditional industries, etc.

Career

Mr. Hou, holding PRC Bar License, has worked and practiced in Commerce&Finance Law Offices, Zhonglun Law Firm and Beijing Deheng Law Offices successively for 18 years, focusing on Private Equity Fund, PE&VC, M&A, Cross-Border Financing, Bonds (domestic and overseas), IPO (domestic and overseas), and Asset Restructuring of Listed Companies. Mr. Hou is skilled in making use of the complementation of the offshore and onshore markets to build cross-border financing platforms from the perspective of the overall and long-term development of the clients, and effectively reduce the costs from the financial and tax perspectives, so as to provide efficacious legal service for the healthy and rapid growth of the clients.

Professional Memberships

Off-Campus Career Mentor at Peking University School of Transnational Law;

Invited lecturer for the graduate course "Models and Practices of Technology Transfer from the Perspective of A-Share Listings" at Beijing Institute of Technology;

Lecturer for the graduate course "Case Studies on Overseas Investment and Acquisitions" at Renmin University of China Law School;

The tutor of the Master of Business Administration (MBA) program of Beijing Foreign Studies University;

The tutor of the of Beijing Foreign Studies University (Finance major);

The deputy Secretary-General of Beijing Minhe Foundation for International Exchanges.

One of the first experts of the Civil and Commercial Expert Pool of the Chinese Society of Behavioral Law.

Clients

China Three Gorges Corporation

State Grid Corporation of China

Agricultural Bank of China

Huatai Securities

China Logistics

National Council for Social Security Fund of The People’s Republic of China

China International Capital Corporation Limited.

China Mobile Capital Holding Co., Ltd.

SenseTime Group

China Internet Investment Fund

China Resources Land Limited

Jinan Hi-tech Holding Group Co., Ltd.

Languages Spoken

Mandarin and English

Work Highlights

Private Equity Investment & Mergers and Acquisitions

TMT Industry & Artificial Intelligence Sector

Served as legal counsel for over ten investment projects of SenseTime Group and its managed funds.

Acted as legal counsel for more than ten investment projects of China Internet Investment Fund — an investment institution approved by the State Council and jointly initiated by the Cyberspace Administration of China and the Ministry of Finance — including investments in Beijing Keywi Network Co., Ltd., Guangzhou CloudMinds Technology Co., Ltd., Beijing Unisound Information Technology Co., Ltd., Changzhou Chengxin Semiconductor Co., Ltd., and other enterprises.

Served as legal counsel for investments by Huagai TMT Fund in Beijing Zhongming Century Technology Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Enniu Network Technology Co., Ltd., Ningxia Xiangshang Rongke Technology Development Co., Ltd. (involving a VIE structure, listed in the Top 10 Best Investment Cases in China’s Tech and Finance Industry 2017 at the 12th China Investment Annual Summit), Shanghai Hanxiang Information Technology Co., Ltd., Shanghai TouchPal Information Technology Co., Ltd., and other projects.

Acted as legal counsel for Qihoo 360 Technology Co., Ltd.’s investments in Shanghai MediaV Information Technology Co., Ltd. (involving a VIE structure), Beijing NetentSec Technology Co., Ltd., and other projects.

Served as legal counsel for the equity investment of CCB Cultural Industry Private Equity Fund (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. in Beijing New Remington Advertising Co., Ltd. (Xiaoma Tengteng), involving the dismantling of a red-chip structure under the VIE framework.

Acted as legal counsel for Meituan’s multiple investment projects in the domestic consumer industry.

Healthcare & Large Health Industry

Served as legal counsel for dozens of investment projects of Huagai Healthcare Fund, covering Beijing Weimai Medical Equipment Co., Ltd., Shanghai Henlius Biotech, Inc., Beijing Geneseeq Technology Inc., Menco Pharmaceutical (small red-chip return project), Shanghai Rendu Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Suzhou Lonrun Medical System Co., Ltd., Jurong Medical Technology (Hangzhou) Co., Ltd., Shanghai Magene Biotechnology Co., Ltd., Beijing Xiangyi Symbiosis Elderly Care Industry Investment Co., Ltd., and other enterprises.

Acted as legal counsel for Aimeike Technology Development Co., Ltd.’s investment in Yunyi (Beijing) Medical Devices Co., Ltd.

Served as legal counsel for SenseTime’s investment in a medical technology company.

Acted as legal counsel for investments by Shanghai Jingxu Rongjing Investment Center (Limited Partnership) and Nantong Jingxu Lezhi Investment Center (Limited Partnership) in Yunyi (Beijing) Medical Devices Co., Ltd.

Served as legal counsel for projects including CCB International Healthcare Industry Private Equity Fund’s equity investment in Liaoning Chengda Biotechnology Co., Ltd.

Mixed Ownership Reform Sector

Served as legal counsel for multiple major projects, including:

Investment in Trusted Huatai Information Technology Co., Ltd. by CEIC Innovation Fund (Limited Partnership), involving the mixed ownership reform of a subsidiary of a central state-owned enterprise;

Mixed ownership reform of subsidiaries of China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd.;

Restructuring and listing of China South Industries Equipment Automation Research Institute (military industry-related, with the restructuring plan approved by eight national ministries and commissions in March 2018);

Restructuring and STAR Market listing of Hubei Huaqiang Technology Co., Ltd. — a holding subsidiary of China South Industries Group Corporation, a leading domestic R&D and manufacturer of chemical defense equipment, and China’s largest producer of vial stoppers for COVID-19 vaccines.

Industry Sector Expertise

Lawyer Hou has long specialized in full-spectrum legal services spanning fund establishment, fund investment, structured financing, mergers and acquisitions, domestic and overseas bonds, domestic and overseas listing, and material restructuring of listed companies. He excels at leveraging the complementarity between domestic and overseas capital markets. From the perspective of clients’ overall and long-term development, he designs and builds integrated cross-border financing platforms for clients. Combining financial and tax considerations, he effectively reduces clients’ comprehensive financing costs and provides solid legal support for the sound and rapid development of clients’ businesses.

Experience

With 15 years of practice experience at top-tier domestic law firms, Lawyer Hou Zhiwei focuses his practice on mixed ownership reform, restructuring and listing, and major asset restructuring of state-owned enterprises, domestic and overseas listing, domestic bond issuance, cross-border financing, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, as well as foreign inbound investment and outbound investment. His practice covers a wide range of industries, including culture, logistics, real estate, insurance companies, TMT, advertising, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, aircraft leasing, mineral resources and traditional industries.

Education

Awards