Li Zhao

Introduction

Li Zhao graduated from the China University of Political Science and Law with a Master of Laws degree. For over two decades of legal practice, Li has focused on commercial dispute resolution in the areas of corporate law, investment and financing, and intellectual property. He specialises in commercial litigation and arbitration involving corporate equity and control, M&A, securities issuances and transactions, as well as trademark and patent disputes.

With deep industry insight, specialised expertise and a client-first approach, Li aligns legal strategies closely with clients’ commercial objectives, delivering outstanding results and earning a professional reputation. He represented Thailand’s TC Pharmaceutical Industries in the Red Bull trademark ownership dispute, one of the Top 10 Intellectual Property Cases of Chinese Courts in 2020. After eight years of proceedings, Li secured victories in both the appellate proceedings before the Beijing High People’s Court and the retrial proceedings before the Supreme People’s Court, conclusively determining the ownership of a trademark with commercial value over tens of billions. As the largest trademark dispute by amount in China at the time, the judgment was selected as a representative case in the Report of the Supreme People’s Court on the Work of Intellectual Property Adjudication and received extensive coverage from authoritative media, including CCTV, becoming a landmark in China’s judicial protection of intellectual property rights.

Li’s achievements before the Supreme People’s Court’s International Commercial Court are also notable. Established in 2018 to adjudicate major international commercial disputes, the court operates under a unique one-instance final adjudication system. Li is among the few lawyers to have represented clients before both the First and Second International Commercial Courts, underscoring his top-tier expertise in handling high-stakes international commercial disputes.

Li also serves as a senior arbitrator alongside his dispute resolution practice. He holds arbitrator appointments at leading institutions including the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, the Beijing Arbitration Commission, and the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission. He has long been ranked by international legal directories such as Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific.