Based on research conducted by China Business Law Journal, the following are the winners and highly commended in-house counsel of CBLJ In-house Counsel Awards 2019. The awards are split into individual and team awards, and then into practice area and industry categories.
Click here to read the editorial report that accompanies the awards.
Detailed biographies and contact information, where provided, were written by the in-house counsels themselves and have not been independently verified.
Su Yunpeng, the General Counsel of Tsinghua Tongfang, is fully responsible for the group’s legal affairs, compliance and intellectual property affairs. He has rich experience in investment and mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution, intellectual property, corporate compliance and other business areas.
Su has built a learning legal team. He set up the “Tsinghua Tongfang Law + Lecture” and the WeChat public account “Tongfang Law Review” with the chairman’s support. So far this year, his team has organized multiple in-house training sessions as well as communication activities, and has published dozens of professional articles in scores of organizations.
Su is also the practical tutor of master of laws students in Renmin University of China. He provided assistance in establishment of the research center of lawyers in government and in-house lawyers in that university, and served as editor in chief of the first White Paper on the Development of Chinese In-House Lawyers.
Su was listed in the Chambers GC influencers list 2020 and Thomson Reuters ALB GC Profiles of 2019, The Legal 500 GC Powerlist 2019 and won the China Intellectual Property’s award of the 2018 China Outstanding Intellectual Property Manager. He also led the team to win the Thomson Reuters ALB 2018 China Top 15 In-House Teams award and nominated in the China Law Awards of 2019.
Highly commended
David Cheng
General Counsel
China Resources Enterprise
Adam Hornung
General Counsel
Chief Compliance Officer
Hillhouse Capital
Tony Shang
General Manager, Legal Department
Agile Group
Shao Li
Secretary of Board of Directors
General Legal Counsel
Secretary of Board of Directors
General Legal Counsel
Beijing Capital Group
Highly commended
Cathy Duan
General Counsel
Sino-Ocean Capital
Fu Shoufeng
Associate Director, Legal Affairs
Greentown Shandong Investment and Real Estate
Lisa Yang
Deputy CRO
Fantasia Group (China)
Xu Xinlin
General Manager, Legal Department
APP-China
Xu Xinlin previously served as associate professor at Fudan University School of Law (focusing on civil and commercial law), Master’s tutor, adjunct researcher of Japanese Studies Center for Fudan University. Xu has also been the General Manager of the Legal Department of APP China headquarters of Sinar Mas Group since 2000, and is responsible for the leadership and management of Sinar Mas Group-APP’s investment in China and overseas, and is in charge of various corporate legal affairs.
In 2017, Xu was nominated as ALB China’s best general counsel, and in 2018, he was nominated as the Star of Outstanding Style by the committee of the First Oriental Legal Stars.
Sunny Yi obtained an LLB from Fudan University and an EMBA from Washington University in St. Louis. Yi is admitted to the PRC bar.
Having over 20 years experience in private practice and corporate law, Yi held various positions in law firms and MNCs including partner, HR director, general counsel and compliance officer.
Yi was awarded the Top 15 General Counsels Prize of China in 2018 and 2019.
General Manager, Legal Affairs Department Industrial and Commercial Bank of China
Highly commended
Adam Hornung
General Counsel and
Chief Compliance Officer
Hillhouse Capital
Lin Feng
Senior Counsel
International Finance Corporation
Meng Juan
General Manager
Legal and Compliance Department
Bank of Communications
International Trust
Betty Xiang
PE General Counsel
Ping An Trust
Betty Xiang Yaqi has been working for PE legal service of Ping An for nearly 10 years. She is mainly responsible for PE investment project and fund formation, providing all-round legal supports throughout the investment life cycle, such as transaction structure design, risk control, and business negotiation.
She assists the group in implementing major strategic investment projects, participates in M&A, post-investment management and capital operation. She advises on investments across multiple industries such as resources, healthcare and consumption, involving both domestic and overseas targets. In addition, she leads product design to launch a variety of products including domestic and overseas funds, trust plans, etc.
Chen Yan, the vice president and general counsel of KE.com, was a partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer prior to joining KE.com. He focuses on corporate, investment, financing and capital market. He is experienced in overseas listings as well as equity and debt financing and also has excelled at compliance, private equity and M&A transactions.
Chen graduated from Renmin University of China and Cornell University. He received his Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern Law School of Lewis and Clark University and was awarded as a scholar receiving Dean’s list. Chen was ranked one of the best Chinese lawyers in 2017 by Asian Legal Business, one of China’s Elite 50 Lawyers (Foreign Firms) in 2018 by China Business Law Journal and a highly recommended lawyer in the capital market, corporate business, M&A and private equity investment in 2018 by Legal 500.
Lai Qiqi is the vice president and general counsel of 37 Interactive Entertainment. Lai graduated from National University of Singapore and East China University of Political Science and Law. He has been committed to leading the legal department for gaming enterprises listed in China and the US for over 10 years, with rich experience across a wide range of legal practice areas, such as corporate governance, IP, cross-border law, M&A, dispute resolution and other fields. In recent years, he was also involved in investment in some strategic emerging industries and cross-border IP cooperation.