TEAM LEADER: Jean Jiang, associate general counsel, head of legal, Greater China
KEY POINTS: To alleviate the pressure built up from daily toil, the legal team of BeOne Medicines, a multinational oncology company, signed up for an artistic workshop tutored by a psychological consultant. Between therapeutic doodling, handcraft and in-depth conversations, the team members took the chance to develop a deeper sense of bonding and empathy.
WINNER REMARKS: The Greater China legal team of BeOne Medicines is committed to fostering excellence, equal teamwork, and respect for individual differences. Its members are proud to work in a team where the way they work is as important as what they produce. Team members often shoulder a variety of responsibilities ranging from risk management to business leadership. Beyond these, the team organises a variety of team-building activities to help everyone relieve work stress and strengthen team cohesion. In 2025, the team held a mindfulness-based stress reduction art workshop. Led by a psychologist, the workshop encouraged each team member to be aware of their inner feelings in an atmosphere of equality and respect through drawing, crafting and discussions about emotional stress. It also provided opportunities for team members to listen to and communicate with each other, effectively alleviating work anxiety while enhancing mutual understanding.
KEY POINTS: Organised by the general counsel across two different continents, the Asia legal team of CH Robinson travelled to the US and engaged in an academic and work discussion with their headquarters counterparts. After work, the two teams enjoyed a live baseball game and took part in the local volunteer work for public benefit.
WINNER REMARKS: CH Robinson’s Asia legal team has three members and serves as a key legal hub for the Asia-Pacific region, combining local expertise with global vision. The team safeguards business operations and drives growth across the Asia-Pacific. Key achievements include:
Leading sensitive workforce optimisation during restructuring;
Conducting legal due diligence and structuring for regional investments;
Developing cross-border supply chain risk controls for key clients; and
Securing favourable outcomes in complex international freight disputes.
LEGAL TEAM: Department of legal compliance and risk management
TEAM LEADER: Sun Xiaohua, legal general manager
KEY POINTS: For many years, China Construction Dongfu Investment & Development has made a regular event out of the training camp for its legal contract procurement circle. Consistently making up of 50% professional advancement, 30% team fusion and 20% physical drilling, the activities include mock trials, legal theory debates and visits to legally important cultural sites.
The size of the event has been on the rise every year, with the latest rendition covering the in-house counsel of the headquarters, all regional branches and key subsidiaries.
KEY POINTS: The legal compliance department of Duxiaoman has over the years been arranging teambuilding events focused on the dual themes of “studies” and “activities”. In particular, the former includes book sharing sessions, academic research tackling frontier industry issues, and taking part in the formulation of national and industrial standards. The latter includes sports such as long-distance running, baseball, ping pong and badminton, training the body while refreshing the mind.
In both 2023 and 2024, the department ranked in the top 10% among global businesses in the organisational health index (OHI) compiled by McKinsey & Company.
WINNER REMARKS: Du Xiaoman is a financial technology enterprise established through the spin-off of Baidu’s financial services division. As the company’s strategic initiatives deepened, its legal and compliance department developed a “matrix-style” management framework, enabling the efficient allocation of legal and compliance resources and precise risk management through both horizontal and vertical co-ordination mechanisms.
In recent years, the department has led the completion of the “Xuanyuan” large model generative AI service and algorithm dual-filing project, published the monograph International Legislative Review of Generative Artificial Intelligence, and contributed to the drafting of several national and industry standards, including the Guidelines for Compliance Management of General Artificial Intelligence Models. Several compliance domains—such as personal information protection, IP and anti-money laundering—have earned ISO 37301 compliance management system certification.
The department continues to advance the development of a learning-oriented and dynamic organisation, enhancing professional expertise. With the core philosophy of “Together · YING the Future”, it nurtures an exceptional team culture and strengthens a robust compliance framework that supports and protects corporate innovation.
TEAM LEADER: Chen Jingjing, director of legal and risk control department
KEY POINTS: The legal team of Engma, a leading human resources outsourcing provider in China, spent two nights and three days at the Guoqing Temple, a Buddhist temple on Mount Tiantai, engaging in both zen meditation and talk shop concerning pain points.
In addition, the team has designated the last Friday of each month the “in-house counsel innovation day”, on which a 30-minute micro training session is given and at least one fresh idea is provided.
WINNER REMARKS: The legal and risk control department of Engma Group has always adhered to the core belief that an outstanding team is the cornerstone of success. In supporting Engma’s nationwide business, the team not only provides professional expertise but also deeply understands the company’s “heart and mind” management approach, committed to building an outstanding organisation full of resilience, trust and innovative vitality.
Through team-building activities and sustainable empowerment mechanisms, it systematically enhances the cohesion, stress resistance and innovative vitality among members. Even having the smallest team, it has achieved deep business connection and value support. This powerful internal force and outstanding teamwork form a solid foundation to ensure the group’s strategic advancement and stable business operation.
TEAM LEADER: Lin Sencai, operation general manager & general counsel
KEY POINTS: There is no overstating the importance of in-house counsel gaining an understanding of the company’s business. For this purpose, the legal team at Huitian Aerospace Technology, or XPeng Aeroht, visited China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City, which hosts the mass production factories of XPeng vehicles and Huitian flying cars, as well as a museum.
There the team learned the history of the knowledge city and witnessed the full assembly process of an XPeng car, bringing to life what usually for them remains in ink or digital form.
TEAM LEADER: Lu Bin, general counsel and chief compliance officer
KEY POINTS: The 15-strong legal and compliance team of Inspur Digital Enterprise Technology hosts teambuilding events on a regular basis, with a rotating organiser mechanism in place to keep things fresh.
The activities thus far include mock legislative hearings, where members roleplay in debates on key legislative updates such as the Data Security Law and Private Information Protection Law; legal escape rooms, with legal trivia serving as clues; and legal micro-theatres, with cases adapted into dramas.
WINNER REMARKS: The 15-person legal and compliance department of Inspur Digital Enterprise, aligned with the parent-subsidiary hierarchical management model, comprises members who all hold master’s degrees or above from renowned universities. They are assigned roles by background: arts-sciences double-degree holders handle IP; overseas-educated members manage foreign investment and data compliance; law firm-experienced staff focus on litigation; and those with comprehensive experience co-ordinate litigation and non-litigation work.
The team created a “training-style team building” model, blending legal training, business learning and team building. It uses simulated legislative hearings, quarterly legal escape rooms and weekly knowledge contests to boost professionalism, plus rotating leaders, cross-professional groups and reverse guidance for interaction. It also strengthens collaboration via practice relays, real-time reviews, legal micro-theatres and a wisdom database. This model raised knowledge retention by 40% and contract-review efficiency by 30%, turning the team from a “professional aggregate” to a “learning community” and setting a digital-era example for legal teams.
TEAM LEADER: Cai Ping, head of legal and compliance, Greater China
KEY POINTS: On 26 April 2025, the World Intellectual Property Day, the legal team of Nestlé (China) shared a video with colleagues both in Greater China and the headquarters, in which they emphasised the importance of IP protection and brand building. The gesture served to not only enhance staff’s IP awareness, but also augment the legal team’s status within the company.
TEAM LEADER: Che Yixin, director of risk management
KEY POINTS: At the 10th anniversary of Nyocor company, the risk management department commemorated the occasion with a special session recounting the landmark projects and cases that marked the decade, as well as the key role played by the department. Furthermore, they arranged legal trivia challenges that covered the latest laws, regulations and company rules, exchanging practical experience at the same time.
KEY POINTS: Sina Group’s litigation team makes a habit of small-scale teambuilding activities such as archery, badminton, hiking and murder mystery games. One of the more special ventures is ordering custom clothing as part of a charity project for autistic children. It uses fabric printed with artwork created by autistic children, with proceeds given to the children as “wages” instead of donations.
WINNER REMARKS: Sina Group is a leading Chinese digital media enterprise offering internet services spanning news, social media and financial information, boasting hundreds of millions of active users. The litigation team within the group’s legal department handles dispute resolution for all business units. Employing a project-based management approach, the team ensures both specialised expertise and operational resilience through structured role assignments and backup person. Its management model combines data-informed performance metrics with tailored career paths, addressing individual growth needs while delivering targeted professional development. The team prioritises energy management and cultural cohesion during high-stakes litigation, nurturing a dynamic and cohesive unit through empathetic leadership. Annually resolving tens of thousands of legal disputes—including thousands of formal lawsuits—the team effectively mitigates legal risks while maintaining business continuity. In support of corporate strategic objectives, it proactively pursues rights protection cases that have recovered nearly RMB500 million (USD70.37 million).
TEAM LEADER: Leslie Zhang, vice president and chief legal officer
KEY POINTS: United Energy Group regularly hosts transnational scenario simulations with regular and dispatched in-house counsel, re-enacting common practical scenes such as overseas M&A confrontational negotiations, and international arbitration tribunals. Thus, team members from various jurisdictions are allowed to learn from the interactions. Such activities typically cover nearly 100 in-house counsel.
TEAM LEADER: Jean Jiang, general counsel and compliance officer
KEY POINTS: In June 2025, more than 30 in-house counsel of Yishi Huolala Technology from mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Vietnam visited Disneyland. Prior to leaving for “the happiest place on earth”, the team spent some more serious moments exchanging practical experience between jurisdictions, with overseas teams presenting their local legal updates and frontier views.
WINNER REMARKS: The Huolala Group legal team delivers accurate, efficient and comprehensive legal support from various levels and dimensions such as investment, M&A, capital markets, compliance, dispute resolution, and policy and regulatory research, empowering the group and creating value for its business.
