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 2020. 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.
Biographies were provided and written by the in-house counsel themselves and have not been independently verified.
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Wong Yong Kai Head of Special Projects, Co-General Counsel CITIC Capital |
| Wong Yong Kai is a managing director, head of special projects and co-general counsel of CITIC Capital. Wong oversees CITIC Capital’s special projects and overall legal and execution coverage for the company’s outbound investment activities.
Additionally, he is the Executive Vice Chairman of GNC Holdings, a leading global health and wellness company, and general manager of Harbin Pharmaceutical Group Holdings. Prior to CITIC Capital, Wong was associate general counsel for APG Asset Management Asia, one of the world’s largest institutional investors. Wong has broad experience in alternative investments across the US, Europe and the Asia-Pacific in a wide range of transactions including complex debt financings and restructurings, capital markets, structured and securitised products, and corporate M&A transactions such as corporate real estate, special situations, private equity and hedge fund formations. Wong has won numerous industry awards and is a frequent speaker at various industry events. He is a graduate of Harvard Business School, and has an MBA from Chicago Booth School of Business. He also holds an LLM (first honours) from the University of Cambridge. |
WINNER
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Chen Yan General Counsel KE Holdings |
| Chen Yan, vice president and general counsel in charge of the group legal centre of Beike Group, and a former partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer prior to joining Beike. Chen focuses on corporate, investment, financing and capital market. Well experienced in overseas listings as well as equity and debt financing, Chen also has excelled at compliance, private equity and M&A transactions. Graduated from Renmin University of China and Cornell University, Chen received his Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern Law School of Lewis and Clark University and was awarded as a scholar receiving Dean’s list. In the previous years, Chen led the legal team to complete the company restructuring in 2018, private financing in 2019, and the listing of Beike on the New York Stock Exchange in 2020, leading the Beike legal team to have accomplished multiple achievements, including the Highly Commended – Data protection (Team) awarded by China Business LawJournal in 2019. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Joseph Chan Chief Legal Officer Yum China |
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Jia Hongyi VP, Joint Company Secretary and General Counsel Kuaishou Technology |
| Jia Hongyi, vice president, joint company secretary and general counsel of Kuaishou, is in charge of the group’s legal affairs and the business operations of certain subsidiaries.
He has rich experience in the field of investment and M&A, and has guided the company’s multiple rounds of financing, and provided valuable input to the group’s investment and acquisition projects. With the solid support of the legal department under his leadership, the group successfully completed its IPO on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Jia is a representative to the Second People’s Congress of Tongren city, Guizhou province. He also serves as a member of the China Advertising Association’s expert advisory committee. |
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Stuart Lin Senior Legal Director Xpeng Motors |
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Liu Fang Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer NIO |
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Zoe Shou Group General Counsel ESR |
| Zoe Shou is general counsel of ESR, a company listed on Hong Kong’s stock exchange. Shou joined ESR group in February 2012, and is responsible for overseeing legal matters in relation to group debt and equity financing, fundraising and fund management transactions, real estate project acquisitions, development and disposition, capital market transactions, and other significant transactions.
Prior to joining ESR, Shou was with King & Wood Mallesons, where she represented underwriters and issuers on debt and equity offerings, and advised private equity investment and M&A transactions. |
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Bill Zhou Chief Risk Officer Fullshare Holdings |
WINNER
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Yuan Ye Department Manager China Pacific Insurance |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Liu Jing General Manager, Legal and Compliance Department Ping An Real Estate |
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Viola Pan Head of Ethics and Compliance, CHC Greater China Glaxosmithkline (China) Investment |
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Wang Cheng General Counsel Express (Hangzhou) Technology Service |
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Xu Qian General Counsel BGI Genomics |
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Jenny Zeng Vice-General Manager of Legal and Compliance Department Ping An Medical and Healthcare Management |
| Having worked in the financial and medical fields for 14 years, Jenny Zeng has served as the head of legal and compliance departments covering the financial and healthcare industries. Since joining Ping An HealthKonnect in 2017, she has mainly engaged in managerial work regarding legal and compliance reviews, investment and financing, M&A, intellectual property protection, internal control system construction, and data security strategy deployment.
During her tenure, Zeng has built and continually enhanced the company’s legal and compliance control system, which is deemed to match its business and management objectives, fully covering core business sectors such as information technology, medical insurance control, hospital management, medical services, business insurance empowerment, financial leasing, medical examination, etc. Meanwhile, she has led completion of the first round of financing for the company, prompted M&A of upstream and downstream industries, effectively prevented and controlled major risks in corporate operation and internal governance, improved the quantity and quality of the company’s intellectual property protection, and managed to stabilise and effectuate data security. |
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Anny Zheng General Counsel China Huarong International |
WINNER
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Wong Yongkai Head of Special Projects, Co-General Counsel CITIC Capital |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Bi Liyan Director, Legal and Contract Management Department Metallurgical Corporation of China |
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Cui Ruijie General Counsel, Director of Legal Affairs Department China State Shipbuilding Corporation |
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Guo Yanxiong Legal Director CITIC Construction |
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Jason Jia Director of Compliance Centre BOE Technology Group |
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Liu Xiaoying Legal Counsel China Harbour Engineering |
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Pan Zhuqing Vice General Counsel Director of Legal and Compliance Department CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive |
WINNER
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Helen Gu General Manager of Legal Department SINA Corporation |
| Helen Gu Haiyan is responsible for the overall legal affairs of SINA Group (Sina & Weibo), and has consistently innovated in her provision of legal services. Through digging into the application scenarios of big data, the improvement of risk controls, the protection of user privacy and data security, and the creation of mechanisms for the supervision and protection of IP rights, she has led the legal department to achieve a 98% liability exemption rate for litigations against SINA, protecting thousands of copyrighted works, and generating tens of millions of revenue for the vertical business lines of Weibo, and Sina Mobile and Finance.
Gu serves as: An arbitrator at Beijing International Arbitration Centre; executive director of the Internet and Information Law Association of China Law Society; executive director of China Academy of Arbitration Law; and an international expert advisory commissioner at the UN Commission on International Trade Law. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Chen Yan General Counsel KE Holdings |
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Huang Jiahui Weixin General Counsel Tencent |
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Jia Hongyi VP, Joint Company Secretary and General Counsel Kuaishou Technology |
| Jia Hongyi, vice president, joint company secretary and general counsel of Kuaishou, is in charge of the group’s legal affairs and the business operations of certain subsidiaries.
He has rich experience in the field of data protection. In 2019, he initiated and oversaw a number of data protection-related lawsuits, such as infringement cases related to data crawling, cases where criminals exploited the group’s platform, or settlement policies of third-party payment channels to commit fraud payments, etc. Jia is a representative to the Second People’s Congress of Tongren city, Guizhou province. He also serves as a member of the China Advertising Association’s expert advisory committee. |
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Stuart Lin Senior Legal Director Xpeng Motors |
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Carrie Yu Head of Legal, Greater China H&M |
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Stella Zhou China Legal Counsel Ferrero Trading (Shanghai) |
WINNER
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Li Zhiyong General Manager of Legal and Risks Management Department POWERCHINA International Group |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Bi Liyan Director, Legal and Contract Management Department Metallurgical Corporation of China |
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Cui Ruijie General Counsel, Director of Legal Affairs Department China State Shipbuilding Corporation |
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Shang Dongning General Manager of Holding Legal Centre, General Manager of Legal Contract Centre of Real Estate Group Agile Group |
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Phoebe Tang VP, General Counsel, Greater China and Oceania Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Danone Group |
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Wang Qingyan General Counsel Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group |
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Margarita Yao General Counsel Trina Solar |
WINNER
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Jessica Fan Principal Counsel, Asia COGNEX |
| Jessica Fan graduated from Shanghai International Studies University with an LLB degree, and from Singapore National University with an LLM degree. She is licensed to practise law in China, and is currently working as Asia Principle Legal Counsel for Cognex, a US machine high-tech company. Fan has previously worked for a UK-based law firm and a domestic law firm for many years, and has obtained solid experience through providing dispute resolution services to many reputable companies.
Since she joined Cognex’s Asian legal team in 2014, Fan has focused on legal services relating to machine vision, industrial automation and AI software, and has impressive practices in establishing compliance systems and investigating compliance cases, protecting intellectual property and trade secrets, and handling labour and employment disputes. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Jiang Ying Legal Director The LEGO Group |
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Sun Guangyuan Legal Manager Bybon |
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Tian Jing Vice President – Legal, Asia Pacific Carrier Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration R&D Management (Shanghai) |
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Nancy Wei Head of Legal Skechers China |
| Nancy Wei, head of legal at Skechers China, leads a team of eight in-house lawyers, and has been supporting a rapid development and expansion of the business in China. Wei and her legal team have played an important role in legal support on business model innovation, brand collaboration, capex investment, employee dispute and litigation, regulatory compliance, internal workflow optimisation, etc. With experience in law firms, in the fast-moving consumer goods industry, and as an in-house lawyer and legal department leader, Wei excels at legal analysis, with commercial sense and working together with cross-functional departments to find workable solutions. Apart from legal work, Wei is interested in psychology, which has helped her with effective communication, and in tackling complicated employment disputes. Wei has been also active in attending in-house legal community events, and sharing experience and knowledge by way of live-streaming and seminars. |
WINNER
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Huang Jiahui Weixin General Counsel Tencent |
| In the past eight years, Huang Jiahui has led the team to explore solutions for IP protection applicable to a social media platform, including establishing an effective channel to handle complaints and resolve disputes, to protect the interests of stakeholders and users, and create a healthy internet ecosystem.
In the past few years, Huang has led the team to formulate regulatory frameworks for various new products at Weixin including moment sharing, official accounts, mini programmes, channels and WeCom. She and the team also built a platform for combating counterfeits, and took the lead in formulating a plan to protect copyrights by establishing a multi-scenario, multi-faceted e-system for filing infringement complaints. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Chen Yan General Counsel KE Holdings |
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Liang Junhui IP Director Autel Robotics |
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Angela Shi Senior Corporate Counsel The LEGO Group |
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Su Yunpeng President Assistant, General Counsel Tsinghua Tongfang |
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Becky Wang Senior Brand Protection Manager, APAC S.C. Johnson |
| Becky Wang takes care of intellectual property-related issues in the APAC region, including but not limited to making IP protection strategies, forming cross-country taskforces for projects, legal action deployment, trademark registrations, trademark and copyright dispute solving, IP awareness promotion, developing external partners, etc.
She led the team that has initiated several pioneering cases in her current position, including: Seizure in South Africa and pursuit of liabilities back in China; a successful criminal retrial case; maximum damages obtained in a trademark infringement litigation; and a trade name recognised as a well-known trademark. Cases she initiated were: Awarded QBPC Annual Top 10 IP Protection Cases for the years 2012, 2018, 2019 and 2020), selected as China Customs Top 10 IP Protection Cases in 2017; and Hebei High Court Top 15 IP Cases in 2019. Wang has also worked for SKF and was assigned to SKF headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, in charge of global cross-border IP programmes. |
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Stella Zhou China Legal Counsel Ferrero Trading (Shanghai) |
WINNER
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Jeffrey Wang Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel, Greater China Region PepsiCo |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Ann Chen General Counsel, China and South-East Asia PSA Group China |
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Stuart Lin Senior Legal Director Xpeng Motors |
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Phoebe Tang VP, General Counsel, Greater China and Oceania Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Danone Group |
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Wang Qingyan General Counsel Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group |
WINNER
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Wong Yongkai Head of Special Projects, Co-General Counsel CITIC Capital |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Ivon Gan General Manager of Legal Department Shanghai Pharmaceuticals |
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Liu Xuan Executive Deputy General Manager Goldwind Investment |
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Pan Zhuqing Vice General Counsel, Director of Legal and Compliance Department CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive |
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Margarita Yao General Counsel Trina Solar |
WINNER
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Cui Ruijie General Counsel, Director of Legal Affairs Department China State Shipbuilding Corporation |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Chen Yan General Counsel KE Holdings |
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Tong Liping Chief Legal Officer Shanghai Electric Group |
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Wong Yong Kai Head of Special Projects, Co-General Counsel CITIC Capital |
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Bill Zhou Chief Risk Officer Fullshare Holdings |
WINNER
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Liu Fang Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer NIO |
| Liu Fang is currently the vice president, general counsel and chief compliance officer of NIO, and also serves as chairman of NIO’s compliance committee. During her 20 years of practice, Fang has been primarily practised in the areas of cross-border M&A, equity investment, venture capital and private equity, and project financing, representing Fortune 500 enterprises and state-owned enterprises around the world.
After joining NIO, Fang has been substantially involved in the company’s strategic planning, structure design and strategic financing projects. She participated in and contributed tremendously to almost all of the company’s financing projects, including all early-stage private equity financings, the company’s successful IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018, and all of the company’s post-IPO financing projects including several rounds of issuances of news shares and convertible bonds raising about US$12 billion. Fang also led and successfully closed NIO’s strategic co-operation with Hefei city government, raising about US$1.53 billion for NIO’s long-term development. She has also led and driven the establishment and improvement of the company’s corporate governance and compliance system. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Tong Liping Chief Legal Officer Shanghai Electric Group |
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Xiang Yaqi PE General Counsel Ping An Trust |
WINNER
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Xiang Yaqi PE General Counsel Ping An Trust |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Cathy Duan Legal Director Sino-ocean Capital |
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Liu Tiehu Chief Legal Counsel, Head of Compliance Gaw Capital |
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Wong Yong Kai Head of Special Projects, Co-General Counsel CITIC Capital |
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Yuan Ye Department Manager China Pacific Insurance |
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Michael Zhang Executive Director, Risk and Compliance Department JM Capital |
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Anny Zheng General Counsel China Huarong International |
WINNER
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Stuart Lin Senior Legal Director Xpeng Motors |
| Stuart Lin obtained a Bachelor of Law degree from Southwest University of Political Science and Law in Chongqing, and a Master’s degree from University College London. He was awarded the “British Chevening Scholar” in 2008. Holding a PRC Bar licence and passing the CA Bar Exam, he has been practising law for more than 20 years, and playing a management role for more than 10 years.
Since 2018, Lin has led and developed the XPeng legal team to provide full support to the company, and to enhance data compliance. In 2020, he led the XPeng legal team to complete a number of milestone projects. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Cheng Guochuan Chief Compliance Officer and Legal Director Beijing Electric Vehicle |
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Huang Yiyun Legal Director Autoliv |
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Liu Fang Vice President, General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer NIO |
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Thomas Zhao Legal and Compliance Director SKF (China) |
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Polly Zhang Head of China Legal MAHLE Holding (China) |
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Zhou Qi General Manager, Cooperation and Legal Affairs Department SAIC Motor Corporation |
WINNER
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Cui Ruijie General Counsel, Director of Legal Affairs Department China State Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Cui Ruijie is currently general counsel and director of the policy and legal affairs department of China State Shipbuilding Corporation. He has a PhD in Management, and once served as a vice director of the State Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence, and the Secretary of the Party Committee of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Cui has profound legal accomplishments and rich experience in operations and management. He leads the legal management of the group overall, and plans, co-ordinates and handles legal affairs in operations and management. He also fully participates in major business decisions, supporting the reform and development of the group. In 2020, Cui led the legal team to successfully complete the domestic and foreign anti-monopoly application for the merger and reorganisation of the two major shipping groups. He also guided and urged member units to promote the handling of major disputes and cases, avoiding or recovering economic losses of nearly RMB3 billion (US$460 million). At the same time, he innovated work measures, vigorously promoted the construction of a compliance management system, and achieved good results. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Hong Yuwen Deputy General Manager, General Legal Counsel China National Aviation Fuel Logistics Co |
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Fiona Sun Senior Legal Counsel Minsheng Financial Leasing |
| Sun Yue is a senior legal counsel at Minsheng Financial Leasing. Sun graduated from the University of Hong Kong and Northwestern University in the US, and received a certificate of business administration from Kellogg School of Management. She is qualified in China and New York state, US.
Prior to joining Minsheng Financial Leasing, Sun was a senior associate at Clyde & Co’s Hong Kong office, and also worked in the Hong Kong office of two leading US law firms. She advised both multinational and Chinese clients in cross-border transactions involving a broad range of industries, such as telecoms, energy and retail. In Minsheng Financing Leasing, Sun’s practice focuses primarily on aviation transaction and financing. She has extensive experience in cross-border aircraft transactions, financing, and overseas compliance. |
WINNER
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Wang Cheng General Counsel Express (Hangzhou) Technology Service |
| Wang Cheng is general counsel of Express (Hangzhou) Technology Company (Express Company), a joint venture of American Express that was licensed by the People’s Bank of China as the first Sino-foreign bankcard clearing institution in mainland China. As a member of the senior management team of the joint venture, Wang heads the legal department of Express Company and oversees all legal matters in its business operations.
Prior to joining American Express, Wang was the head of legal for Greater China at an international investment bank. Wang is admitted to the bar of the State of New York (US) and qualified as a lawyer in China. He is also a member of the special committee of the Shanghai Bar Association, and co-authored a legal text book on international business law. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Gu Yajing Legal Director BNP Paribas |
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Huang Min Deputy Director, Legal and Compliance Division China Development Bank Beijing Branch |
WINNER
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Li Zhiyong General Manager of Legal and Risks Management Department POWERCHINA International Group |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Bi Liyan Director, Legal and Contract Management Department Metallurgical Corporation of China |
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Guo Yanxiong Legal Director CITIC Construction |
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Liu Xiaoying Legal Counsel China Harbour Engineering |
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Tian Changqi General Counsel Guangdong Water |
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Xu Xiaoliang General Counsel China Construction First Group the Second Construction |
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Zhang Xiaojuan General Manager of Legal Department Beijing Capital Group |
WINNER
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Carrie Yu Head of Legal, Greater China H&M |
| Carrie Yu, currently the general counsel for Greater China at H&M, has over 17 years of working experience as an in-house counsel in giant multinational companies, supporting the opening of more than 550 offline stores and the going-live of online stores in Greater China. Yu dedicates herself to providing legal support in diversified fields of business operation in Greater China markets, including leasing contract negotiations, e-commerce, trademark protection, privacy and data protection, cybersecurity, general corporate, advertisement compliance, anti-bribery, marketing, procurement, localisation of global policies, internal training, management of vendors, and dispute resolution.
With an excellent business mindset and high integrity, Yu has been highly recognised and recommended by business teams as a business partner who provides practical and innovative legal solutions that help businesses succeed. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Irene Cheung Senior Legal Counsel Luk Fook Holdings (International) |
| Irene Cheung received her BA from the University of Toronto and her LLB from Osgoode Hall Law School. Cheung was qualified as a solicitor, barrister and notary public in Ontario, Canada, and is currently a member of the Law Society of Ontario, Senior Legal Counsel at Luk Fook Holdings (International) and Managing Director of 3DG Jewellery.
Cheung has served as team leader of the legal affairs department of Luk Fook Group since 2005. During her tenure, the department has attained outstanding achievements in the areas of compliance, data protection, employment and labour, dispute resolution and intellectual property. In recognition of her outstanding leadership skills and excellent career achievements, Cheung was awarded the “Women of Excellence 2019” by JESSICA, a leading women’s magazine, and “The Awards of Women of Times 2019” by InStyle, an international fashion magazine. |
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Helen Ji Senior Attorney Hasbro |
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Jiang Ying Legal Director The LEGO Group |
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Lucy Liu Asia Pacific Trademark Counsel Essilor |
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Becky Wang Senior Brand Protection Manager, APAC S.C. Johnson |
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Nancy Wei Head of Legal Skechers China |
WINNER
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Guan Rui General Manager of Group Affairs Department New Oriental Education and Technology Group |
| Guan Rui joined the New Oriental Education and Technology Group in 2008, and has served as general manager of the legal department since June 2015. Guan Rui received her Master’s degree in Civil and Commercial Law from the China University of Political Science and Law in 2006. The legal department in her company has been rated as the excellent team of the company for four consecutive years, from 2016 to 2019. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Leo Chen Chief Legal Officer XTC Technology |
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Jia Zheng Legal Director Beijing Yuanli Education Science and Technology |
| Jia Zheng has 10 years of experience in the legal profession. He joined Yuanfudao Online Education in 2016, set up the legal department for the company, and has since constantly improved its legal affairs and compliance systems, including in employment and labour, contracts, investment and financing, IPR, and dispute resolution.
Jia led the legal team to support the compliance operations of its different businesses, providing advice for major corporate decisions, completing its financing from D to G, formulating relevant procedures, rules and regulations on employment and contract reviews, leading in IPR-related work, and establishing a thorough IPR management system, all for which he was awarded the 2020 In-house Excellent IP Manager in China by China Intellectual Property. Jia believes the core of corporate legal affairs is integrity and professionalism. One should be the company’s “night watch”, with a firm stand, prudent decision making, modest expression and rational communication to support its secure and steady development. One should also actively learn the business development, industry competition pattern, and political and economic environment, so as to understand operational decisions in a macroscopic way, and keep growing with the company. |
WINNER
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Margarita Yao General Counsel Trina Solar |
| Margarita Yao holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Finance and a JD in Law from the University of Florida in the US, and an MBA degree focused on international commercial law from the University of Southern Queensland in Australia.
Yao came back to China and started her practice with Chiomenti Studio Legale, one of the largest European Law firms. With 18 years of domestic and international legal practice experience, she is now serving as general counsel for Trina Solar Group. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Bi Liyan Director, Legal and Contract Management Department Metallurgical Corporation of China |
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Li Hui Deputy General Manager, Legal Department CHN Energy Coal Trading Company |
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Li Zhiyong General Manager of Legal and Risks Management Department POWERCHINA International Group |
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Tong Liping Chief Legal Officer Shanghai Electric Group |
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Wang Qingyan General Counsel Yunnan Provincial Energy Investment Group |
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Yuan Pengsong General Counsel Yingli Energy (China) |
WINNER
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Jeffrey Wang Vice President and Chief Legal Counsel, Greater China Region PepsiCo |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Viola Pan Head of Ethics and Compliance, CHC Greater China Glaxosmithkline (China) Investment |
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Phoebe Tang VP, General Counsel, Greater China and Oceania Legal, Regulatory and Compliance Danone Group |
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Wong Yong Kai Head of Special Projects, Co-General Counsel CITIC Capital |
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Stella Zhou China Legal Counsel Ferrero Trading (Shanghai) |
WINNER
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Xu Qian General Counsel BGI Genomics |
| Xu Qian, general counsel and secretary of the board of directors at BGI Genomics, is in charge of global legal affair and capital operations, supervising the team to provide effective support for BGI’s business development and strategic decisions.
Being proficient in financing, listing, overseas M&A, securities investment and medical compliance, she has successfully led and drove many significant projects, such as IPOs of BGI Genomics, international acquisitions and litigations. She has made a great contribution to BGI Genomics’ landing in the capital market, and cracking through the entire industry chain of gene sequencing. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Alex Cao Principal Legal Counsel I-Mab |
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Ivon Gan General Manager of Legal Department Shanghai Pharmaceuticals |
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Henry He Board Secretary and Head of Legal CStone Pharmaceuticals |
| He Ning is board secretary and head of legal affairs at CStone Pharmaceuticals. He handles board matters, as well as all corporate-related legal matters in connection with strategic transactions, licensing and clinical collaborations, securities, stock incentives, regulatory compliance and intellectual property.
He advised on a number of remarkable life sciences transactions 2020, including: (1) a multi-spectrum strategic collaboration with, and US$200 million share sale to, Pfizer; (2) a global out-licensing partnership with EQRx for two key immune checkpoint inhibitors; and (3) the global in-license of the potential best-in-class ROR1 antibody drug conjugate from LegoChem Biosciences. Prior to joining CStone Pharmaceuticals, He worked at Cooley and Baker McKenzie as a corporate associate, and his practice focuses on venture capital, emerging companies, life sciences and corporate M&A. He is admitted to practise in the State of Massachusetts (US) and holds PRC legal professional qualifications. |
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Li Shuang Director, Legal and Risk Control EUROIMMUN Medical Diagnostics (China) |
| Li Shuang spent years in domestic and international law firms focused on investment and transactions, before she started her career as an in-house legal counsel. She has worked for Chinese and foreign multinational companies, and has gained rich experience in comprehensive legal issues, corporate legal management, and organisation governance.
Li developed her legal career with her participation in corporate strategy and operation management. She combines the legal professional’s advantages with a profound understanding of business to facilitate the growth of the corporation and the legal team. |
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Aaron Shao Head of Legal, Greater China Abbott |
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Ryan Zhang General Counsel of Greater China Region Ecolab |
WINNER
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Pan Zhuqing Vice General Counsel Director of Legal and Compliance Department CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive |
| Pan Zhuqing graduated from the Economic Law Department of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree. She also studied business administration at Central South University in Changsha, and obtained a Master’s degree. She is currently the vice general counsel of CRRC Zhuzhou Locomotive, head of the legal and compliance department, and senior economist and senior management expert of CRRC.
Pan leads five teams and has been committed to assisting the globalisation of China’s rail transit equipment, and the company’s international development, for many years, making outstanding contributions. In the company’s M&A, legal risk prevention system construction, compliance management, litigation and arbitration, domestic and foreign market projects and other fields, she continues to provide professional and comprehensive legal support and protection for the company and its subsidiaries. In particular, the overseas M&A of Skoda Transportation, Vossloh Locomotive, Tricon and other projects have provided a good opportunity for CRRC ZELC to enter the European high-end market. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Rosita Chen Legal Affairs Vice President Air Liquide (China) |
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Teresa Ki Director, Legal Asia Pacific, Division General Counsel – Dispersions and Pigments BASF East Asia Regional Headquarters |
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Lu Yuping Legal Director TOTO (China) |
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Richard Nie General Counsel, Schaeffler Greater China Schaeffler Holding (China) |
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Tian Jing Vice President – Legal, Asia Pacific Carrier Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration R&D Management (Shanghai) |
| Tian Jing is the vice president of legal at Carrier Commercial HVAC Asia Pacific, with overall responsibility for leading the legal function across the region.
Tian joined United Technology Corporation (UTC) in 2000 as senior legal counsel for Carrier China Operations, and has held various positions in the legal function of UTC and its subsidiaries, with increasing responsibilities, since then. Tian has helped the company set up and/or develop the legal team in China and the Asian region. She has led the legal team in the region, providing strong legal support to company business growth by strengthening corporate governance, participating in company strategic decisions and daily operations, M&A projects, as well as improving the compliance and ethics systems. Tian holds an LLM (Hons) from Northwestern University School of Law in US, a Bachelor’s degree in law and an LLM in international commercial law from Peking University School of Law, and an EMBA from the China Europe International Business School. She has New York State and PRC legal qualifications. |
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Mary Yang Head of Legal Services, Asia COGNEX |
| Mary Yang has tremendous experience in leading and managing legal tasks. Yang joined Cognex in 2013, and built the Cognex Asia legal team from scratch over many years, leading the team to support the company’s rapid growth. Especially in the difficult year that was 2020, the legal team showed great success in responding to new challenges and proving itself as a strong power to assist the company in achieving continual growth.
Yang has worked in the past for reputable law firms and companies, and has solid expertise in M&A, investment, restructuring, among others project areas. She holds an LLB from Wuhan University (1999), an LLM from Fudan University (2002), and an EMBA degree from Washington University in the US state of Missouri (2018). She is qualified as PRC lawyer and her professional articles have been published in leading and influential academic journals. |
WINNER
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Huang Jiahui Weixin General Counsel Tencent |
| Against the ever-changing Internet environment, Huang has led the team to keep pace with the product updates and to provide comprehensive and in-depth legal support to Weixin products, business plans, and innovation projects. Huang fully understands the company’s business needs, supporting product updates and innovation with legal risks controlled.
In particular, Huang combated counterfeit by building a “Wexin Brand Rights Protection Platform”, and used innovative Internet methods to solve the problems of third-party counterfeiting and rights protection on social platforms. Meanwhile, Huang leads the team in sharing legal knowledge related to Weixin IP Protection Conference, Weixin IP Protection Report and Weixin Open Class PRO, and share experiences on Internet platform governance, product compliance and infringement complaints. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Chen Yan General Counsel KE Holdings |
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Helen Gu General Manager of Legal Department SINA Corporation |
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Jia Hongyi VP, Joint Company Secretary and General Counsel Kuaishou Technology |
| Jia Hongyi, vice president, joint company secretary and general counsel of Kuaishou, is in charge of the group’s legal affairs and the business operations of certain subsidiaries.
Jia has rich experience in the internet industry, and the field of e-commerce. He initiated and oversaw many cases in these fields, both in civil and criminal proceedings, including a number of landmark cases such as the case known as the “first case in the short video industry”. Jia is a representative to the Second People’s Congress of Tongren city, Guizhou province. He also serves as a member of the China Advertising Association’s expert advisory committee. |
WINNER
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Jia Hongyi VP, Joint Company Secretary and General Counsel Kuaishou Technology |
| Jia Hongyi, vice president, joint company secretary and general counsel of Kuaishou, is in charge of the group’s legal affairs and the business operations of certain subsidiaries.
Jia has rich experience in the fields of the short video industries, media and entertainment. He led the legal department to overcome various difficulties and successfully achieved the goal of 300 million daily active users in 2019, referred to as the “K3 Campaign” within Kuaishou. Jia is a representative to the Second People’s Congress of Tongren city, Guizhou province. He also serves as a member of the China Advertising Association’s expert advisory committee. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Huang Jiahui Weixin General Counsel Tencent |
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Lai Qiqi Vice President 37 Interactive Entertainment |
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Li Yan Director Shanghai Dong Fang Newspaper |
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Ma Yihan General Counsel, Vice President Perfect World |
| Ma Yihan, general counsel of the Perfect World Group, leads the legal department of the group to provide comprehensive legal support for games, online information, e-sports affairs, professional education, and innovation and incubation business.
In the ever-changing environment of the digital economy, Ma has garnered praise and trust for her work, including for her two in-house legal cornerstone principles: First, “data empowers legal affairs”, which is to improve creativity and the ability to provide high value-added services by using big data analysis and automation tools; and second, “product manager-oriented legal counsel”, which is legal and business teams collaborating closely together in order to jointly complete the development and operation of a product. In addition, in 2020, Ma led the group’s legal department to win several iconic judicial cases that impacted the video game industry in China, and made notable achievements with respect to intellectual property, data compliance, mergers and legal compliance. |
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Pan Cong General Counsel SHAREit Technology |
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Emi Zhao Head of Legal, China and SEA Riot Games |
WINNER
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Liu Jing General Manager, Legal and Compliance Department Ping An Real Estate |
| Liu Jing is General Manager of the Legal and Compliance Department of Ping An Real Estate (PARE), a subsidiary of Ping An Insurance, which is a Fortune Global 500 company as a professional platform of real estate investment and asset management. Liu, who has also worked with R&F Group, China Resources Group and China Merchants Group, has been deeply engaged in the legal affairs of real estate investment for more than 10 years.
With solid professional skills, keen business thinking and excellent leadership, he leads his team to help the company develop in stable and compliant business. His outstanding performances in 2020 include: Providing full process legal support for projects with a target value of more than RMB10 billion (US$1.53 billion); analysing the impact of the pandemic on the leasing businesses of office buildings; and making legal solutions to help well-known office buildings such as Shenzhen Ping An Financial Centre, the world’s tallest office building, boost profit growth despite the economic downturn. |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Valda Chan Group General Counsel Emperor Group |
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Cathy Duan Legal Director Sino-ocean Capital |
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Shang Dongning General Manager of Holding Legal Centre, General Manager of Legal Contract Centre of Real Estate Group Agile Group |
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Zoe Shou Group General Counsel ESR |
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Yang Xiaolan General Manager of Risk Control Department Logan Group Holdings |
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Bill Zhou Chief Risk Officer Fullshare Holdings |
WINNER
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Su Yunpeng President Assistant, General Counsel Tsinghua Tongfang |
HIGHLY COMMENDED
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Jason Jia Director of Compliance Centre BOE Technology Group |
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Liang Junhui IP Director Autel Robotics |
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Winnie Pu Legal Executive Director SenseTime |
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Eric Xie VP, Chief Legal Officer Foxconn Industrial Internet |
| Chenyang Xie has a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) from Pennsylvania State University, and is VP and chief legal officer of Foxconn Industrial Internet.
Xie is an expert member of the ICC Climate Change Dispute Arbitration Task Force, a member of the ICC Arbitration Committee, the Energy and Environment Committee, and a director of the China Securities Law Research Association. Xie is also a part-time researcher at Southwest University of Political Science and Law. Xie has served as the vice chairman of the China Patent Protection Association, a director of the China Trademark Association, the deputy director of the International Investment and Trade Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association, and an arbitrator of the Tianjin Arbitration Commission. Xie is the author of two books: The Legal Regime of Chinese Overseas Investment, and The Belt and Road: Case Studies & Risk Management. |
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Yu Mang General Manager, Department of Legal and Regulatory Affairs China Mobile Communications Group |
| China Mobile Communications Group is the leading telecommunications services provider in mainland China, a world-class telecoms operator with the world’s largest network and customer base, and is in a leading position in profitability and market value ranking.
As the director of such an outstanding legal team, Yu Mang has more than 30 years of legal practice experience, and leads the team in developing policies and long-term strategy, cultivating a firm culture of dedication, teamwork, practical solutions and excellence. Yu has also served as: vice director of the China Law Society’s cyberspace and information law research committee; vice chairman of the Internet Society of China’s internet rule of law working committee; and as a member of the All China Lawyers Association’s in-house lawyer committee. Yu has led the legal team to publish Legal Studies on Internet and Information Law; and Ways of Compliance of Big Data, among other books, by summarising the team’s abundant experience. |
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Winston Zhao Senior Vice President, General Counsel Yangtze Memory Technologies (YMTC) |
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Alex Cao Principal Legal Counsel I-Mab |
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Leo Chen Chief Legal Officer XTC Technology |
| Leo Chen, the chief legal officer of Guangdong XTC Technology, is in charge of in-house legal affairs, intellectual property rights (IPR), and co-ordination of policy projects. With more than 10 years of IPR and in-house practical and administrative experience, he has established the management of IPR and in-house legal structure of the company, completing managing systems, working platforms, auditing standards and reviewing processes.
He was honoured as the 2019 State-Level Advanced Individual in Enterprise IPR Work and Senior Engineer of IC Product Development. The “桂味” trademark case was represented by Chen, and he has been selected in typical trademark cases by the China Trademark Review and Adjudication Board. |
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Cui Zirao Partner, Director of Risk Management and Legal Affairs Suzhou Lanhu Equity Investment Fund Management |
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Guan Rui General Manager of Group Affairs Department New Oriental Education and Technology Group |
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Henry He Board Secretary and Head of Legal CStone Pharmaceuticals |
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Jia Zheng Legal Director Beijing Yuanli Education Science and Technology |
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Liang Junhui IP Director Autel Robotics |
| Liang Junhui has more than nine years of experience in global patent practice, and is skilled in patent prosecution, patent evaluation and patent acquisition. He has rich experience in patent invalidity in the US, Europe and China, and rich experience of US patent litigation in district courts and the International Trade Commission.
Liang achieves strategic advantages in patent disputes against industry giants, and one of our patent invalidity cases was selected as a top 10 Chinese invalidity and re-examination case in 2019. |
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Penny Pan Legal Counsel China HP |
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Peng Lei General Counsel SAIF Partners |
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Yu Shixuan Responsible Officer of Legal and Compliance Division CCB International (China) |
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Sherry Zhang Senior Legal Counsel Qiming Venture Partners |
| Sherry Zhang is senior legal counsel of Qiming Venture Partners. Zhang graduated from Shanghai International Studies University and East China University of Political Science and Law for her Bachelor’s degrees in literature and law. She also graduated from UCL for an LLM for her Master’s degree.
Qiming Venture Partners invests in outstanding companies in the technology, media and telecoms (TMT) and healthcare industries at the early and growing stages. Zhang provides professional legal services in renminbi fund formation, investment and compliance. Before joining Qiming, she worked in Llinks Law Offices. Zhang’s outstanding work has helped facilitate the deal process and made investments more efficient. |
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Bill Zhou Chief Risk Officer Fullshare Holdings |
| Bill Zhou is the assistant to the CEO and the chief risk officer of Fullshare Holdings. He is responsible for the listing compliance, risk management and legal compliance of the company. He handles matters relating to deal structures, negotiations and transaction documents for the major investment transactions and financings of the company.
Zhou has legal profession qualifications of the PRC, and is also a qualified lawyer in the state of New York, US. He has more than 10 years of experience practising as a lawyer, and has extensive experience in corporate law, China-related public and private mergers and acquisitions, and capital market transactions. Before joining the company, he worked as a senior associate at the capital markets group of Baker McKenzie for more than nine years. |
