Press Release

On January 5, 2023, China Business Law Journal published The A-List 2022. The 270 elite lawyers named to the A-List comprise 150 PRC firm practitioners and 120 lawyers from foreign firms who are committed to China-related businesses. They have been widely recognized as authoritative for their outstanding performance in China-related practice, and have impressed their clients with unique legal expertise. Han Kun partners Charles Li, Weiheng Jia, Denning Xu, and Zhihan Zhao were selected for their excellence and contributions.

Charles Li
Mr. Li specialises in public and private financings (equity and debt), mergers and acquisitions, incorporation and corporate restructuring, foreign direct investment, and intellectual property protection. Mr. Li is knowledgeable about PRC industry policies, corporate structure, capital operation, financial planning, and investment and project management. Mr. Li has represented many Chinese and international companies on a wide variety of cross-border transactions in different industries such as telecommunications, internet, information technology, energy, clean technology, consumer goods, healthcare, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals.

Mr. Li is consistently recognised as a leading authority in China for venture capital and private equity, mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, TMT, and healthcare by leading global legal directories such as Chambers and Partners, The Legal 500, IFLR1000, Asian Legal Business, Asialaw Profiles, and China Law and Practice.

Weiheng Jia
Mr. Jia is licensed to practice law in China, New York State, and before the US federal courts. In his over 20 years of practice, Mr. Jia has focused on cross-border M&A, regulatory compliance, as well as labour and employment. He is one of the few lawyers in China who can truly practice law in Chinese, Japanese, and English languages.

Mr. Jia has represented clients on numerous deals involving M&A, formation and dissolution of joint ventures, and disposal of assets, of which more than half involved PRC SOEs.

Mr. Jia is one of the few Independent Compliance Monitors in China recognized by the multilateral development banks. He has assisted many large and mid-sized Chinese companies to meet the compliance criteria of multilateral development banks and successfully had them released from multilateral bank sanctions.

In labour and employment law practice, Mr. Jia is particularly known for his experience in mass layoffs by leading a number of high-profile redundancy cases, some involving thousands of employees.

Denning Xu
Mr. Xu's areas of expertise cover financial compliance, asset management and SOEs, including the establishment of financial institutions and the issuance of financial products, utilisation of insurance funds, establishment of insurance asset management products, establishment and operation of private equity funds, institutionalised financing, ABS, issuances of bonds and DFI, etc. Mr. Xu also has over 20 years of experience in the area of state-owned assets and SOEs and takes the lead in the industry in the compliance of state-owned financial institutions, establishment and operation of state-owned funds and foreign financial business. Mr. Xu has been awarded as Leading Lawyer in the Practice Area of Securitisation & Derivatives by Legalband for six consecutive years since 2015; and Top 15 Insurance Versatile Practitioners of Legalband 2022. Mr. Xu currently serves as a member of the Expert Panel of the Insurance Asset Management Association of China, vice president of State-owned Assets and Enterprises Committee of the Shanghai Bar Association, and master's program instructor at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics and Shanghai University of Political Science and Law.

Zhihan Zhao
Ms. Zhao specialises in commercial dispute resolution concerning financial asset management, securities compliance and litigation, debt restructuring and bankruptcy, corporate issues, contracts, and others. Ms. Zhao provides general legal services to prestigious financial institutions and has handled more than 100 cases of compliance consultation, potential dispute resolution, litigation, arbitration and enforcement regarding wealth management, trusts, funds, asset management plans, asset securitisation products, and futures and derivatives with the subject amount exceeding RMB30 billion. Ms. Zhao is also much experienced in securities compliance and litigation. Skilled in handling major and complex disputes, Ms. Zhao provides her clients with comprehensive dispute resolution solutions. Based on her professional experience, Ms. Zhao has published the 2020 Blue Book of Business Trust Disputes (Han Kun) and 2022 Blue Book on Financial Asset Management Dispute Resolution (Han Kun).

The A-List lawyers were selected by China Business Law Journal through its annual research based on thousands of recommendations from in-house counsel, business leaders, and lawyers.