UK Law Gazette Article : "Cracking The China Legal Market"
Here's the introduction to the piece published this past week in the UK Law Gazette
The full article can be read at http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/in-business/cracking-chinese-market
Cracking the Chinese market
Thursday 16 February 2012 by Catherine Bowman
At the UN Security Council, Britain and China publicly disagreed on policy towards Syria. But elsewhere the Year of the Dragon has brought a distinct thaw in Britain and China’s once cool relationship. Chancellor George Osborne returned triumphant from his recent visit to Asia, having secured an agreement that the City of London will become the offshore centre for Renminbi (RMB or yuan) dealing, as soon as the Chinese authorities extend trading of their currency beyond Hong Kong.
This is a deal of huge potential for London’s financial sector, and the associated opportunities for lawyers will be substantial. In return, Osborne promised Chinese business that the UK would become ‘one of the easiest places to invest, to raise capital, to start a business, to expand and to export from’.
Hard on the heels of the yuan deal came the announcement that China Investment Corporation, China’s sovereign wealth fund, had just bought a 9% stake in Thames Water. While eurozone economies continue to flag, ‘communist’ China retains its position as the unlikely saviour of western capitalism. China produces the goods we consume and, in return, consumes the luxury goods we still produce. It buys our currencies, our debt and our companies. It invests in our infrastructure.
Increasing amounts of Chinese money are flowing through the UK, whether from state or privately owned business - and from individuals. China is home to a million millionaires, many of whom send their children to British schools and universities.
London is the preferred nexus for deals in Europe and the US. Wealthy Chinese buy British branded luxury goods - and the companies that produce them - and they snap up high-end residential properties in the capital.
And to stress the underlying strength of the relationship, the UK has became the latest beneficiary of ‘panda diplomacy’. Since early December, Tian Tian and Yang Guang (Sweetie and Sunshine respectively), have been residing in bamboo-strewn splendour at Edinburgh Zoo - the first pandas for 17 years to make their home in these islands. So, in this atmosphere of commercial and zoological entente, across the key areas of corporate, immigration and property law, what are the experiences of solicitors acting for Chinese clients?
In respect of inward investment to the UK alone, there are opportunities to gain significant new work. Nick Rollason, head of business immigration at Kingsley Napley, explains: ‘With private clients, for example, what may be an initial query on a visa question may turn into a much wider question with regard to buying a property in the UK, finding schools for the children and tax planning.’
With China’s impressive economic growth and expanding legal services sector, China is a priority market for the Law Society and its members. There has been an explosion of foreign law firms in China, and law firms of all sizes in the UK are keen to initiate and develop links with the Chinese market. John Wotton, president of the Law Society, is in no doubt about the opportunities for UK lawyers working with Chinese clients: ‘In addition to UK firms establishing in China, we are very pleased that in the last year several Chinese firms have opened offices in London, which only supports our reputation as a centre for global legal services and helps further forge links between UK and Chinese law firms.’
‘Several Chinese firms have opened offices in London, which only supports our reputation as a centre for global legal services and helps further forge links between UK and Chinese law firms’
