As many of you are aware when doing business with Chinese investors you will need to come to terms with "Guanxi" – meaning relationships or connections outside the family. This is the core of Chinese society and culture. It is important for the Chinese to get to know the person with whom they wish to conduct business before business is conducted.

I have been working with Chinese clients for several years and have acted for numerous Chinese clients ranging from individual private clients, financial institutions, corporate clients and developers. Being one of the few Chinese nationals qualified as a UK property lawyer, my background, language skills and understanding of the culture allow me to successfully establish excellent guanxi with my clients. We work closely with our Asian offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong to provide our clients with greater accessibility and ease communication due to time difference. We are committed to providing a full service to our clients to ensure their outbound investment in the UK goes as smoothly as possible.

Reed Smith has a broad range of experience working with Chinese clients over the years which covers all aspects of real estate transactions including:

  • assisting with finding target acquisitions;
  • working on large scale development projects;
  • dealing with related financing;
  • dealing with acquisitions and disposals;
  • dealing with assets management; and
  • advising on litigation and disputes.

We are a full service law firm offering advice on all areas of law relating to our client's investment in the UK and also globally through our international network of offices. We are experienced in managing and bridging the cultural difference with our counterparties and our clients. Our lawyers are able to communicate in Mandarin and Cantonese and explain any English law concepts and draw comparisons with Chinese local laws, where necessary, as well as professional interpreters to translate complex legal documents.

Examples of our work include:

  • Acting for one of the largest Chinese developers for its development project in London. The project involves a high profile mixed use development including almost 500 residential apartments, commercial units and a hotel;
  • Acting for a joint venture company, a Chinese developer and a French property company, on a large scale redevelopment project worth €3.1 billion;
  • Acting for a Hong Kong listed company for its acquisition of a chain of hotels in the UK; and
  • Acting for a Hong Kong company to acquire a high value property asset in the heart of London at Fitzrovia.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.