Jingtian & Gongcheng

Defeated a US$500 million claim against a Chinese state entity

NEW IN 2021

Jingtian & Gongcheng was one of the first private law firms founded in China when it opened in the early 1990s. Its arbitration practice was set up around that time and is led by Beijing-based partners Dong Chungang and Lei Wu.

The practice focuses on commercial arbitration and has had a succession of instructions arising from large energy and infrastructure projects in China. This niche seems set to expand after it was appointed to sit on a panel of firms advising China on its trillion-dollar “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan.

The firm also acts for both domestic and foreign companies in post-M&A, private equity, real estate, banking and intellectual property disputes linked to China.

Chungang, who sits in CIETAC and Beijing arbitration commission cases, and Shenzhen partner Sanqiao Xu act as arbitrators alongside their practice. Another name to know is Beijing-based partner Hu Ke, who sits on the International Bar Association’s under-40 subcommittee.

Gary Yin headed up the Hong Kong disputes team before leaving the firm in 2021. 

Network

Headquartered in Beijing, Jingtian & Gongcheng also has offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Chengdu, Tianjin, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Sanya and Hong Kong.

Who uses it?

The firm regularly acts for state-owned conglomerates China Resources, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and China P&T Appliances, and has also represented China CITIC Bank, Beijing Phoenix United Hospital Management Consulting and the Guangdong Puxiang Automotive Board.

Notable international clients of the firm are ratings agency Standard & Poor’s, 3M China, Japan-US joint venture Fuji Xerox, French industrial gas company Air Liquide and United Nations Global Compact, which promotes sustainable and socially responsible commerce.

Track record

In 2018, Jingtian & Gongcheng was one of 15 Chinese law firms appointed by the country’s Ministry of Commerce to a panel to advise on international investment law and the structuring of Chinese investments abroad, including its “Belt and Road” infrastructure plan.

The firm regularly acts in CIETAC arbitrations, including winning a trademark licensing dispute over a billion-dollar beverage business.

It has also acted in CIETAC cases over the Jinan-Qingdao highway development and concession in north-west China; and won US$50 million for a Hong Kong investor in a dispute with local government over the Qianjiang bridge near the border with Vietnam.

The firm acted in the first construction dispute under the rules of FIDIC, an international engineering body, in China. The SCC arbitration concerned the Yellow River Xiaolangdi hydroelectric dam project in eastern China.

Recent events

Jingtian & Gongcheng, acting as co-counsel with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, helped China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) defeat a US$500 million claim over the Lishui gas field in the East China Sea. The claimant, Toronto-listed Primeline Energy Holdings, was also required to pay US$30 million and has since entered insolvency. The firm says this was the first international arbitration arising out of Sino-foreign offshore gas exploration and development contract in China.

Gary Yin left his role as head of the Hong Kong investigations and disputes practice to join the partnership at Simmons & Simmons in the special administrative region, bringing with him three former Jingtian associates.

Three-partner team Zhao Shuzhou, Hu Jian and Zhou Kaiguo, who advise on disputes in the shipping, trade, insurance and construction sectors, joined the practice in 2020 from Guangzhou-based firm Wang Jing & Co.