About this office:
Allens Arthur Robinson has one of the largest and most experienced China teams of any Australian law firm. Allens became officially licensed by the Ministry of Justice in 1996 as one of the earliest international law firms to operate. The Shanghai office is an integral part of our Greater China practice and works closely with our offices in Beijing and Hong Kong.
We advise our clients on all forms of foreign investment in the PRC including: legal and strategic issues in negotiating joint ventures; practical approaches to dealing with the regulatory environment; investment, foreign exchange controls and repatriation of income and profits from China; and management of governance, environmental and other country-specific risks.
Our expertise and experience in foreign investment, general corporate and regulatory work in Beijing and Shanghai, have seen us consistently ranked as a leading foreign law firm within the PRC by independent surveys.
We count among our clients several major Chinese companies looking to invest in Australia and other international markets.
Recent projects include:
- advising ANZ Bank on its proposed acquisition of a stake in Shanghai Country Commercial Bank Ltd., formerly Shanghai Rural Credit Co-operative Union, the largest financial services co-operative in the PRC. This transaction is currently pending PRC regulatory approval. We also advised ANZ on its US$120 million subscription for a 20 per cent stake in Tianjin City Commercial Bank, China's fourth largest city commercial bank by assets;
- being lead legal adviser in China to Insurance Australia Group in relation to its proposed acquisition of an interest in China Pacific Property Insurance Co;
- having advised Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec in connection with its bid, as part of the Société Générale consortium, to acquire an interest in Guangdong Development Bank, one of the largest commercial lenders in Southern China;
advising Foster's Group on the sale of its Shanghai brewing business and local Chinese beer brands;
- advising South China Resources PLC on a joint venture in China for exploration and development of mineral resources;
- advising Lion Nathan on the sale of its China operations to China Resources Breweries for US$154 million;
- advising Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi on the introduction of a new domestic/international multi-currency trade receivable finance product and a new multi-entity RMB funds pooling and cash management product;
- advising Zuellig & Woo - the large European pharmaceutical distributor - on a ground-breaking JV in China, the first foreign-invested pharmaceutical distribution project allowed by the Chinese authorities;
acting for Brambles Industries Limited on projects in Beijing, Xian and Cheng Du that involved gaining control of the management of land fill sites, managing the gas emissions and converting the gas emissions to electricity for interconnection to the local mains electricity power supply; and
advising BlueScope Steel (then BHP Steel) China on the establishment of plants, and the restructuring of assets, and giving continuing advice on maximizing returns on investments through corporate reorganization and reinvestment.