Guantao Law Firm

The firm: Guantao Law Firm, founded in 1994, is one of the pioneer law firms in China. Headquartered in Beijing, Guantao has 15 branch offices and has good working relationships with law firms in Hong Kong, Macau and other countries and regions. Guantao has established a strategic alliance with the UK-based international law firm Ashurst LLP. Guantao has received special recognition for its achievements. The firm has been highly ranked in banking and finance, capital markets, corporate/M&A, projects and energy, restructuring/insolvency in China by Chambers Asia for many years. It appeared in list “Top 100 independent firms by number of qualified lawyers” (ranked 23rd by The Lawyer in 2016 in Asia-Pacific) and most recently won the 2016 China Business Law Awards in “Construction & infrastructure”, “Private equity & venture capital”, “Real estate & REIT” and was honored as “Most improved law firm”. Guantao delivers its high-quality legal services to both domestic and international clients in a wide variety of industries. After more than two decades of hard work and dedication, Guantao is now recognised as one of the leading law firms in China.

Areas of practice
Capital markets: one of its core practice areas, it has advised issuers and underwriters for the listings of companies in almost all industries, such as power and steel, finance and financial services, building materials, commercial real estate, chemical and mechanical engineering, pharmaceuticals, bio-engineering, non-ferrous metals, transportation, energy, environmental protection, food, tourism, and hi-tech industries. Guantao also has extensive experience regarding overseas securities regulations, issuance and trading.

Corporate/M&A: another of its core practice areas, it is well regarded in the corporate sector, advising clients on a range of corporate, FDI and M&A issues.

Banking and finance: Guantao provides high-quality legal services to banking and non-banking financial institutions.

Construction/real estate: cited for its extensive experience, advising on landmark deals such as the construction of major national infrastructure facilities, municipal renovation, Beijing financial street, and the 2008 Olympics games facilities.

Insolvency and restructuring: a heavyweight player in this sector, it specialises in insolvency, bankruptcy, liquidation, restructuring and reorganisation work for securities companies and other industry players.

Energy and natural resources: this practice at Guantao has won an enviable reputation in recent years for its work in development, financing and secondary and tertiary sales and acquisitions.

Dispute resolution: with rich experience in litigation, arbitration and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR), it has successfully represented many leading companies of different industries and government departments in both domestic and international litigation and arbitration proceedings, and has gained a nationwide reputation.

International trade/WTO: headed by a recognised leading lawyer with practice experience in the UK, US, the EU and other countries and regions, especially on anti-dumping issues under the WTO framework.

Private equity/venture capital: Guantao offers a comprehensive service, providing financing, tax and funds advice across all types of private equity/venture capital transactions.

Intellectual property/TMT: regarded as its firmly established practice and research area, it has successfully represented clients on a number of cases in matters including patent, trade marks, copyright, trade secret, proprietary technology, integrated circuit, computer software, database protection, new plant types, and so on.

International investment: Guantao provides expert legal services in both in-bound and out-bound investment. The firm is active in advising international banks, multinationals, underwriters, listed companies on cross-border corporate deals, M&A, equity finance, debt finance and mineral resources law.