About

The Hong Kong-based legal team of eBay supports a diverse range of work covering not only the country of Hong Kong, but also greater China and throughout the wider Asia Pacific region. It has recently worked with external counsel on a very innovative joint-venture project that will allow eBay to intermediate shipping for sellers in China. The project involves a number of elements including a Hong Kong-incorporated joint-venture vehicle with operating subsidiaries in China together with numerous commercial
arrangements with operators in China. The intermediated shipping solution supported by the joint venture will mean fully-tracked shipping with a eduction of delivery times from more than 20 days to five to nine days for cities in eBay’s major export markets. All of this has been put together to make for a better experience on eBay for both sellers and buyers. eBay’s legal team in Hong Kong is led by head of legal for Asia Pacific, Stephen Man and he is supported by the well-respected King Dee who drove principle negotiations and document drafting as well as senior legal counsel Dave Fan. A private practice nominator identified that they found the eBay team ‘to be one of our most focused and efficient clients, being extremely commercially-minded and solutions oriented in bringing the legal documentation to a close’. The nominator adds that, ‘this was especially notable during negotiations of certain terms with the joint venture partner when sensitivities were managed through the use of “soft skills” and experience to get to the right result for the company’. According to the same nominator, in June 2018 there were approximately 20,000 parcels delivered per day through the joint venture, with a target to hit ten times this figure by the end of the year. This will have a huge impact on the eBay business going forward and as the nominator said, ‘the legal team was absolutely critical in getting this implemented. We find their blend of business savvy, negotiation skills and pure legal acumen to among the best we’ve worked with and it is a pleasure to continue our relationship with them’.