Shanghai

Arnold & Porter opened its Shanghai office in 1998 and has deep roots in China. We provide on-the-ground legal services to a broad range of U.S. and multinational companies doing business in China and Chinese companies doing business overseas. Whether the matter is transactional, regulatory, or involves a contentious dispute or investigation, we provide clients with practical and sophisticated advice to help them succeed in today's highly competitive global business environment.

Key Practice Areas

Corporate

We advise clients on cross-border M&A transactions involving China, foreign direct investment, strategic alliances and joint ventures, technology transfer and licensing transactions, cybersecurity and data privacy matters, and other legal issues that may arise as our clients operate and expand in China. We serve clients in a wide range of industries, including life sciences, manufacturing, technology, aviation, food and beverage, consumer products, education, hospitality, and real estate.

Disputes

For clients facing litigation or other contentious matters in China, we partner with selected local counsel to provide strategic litigation management, ensuring a close alignment between the client's objectives and the litigation strategy implemented on the ground. For disputes that are subject to an arbitration agreement, we have a leading international arbitration team that represents clients in commercial arbitration proceedings conducted under the rules of all the major arbitral institutions, as well as in ad hoc arbitral proceedings. We also have one of the most active and experienced investor-State arbitration practices in the Asia-Pacific region.

Investigations & Compliance

We help clients minimize the risks associated with their China and Asia operations throughout the business cycle. We conduct investigations, perform compliance due diligence and integration, provide compliance training, and design compliance systems. We have broad experience mitigating risk in diverse areas, including charitable contributions; public tenders; state-owned media; design institutes; and distributors, travel agencies, and other third-party intermediaries. We use data analytics to conduct trend and root cause analysis. Our Shanghai location enables us to avoid issues with cross-border data transfer under PRC regulatory regimes.

Life Sciences Regulatory

We help clients identify the most efficient regulatory pathways and implementation strategies for the China market, including technology transfer, licensing, co-development, and importation versus local manufacturing. We advise on clinical trials, product registration, regulatory data protection, and commercialization efforts, such as advertising and promotion, wholesale and retail distribution, and pricing and reimbursement. We also assist on internal GCP and GMP audits, responding to regulatory inspections, and adverse event reporting and product recalls.