Having worked in the Ministry of Commerce's department of treaty and law for six years and then King & Wood's antitrust and competition group for two years, Jiang Liyong takes another step up in his career by joining Gaopeng & Partners as a partner.

Based in Gaopeng's Beijing head office, Jiang will work alongside partners Sun Ying and Li Yong to grow the firm's corporate compliance, antitrust and competition practices. Jiang said that Gaopeng's partnership offer, growth momentum and strong market prospects of its compliance, antitrust and competition practices are the main reasons for his move.

"Two years after the Anti-Monopoly Law became effective, the demand for antitrust-related legal services has started to pick up; merger filings in particular have been a strong growth area," said Jiang. "As more enforcement actions have been taken, we expect companies to need more legal support for antitrust compliance and litigation."

Gaopeng, ranked fifth in the 2010 ALB Fast 10, continues to expand its practice both in terms of lawyer headcount and national network. A month before Jiang's appointment, the firm hired real estate partner Wu Xiaomei from Jianwei's Beijing office, where she served as head of the office. In the same month, the firm signed a merger agreement with Nanjing's Juhuan law firm to further strength its presence in the Yangtze River Delta region, where Gaopeng has four offices - Hangzhou, Nanjing, Yangzhou and Taizhou. ALB