Stephenson Harwood has entered into an official association with Guangzhou-based law firm Wei Tu, granting the London-headquartered firm access to the legal market of southern Guangdong. 

The alliance, which will be known as “Stephenson Harwood-Wei Tu (China) Association”, was formalised this year under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), a free trade agreement that allows Hong Kong law firms to operate in association with mainland Chinese firms and provide legal service in China under Chinese and non-Chinese laws. 

This move comes after Stephenson Harewood shuttered its Guangzhou office in 2014 and chose to work closely with Wei Tu instead. Wei Tu was founded in 2014 by Lu Xianming, a former lawyer at Stephenson Harwood. 

“There is a significant amount of demand from South China,” Lu told ALB in an interview. “Our alliance would provide a one-stop service to domestic clients investing overseas and foreign clients seeking to invest inbound.” He also said the association will focus on several practice areas including corporate, banking and financing, and cross-border litigations." 

Stephenson Harwood has been actively expanding its presence in Asia, where it has five offices. Earlier this year, the firm hired seven lawyers from Eversheds and a litigation partner from Watson Farley & Williams for its Hong Kong office. 

“Internationally, we would like to see the Asia offices contribute more to our revenues. We have made several hires, and we have a couple of more in the pipeline,” said Voon Keat Lai, Stephenson Harwood’s managing partner, in an interview with ALB.