President Obama is not the only one to have focused recently on an anticipated flood of China-US deals. 

Winston & Strawn has launched two separate offices in Beijing and Shanghai, after opening an office in Hong Kong late last year and acquiring the China assets from the dissolved Heller Ehrman. “China clearly plays an important role and we are excited about the opportunity to provide more comprehensive service to our clients in China,” said Thomas Fitzgerald, Winston & Strawn’s managing partner.

The launch of the new offices also aims to bolster Winston & Strawn’s international trade practice across the full range of trade remedy cases, including anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard proceedings.

The firm’s Beijing and Shanghai offices are currently led by Ge Xiangyang, who recently joined from Baker & McKenzie where he was a partner. At Winston & Strawn, he will continue to assist large Chinese companies seeking opportunities overseas, with a focus on cross-border M&A transactions, specifically in the natural resources industry. He has worked on numerous high-profile transactions including the IPOs of PetroChina Company and Chalco, the West-East Pipeline Project and PetroChina’s US$2.5bn acquisition of oil and gas assets.

There are currently five partners working across the firm's offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai.

Increases in Chinese outbound M&A over the past 12 months have triggered keen interest from many US law firms. They are collectively reporting an increasing clientele of Chinese businesses seeking legal advice about listing, acquiring, trading, distributing or settling disputes in the west.

   US firms opening China offices - July 08 – November 09

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