Skip to main content

news

2021 年,中国房地产市场全年规模仍保持较高水平,2022 年,该市场将继续位于调整区间。近期哪些监管、政策变化对中国房地产企业产生了较大影响?总法如何带领团队支持地产企业在变化环境中展开业务?伴随地产企业纷纷思考优化经营模式,甚至开辟新业务条线,总法又如何参与决策,并带领团队提供支持?

 

ALB:过去一年哪些监管、政策变化给您所在房地产企业带来较大影响?您如何带领法务团队应对上述变化?

武世军,阿那亚控股集团有限公司法务总监:随着中国法治环境的日臻完善以及多层面多维度监管的需要,加之受到头部房企的违约事件频发的影响,过去一年针对房地产企业的法规政策的变化日趋频繁,因此在业务储备、企业融资、行为规范等方面对房地产企业都带来了巨大挑战,同时也对企业法务持续学习、应对变化的能力方面提出了更高要求。我们企业法务团队应当及时学习这些规范和政策,开展内部专门学习培训,保持对新法新规的知识更新。更重要的是,法务团队应当思考这些新规背后的立意,只有企业法务能正向认识和理解、在更高层面上认知这些新规和政策,才能从积极角度为企业的行为做出政策解读、合规提示和提供法律意见。

黄逸宇,万科企业股份有限公司总法律顾问:在经历行业调整后,房地产行业将回归常态、理性,过高、过低的利润率都不可持续,行业收益水平最终会向社会平均水平回归,而在整个行业回归理性及常态的过程中,我们关注到,有利于市场稳定的政策措施在不断出台。

万科开发业务的法务同事分为北京、上海、东北、西北、西南、南方、华中七个大区,加上经营服务类业务的业务(包括物业,物流,印力等)法务团队有240多人,各地区法务人员都在持续追踪相关政策出台、解读新政策对业务的影响,助力业务的稳健发展。

ALB:疫情仍在不同地区呈不同规模的爆发,并对企业运营带来断续影响。法务团队如何帮助企业应对这样的“运营新常态”?

武世军,阿那亚:面对疫情仍在不同地区呈不同规模爆发的客观情况,首先,需要稳定心态,做好政治站位,维护好企业形象、控制舆情,应当顺势而为、不可逆势而上,我认为这是面对艰难情况和突发变化应有的心态,也是企业法务帮助企业处理问题需要的心理素质。其次,外界的变化,更需要内部法务向企业提供更稳定、更及时、更有质量保障的服务,在疫情出现的时候,才能帮助企业更平稳度过。最后,企业法务需要更坚持实用主义思维,不能本本主义,要在真实的商业场景和环境下,提供更接地气的解决方案和建议,为企业解决真问题。

相比起以往的法务工作而言,达到以上要求的根本所在,是对法务的学习能力、应变能力和适应能力方面提出了更高的要求,在熟悉行业和业务实操的基础上,利用扎实的专业知识和综合软实力,灵活应对环境的变化和无常。

徐蔚骅,仲量联行北亚区法律总顾问:在疫情大环境下,无论我们所服务的、以房地产开发企业为代表的客户,或是仲量联行这样的房地产专业服务机构,都面临着适应问题。作为内部支持团队,法律部也在这样的“新常态”下支持业务部门发展,具体工作可以分为以下几方面:

首先,许多大型企业都有内部的“业务持续计划”(Business Continuity Plan,BCP),自2020年疫情后,从短期、中期、长期的视角出发,进行BCP的审核和更新成了法律部的日常工作之一。不同城市爆发疫情的时间和情况不同,疫情防控要求也不同,如何在统一的BCP项下满足各个地区的要求?就需要在程序上保留一定的灵活性,以保障业务顺利运转。例如2022年初香港疫情比较严峻的时候,我们在BCP中纳入了AB班轮岗制度,确保部分同事能够持续到岗;6月1日上海复工复产后,我们又进一步细化了计划,补充了第一阶段25%人员到岗、第二阶段50%人员到岗等更为具体的制度。

其次,在内部运营层面,法律部从细节上考虑可能遇到的问题,帮助业务部门做好了备案。这里我给大家举几个例子,第一,我们向相关政府部门申请了三套营业执照原件,分别放在不同城市的办公室,未雨绸缪以备不时之需。这次上海管控期间,业务团队正是从成都办公室拿到一套原件,参与投标从而没有错失业务机会。

第二,新常态下我们也尝试运用新技术工具,例如电子签的引入,我们也恰好在这次上海管控前完成了电子签布局。

第三,为了保障内部沟通高效顺畅,法律部和技术研发部一起开发了legal data dashboard(法律数据控制表),业务部门只要登陆系统,就可以自行远程查询近期部门合同签署数量、内容,并可以把所签合同和收入预估系统联系在一起评估,以提高预估的准确性。

最后,在外部运营上,法律部也协助业务部门一同探索新服务方式,并接受新挑战。仲量联行为客户提供物业管理服务,这在疫情期间有了很多新要求,例如对访客进行测温、对复工复产提供支持等,这类增值服务都需要法律部提前确保合规。此外,由于疫情的原因,我们也接到客户关于办公楼租赁的租约调整、租金减免等政策问题的咨询。于是法律部牵头与外部律所展开合作,联合向客户发布相关法律分析及政策更新,在确保全面合规的情况下,为客户提供了良好的服务体验。

黄逸宇,万科:不仅仅是房地产,疫情对各行各业都造成一定影响,也是我们都需要去积极面对以及克服。我们也留意到,在疫情逐渐稳定后,市场在逐步回归常态。

在疫情期间,从法务角度,我们的工作重点有几个。首先是风险管控,尤其面对上下游合作机构,法务部需要及时援引不可抗力条款,或援引情势变更条款对合同重要内容进行磋商。沟通过程中,法务部要做好留痕,比如发函提出项目进度受到疫情管控措施影响时,需要同时存档街道、居委会或区域的相关红头文件,以这些文件作为迟延交付、无法按期回款等事项的原因,为未来可能面临的诉讼做好准备。

“防火”之外,我们还有不少积极措施,比如公司在疫情期间通过直播方式卖车位、卖商铺,获得了挺好的效果,可能因为通过这种方式在管控期间感受到了一股自由的空气。但直播形式对签署文件、讲解合同要求比较高,同时要采取线上签约成交。为此我们专门就电子签名的实时性问题和相关领域专家进行了沟通,在签字同时进行录屏,确保时间戳和个人签署的笔迹是吻合的,以避免未来的纠纷。

ALB:过去几年房地产企业及房地产专业服务业相关企业纷纷尝试拓展新业务条线,您所带领的团队支持了怎样的业务创新?其中对法务团队有何挑战?

武世军,阿那亚:事实上房地产企业的服务线很长,从地块规划定位,到房产建设开发,到物业管理,到运营服务,这条线很长,需要借助房地产企业专业的技术、高超的管理水平和负责任的态度加以实现,这远不是仅用传统方式就能做到的。

news“我所服务的企业本就是拓展性业务的践行者,法务人员的构成需要更加综合的素质,保证整个团队在宽度和深度上都可以覆盖到公司的发展和业务的需求。”

武世军,阿那亚

我所服务的企业本就是拓展性业务的践行者,更需要法务团队跟随公司战略,作出相应法务工作方面的实战规划,对整个团队来说法务人员的构成需要更加综合的素质,保证整个团队在宽度和深度上都可以覆盖到公司的发展和业务的需求。

徐蔚骅,仲量联行:随着不断变化的市场环境,企业需要保持前瞻的创新思维,以实现长远的可持续发展——这就需要法律部不能只着眼于眼前的工作,还要留出时间,思考业务部门的真正需求。法律部需要第一时间洞察行业发展趋势,并提前思考、研究其中涉及的法律问题,给公司的业务发展提供及时、全面、专业的支持。

具体项目层面,近几年数据创新是仲量联行致力发展的领域,法律部也支持了多个项目。包括评估咨询部推出的Harvest臻量,它是仲量联行自主研发的中国首个房地产全业态数字化资管SaaS平台,旨在打造集数据采集、分析、研究功能于一体的房地产信息生态系统。臻量上线过程中,法律部一直和评估咨询部门保持沟通,我们支持了臻量上市的商标和软件登记、数据合规等问题。尤其数据合规,包括数据的收集、匿化、如何在合规展现和保持数据可用性之间掌握平衡等,都需要业务部门和法律部的全盘合作。

news“法律部需要第一时间洞察行业发展趋势,并提前思考、研究其中涉及的法律问题,给公司的业务发展提供及时、全面、专业的支持。”

徐蔚骅,仲量联行

过去几年,法律部还支持研究部上线“睿见数据”(该系统面向企业租户、研究机构、房地产投资者等,覆盖超过200多个城市的办公楼市场信息数据产品)及睿见数据定制版(针对业主、开发商、投资者及运营商量身打造的一站式中国办公楼数据分析平台),支持商业地产租赁部门升级“地产搭档”2.0 (一款专注于办公租赁领域的移动端服务程序。通过数据采集和整合,为用户提供一站式信息服务平台,可自定义生成多个项目的差异化对比报告,帮助客户做出合宜的商业决策)等,涉及商标、软件登记,数据合规等多项法律领域。这些都需要法律部门不断学习,主动研究,提供与之匹配的科技法律服务,甚至做到“领先一步”判断业务部门的需求,提前做好相关法律领域的学习和研究。

黄逸宇,万科:这方面有挺多实例可以分享。首先,万科现在增长很快的一个板块是万物云(物业)。万物云的经营模式和其他传统房地产企业分拆出来的物业公司不太一样,万物云管理的项目中有70%左右是其他地产企业的住宅楼盘,这就意味着法务要参与和其他开发商谈判物业管理协议。此外万物云还有一个很大商业物业板块:万物梁行,这是万科物业和戴德梁行合资成立的子公司,目前在国内商业物业中排名第一,管理着中国一半左右超200米以上的高层写字楼。

其次,在地产科技领域,我们在和粤港澳大湾区数字经济研究院(IDEA)合作开发CAD(computer-aided design)和CAE(computer-aided engineering)领域软件,希望在国产设计辅助软件领域有所突破,缓解卡脖子的问题,其中涉及知识产权的问题,法务团队也参与之中。

第三,去年万科法务团队还参与到了几项比较大的交易之中,涉及公司的物流业务板块。万科的物流业务(万纬物流)分为高标仓和冷链两个业务板块,2021年法务团队协助万纬物流引入了GIC和淡马锡两大战略投资者。这些谈判过程比较艰难,包括对特殊权利的争取、对于董事会的安排等,都有法务部的牵头参与。

在主导交易外,法务团队在这些新业务条线的开拓过程中,对内也扮演着重要角色:第一是对风险的提示和预判;第二是和集团及管理层做好沟通,帮助公司厘清开设新业务、引进战略投资者对于万科整体多元化经营的价值。引入投资并不只为了提升估值,也需要借助对方的国际化和管理经验,讲好自己的资本故事,而这些最终都需要体现在投资条款或交易文件上。

ALB:在当下的市场及监管背景下,企业需要总法律顾问及法务团队具备怎样的能力?与之相对,您又希望外部律师具备怎样的新能力?

武世军,阿那亚:在当下的市场及监管背景下,我认为总法律顾问需要具备宏观把控、微观入局的能力,于大局处思考,认真讨论具体问题。法务团队应当具备设计师思维,也就是在因地制宜基础上,用法律思维和方法设计可行性方案,解决企业的实际问题。这样的设计师思维,需要法务团队秉持开放心态、不断拓宽自己的视野,具备持续学习、学以致用的能力。

同时,我们希望外部律师也是抱有同样的共识,能打破经验主义、打破条条框框,具备能站在客户角度想问题、解决真问题的能力。

徐蔚骅,仲量联行:实际上伴随市场环境的变化,企业对于总法律顾问和法律部的能力要求一直在与时俱进。

在科技和数据主导的时代,总法首先要具备很高的商业敏感度,及时洞察行业以及业务部门发展方向,甚至在新业务孕育初期就参与进来,把握其中可能出现的法律问题,和业务部门共同探索产品发展的可行性。

第二,总法和法律部要“胆大心细”,业务部门在决策过程中,很多时候需要法律部给出“是”或者“否”的答案,但很多并非是简单的是与否的问题,需要法律部展现自身担当。举个例子,疫情期间仲量联行的物业管理部门遇到了平时传统物业管理中从未遇到的问题——我们管理的一个办公大楼临时改建为方舱医院,业主方要求我们提供相关物业管理服务。在大家都没有经验的前提下,业务部门和法律部接受挑战,细致分析理清所需的相关服务结合JLL的业务能力,很好地在“大上海保卫战”中出色完成了方舱的相关辅助工作。

谈到对外部律师进行管理,这是总法日常工作中重要的组成部分。我常和同事举一个例子:公司的律师库就像女孩子的化妆包——很少由同一个品牌的化妆品组成,而需要根据肤质,选择最合适自己的产品解决方案。我们对外部律师的管理也如此,希望他们能够多元化,通过不同层级、不同优势专业领域的组合,寻找最匹配公司需求的解决方案。

此外,我们也在思考什么是更有效的法律服务方式。当某类法律服务需求数量过于庞大时——例如大量诉讼,和外部律师展开一对一沟通相对低效。我们已经接触到一些法律科技公司,他们可以通过线上控制表,帮助公司对成百甚至数千个案子实现管理,法律部能够通过系统及时跟进每一个案子的立案、调解、审判、执行情况。

黄逸宇,万科:万科的法务团队涵盖很多元化的领域,除了地产开发,还有酒店度假、作为商业板块的印力,以及长租公寓(泊寓)板块,因此法务团队之间的差异比较大。总法律顾问的角色更多是管理团队做好知识储备,并做好准备开拓新业务。总法律顾问和法务团队碰到的很多问题都是新的,例如碰到疫情,我们必须自己去和上下游沟通;比如说物流和泊寓,我们正在考虑开展REITs,而市场上物流园区和保障性租赁住房REITs经验的律所数量不多,需要法务团队配合业务团队研究法规政策等等。在万科做法务需要做多面手,研究新领域的。中国企业越来越重视总法律顾问的角色,总法也更多参与到了投融资会议等高层决策场景之中。总法应该借此去积极影响公司管理层的思维。

数据合规也是万科法务部比较关注的问题。数据合规和我们的业务有密切关系:《个人信息保护法》的生效,包括深圳还有自己的《深圳经济特区数据条例》,上述新规涉及到很多应用场景,例如商业运营、小区物业服务,需要确保合法合规。

未来我们希望能够在我们业务体系里实现数据打通,例如我们拥有中国数量最多的室外滑雪场,我们希望把度假村数据和酒店板块以及商业板块数据打通,共享一个会员系统,这就需要对数据合规问题展开持续研究。

关于对外部律师的期待,在非诉领域我们特别看重两点:第一是反应度,因为万科总部法务团队所需要解决的问题要么相对重大,要么和监管有关,希望能够得到律所即时性的服务;第二,万科的业务遍布全国,且业务板块复杂,我们在和外部律师合作时,希望能够尽量减小沟通上的差异,以及律师事务所的不同团队所带来的不稳定因素。

如果把第一个要求理解为“定制化”,第二个要求就是“标准化”。

ALB:未来12个月您带领团队将有哪些工作重点,以顺应房地产行业/商业房地产行业发展的新趋势?

武世军,阿那亚:我认为未来一年依然充满了风险与挑战,我和我的法务团队仍然以成为一名懂业务、帮业务、与业务一同进化的法律人为宗旨,在房地产细分领域继续深耕,将持续关注企业各层面合规的问题,为企业创新和开拓提供安全保障,我相信公司法务在房地产企业中可以发挥作用的空间将更大。

徐蔚骅,仲量联行:仲量联行将会继续立足传统业务并进一步开拓转型,寻找新的合作伙伴。在此过程中,法律部将协助业务部门甄选合作伙伴,设立新的模式。

早前,仲量联行在全球范围内建立全新的团队与业务"JLL Spark",(负责开发和提供新技术驱动的房地产服务;通过开发和收购各种应用、程序及服务,建立起分析、管理和交易三大类房地产科技产品体系。)旨在通过领先科技来推动房地产行业变革。未来,我们将持续关注房地产科技的发展并在中国市场孵化和培养房地产科技企业,为整个行业带来耳目一新的变化。法律部都将在这些新产品的研发、推广过程中扮演强有力的支持角色。

黄逸宇,万科:房地产行业从短期来看市场已经触底,但是恢复是一个缓慢和温和的过程。法务部最关注的,还是在未来的半年到一年内,利用一些政府,金融机构出台好的政策,去做一些实实在在的项目,比如物流板块的REITs;同时在海外,我们一直没有停止和国际基金合作,万科和淡马锡会成立绿色建筑基金,配合政府的双碳政策。

news“法务团队将利用好的周期、好的政策条件,配合业务团队做出一些好的项目,通过一些成功的合作给市场注入信心,也给投资者带来信心。”

黄逸宇,万科

万科的事业使命是为最广大的利益相关方、创造更长远的真实价值。法务团队将利用好的周期、好的政策条件,配合业务团队做出一些好的项目,通过一些成功的合作给市场注入信心,也给投资者带来信心,让他们看到万科在不断创新、不断开拓新业务,努力成为伟大新时代的好企业。

 

 

 

GC ROUNDTABLE: REAL ESTATE

China's real estate market maintained a relatively high volume of transactions throughout 2021. In 2022 however, it is seen some regulatory changes, requiring general counsel to find ways to better support real estate companies in doing business amid a changing environment. Additionally, with these companies thinking about optimizing their business models and even venturing into new business lines, the role of GCs will expand even further.

ALB: What regulatory and policy changes have had the greatest impact on your organization in the past year? How have you and your team helped the business navigate these changes?

Wu Shijun, Legal Director, Aranya Real Estate Development: The continuous improvement in China's rule of law, the rising need for multi-level and multi-dimensional regulation, and the frequent occurrence of breaches of contracts by leading real estate developers have seen more frequent changes in the regulations and policies targeting real estate companies in the past year, which has posed great challenges to these companies in terms of business pipeline, corporate financing and code of conduct. At the same time, it has also further raised the bar for the ability of in-house counsel to continue to learn and respond to changes. More importantly, in-house teams should think about the considerations behind these new regulations so as to provide legal advice for enterprises from a positive perspective.

Sam Huang, General Counsel, China Vanke: We’ve noticed that the whole industry has been going through a transition towards more normal and rational development and relevant policy measures that could contribute to a steady market have been introduced along the way.

In-house legal colleagues of Vanke's real estate development business are divided into seven regions, with a total of more than 240 members. They keep tracking the issuance of new policies and interpreting the influence of such policies in order to support the steady development of our business.

ALB: The pandemic continues to rage in different regions to varying degrees, causing intermittent disruptions to business. How can in-house teams help companies cope with this "new normal?”

Wu: An in-house team must, first of all, keep calm to help maintain a good image of the organization and manage public opinions. Second, changes in the external environment mean it is ever more important for the in-house team to provide the organization with more stable, timely and quality-assured services. Finally, in-house counsel need to provide more down-to-earth solutions and advice to solve real problems for the organization.

Jill Xu, General Legal Counsel, North Asia, JLL: Whether they are clients we serve, such as real estate developers, or professional real estate services firms such as JLL itself, the pandemic has highlighted the importance of being adaptable. The specific work of the legal department as an internal support team can be divided into the following areas:

First, since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, reviewing and updating the internal business continuity plan has become one of the routine tasks of the legal department.

Second, in terms of internal operations, the legal department predicts problems that may be encountered in detail. Let me share a few examples. First, we applied for three sets of original business licenses, and placed them in offices in different cities. During Shanghai’s lockdown period, our business team managed to participate in bidding by retrieving one set of originals from the Chengdu office. Second, under the new normal, we have also tried to use new technology tools, such as e-sign. Third, the legal department and JLLT (JLL Technologies) worked together to develop the legal data dashboard which enables business lines to log in to remotely check the number of contracts signed by them recently and the contents of such contracts on their own.

Finally, when it comes to external operations, the legal department also assists business lines to explore new service methods together. JLL provides property management services for clients. The pandemic has imposed many new requirements on such services, such as visitor temperature checking and support for resumption of work and production. Such value-added services all require the legal department to ensure compliance in advance.

Huang: The in-house team has several priorities during the pandemic. The first is risk control. Especially when dealing with upstream and downstream partners, the in-house team needs to invoke force majeure clauses in a timely manner, or invoke rebus sic stantibus clauses to re-negotiate important aspects of contracts.

We also have many proactive measures. For example, the company sold parking lots and commercial spaces through online streaming during the pandemic. However, online streaming places higher requirements on documents signing and contracts interpretation, and also requires online signing and execution. To this end, the team specifically exchanged thoughts with the Supreme People’s Court on the real-time nature of e-signatures.

ALB: In the past few years, many companies in the real estate space have attempted to branch out into new business areas. What kind of business innovation has your team supported and what are the accompanying challenges?

Wu: In fact, a real estate company has a very long service line, from land plot planning and positioning to property construction and development, to property management, and to operational services. All of them can only be achieved by the professional skills, superb management capabilities and a responsible attitude. Traditional methods are far from being capable of supporting this service line.

news“As the organization I am with is in itself a practitioner of innovative business, the composition of the in-house team has a higher emphasis on all-round capabilities.”

Wu Shijun, Aranya

As the organization I am with is in itself a practitioner of innovative business, the in-house team all the more needs to follow the company's strategies to make corresponding practical plans for in-house work. This means the composition of the in-house team has a higher emphasis on all-round capabilities.

Xu: The legal department cannot only focus on the work at hand. They should set aside time to think about the real needs of business lines.

In terms of specific projects, data innovation has been an area of focus for JLL in recent years. The legal department has supported a number of data-related innovation projects, including Harvest launched by the valuation department where we supported trademark and software registration, data compliance, etc. of its market launch.

In the past few years, the legal department has also supported the Research department in launching " Ruijian Data" and its customized version, and the Office Leasing Advisory (OLA) department in upgrading "Dichandadang" 2.0, etc., involving a variety of legal fields such as trademarks, software registration and data compliance. All of these require the legal department to continuously learn and actively research, provide matching legal services, and even be able to predict the needs of business lines “one step ahead”.

news“The legal department cannot only focus on the work at hand. It must also set aside time to think about the real needs of business units.”

Jill Xu, JLL

Huang: I can share many examples. First, one of Vanke's fast-growing sectors now is SpaceTech (property management). About 70 percent of the projects managed by SpaceTech are residential properties of other real estate companies, which means the in-house team must participate in the negotiation of property management agreements with other developers.

Second, in the field of real estate technology, we are working with the International Digital Economy Academy (IDEA) to develop software in the fields of computer-aided design and computer-aided engineering, hoping to achieve breakthroughs in domestic design assistance software. The in-house team is involved in intellectual property issues in this regard.

Third, the in-house team also participated in several large deals last year. For example, in 2021, we assisted VX56 in onboarding two major strategic investors, GIC and Temasek.

During the development of new business lines, the in-house team also plays an important internal role: to warn and predict risks, and to communicate with the management to better understand the goals of the new business lines so as to better attract capitals, all of which will ultimately need to be reflected in investment terms or transaction documents.

ALB: Given the current market conditions and regulatory landscape, what does a company need from its general counsel and in-house team? And what new capabilities do you expect external lawyers to possess?

Wu: I think the general counsel should be capable of both grasping the macro situation and dealing with issues at the micro level. The in-house team should have designer thinking, that is, to use legal thinking and methods to design feasible solutions to solve practical problems for the organization on the basis of adapting to local conditions.

We also hope external lawyers will have the same mindset and can look at problems and solve real issues from clients’ perspectives.

Xu: In fact, the requirements of an enterprise on its general counsel and legal department have been keeping pace with changes in the market environment.

In an era dominated by technology and data, the general counsel must have a high degree of commercial acumen and explore the feasibility of product development together with business lines.

Second, the general counsel and the legal department must be both "bold and careful". For example, during the lockdown period in Shanghai, an office building managed by us was temporarily converted into a makeshift hospital, and the owner of the building requested us to provide relevant property management services. The business unit and the legal department took on this challenge, carefully analyzed relevant services required, and successfully provided relevant support for the makeshift hospital in light of our business capabilities. 

Meanwhile, an important part of the day-to-day work of the general counsel is to manage external lawyers. We hope to diversify our panel firms in order to have a combination of firms of different levels and different advantageous professional fields.

In addition, we have been in touch with some legal technology companies who can help companies manage hundreds or even thousands of cases through online control forms. In this way, the legal department can promptly track the filing, mediation, adjudication and enforcement of each case via the online system.

Huang: Vanke's in-house team covers a wide range of fields. In addition to real estate development, we also cover hotels and resorts, SCPG as the commercial real estate sector, and inboyu, a sector for long-term rental apartments. Therefore, the in-house team has quite different sub-teams. The role of the general counsel is more to ensure the team has sufficient knowledge reserves and stay prepared for the development of new business.

Chinese companies are paying more and more attention to the role of general counsel, and general counsel should seize this opportunity to positively influence the thinking of company management.

Data compliance is another area that our in-house team pays particular attention to. New data regulations involve many application scenarios, including our commercial real estate sector, as well as our residential property management services, so we needed to ensure compliance.

As to our expectations of external lawyers, we particularly value two traits in non-contentious matters: first is responsiveness; second, since Vanke's business spans across the entire country and is quite complex, when we work with external lawyers, we hope to minimize the uncertainties from different teams within a law firm. If the first requirement may be understood as "customization", the second requirement is about "standardization".

ALB: What are the priorities for your team in the next 12 months to keep up with new trends in the development of the real estate industry?

Wu: I think the coming year will continue to be full of risks and challenges. My team and I still aim to serve as legal professionals who understand, empower and evolve with business. We will keep focusing on different business segments in the real estate industry, continue to pay attention to compliance issues at all levels of the organization, and provide security guarantees for its innovation and expansion.

Xu: JLL will continue to consolidate its traditional business areas and make more efforts to explore and transform and look for new partners. During this process, the legal department will assist business lines in selecting partners and establishing new models.

Earlier, JLL global set up a new global team and business called "JLL Spark", aiming to drive changes in the real estate industry through advanced technologies. Going forward, we will continue to pay attention to the development of proptech and incubate and cultivate proptech companies on the Chinese market. The legal department is expected to play a strong supporting role in the research, development and promotion of these new products.

Huang: The real estate industry has bottomed out in the short term, but recovery is a slow and gentle process. What the in-house team is most keen about is still to make use of the favorable policies issued by governments and financial institutions in the next six months to one year to do some solid projects, such as REITs in the logistics sector. At the same time, we have never stopped working with international funds overseas. Vanke and Temasek will establish a green building fund to support the government's carbon peaking and carbon neutrality policies.

news“The in-house team will take advantage of the favorable policy conditions to work with business units to do some solid projects to inject confidence in both the market and investors.”

Sam Huang, China Vanke

Vanke's business mission is to create longer-term, real value for the broadest range of stakeholders. The in-house team will take advantage of the favorable cycle and policy conditions to work with business units to do some solid projects to inject confidence in both the market and investors.

TO CONTACT EDITORIAL TEAM, PLEASE EMAIL ALBEDITOR@THOMSONREUTERS.COM

Related Articles

ALB总法圆桌对话:房地产行业

2021 年,中国房地产市场全年规模仍保持较高水平,2022 年,该市场将继续位于调整区间。近期哪些监管、政策变化对中国房地产企业产生了较大影响?总法如何带领团队支持地产企业在变化环境中展开业务?伴随地产企业纷纷思考优化经营模式,甚至开辟新业务条线,总法又如何参与决策,并带领团队提供支持?