At the height of the Portuguese empire, Macau was a vital lynchpin along the key trading routes during the ‘Age of Discovery’. And while the Portuguese empire would soon fade, Macau retained its importance between the East and the West.

In 2010, the GDP in Jiangsu and Zhejiang rose to RMB 4.09 trillion and RMB 2.09 trillion respectively. These figures allow Jiangsu and Zhejiang to maintain the status of being the wealthiest provinces in the YRD region. Last year, they were ranked second and fourth respectively in China GDP rankings.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s recent visit to Macau as part of the Third Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguesespeaking Countries is significant on a number of levels. Not only did it confirm China’s interest in reinvigorating flagging investment levels into Portuguese-speaking countries, but it also indicated the special role that Macau must play in the whole process.

A chapter for the Shanghai legal industry closed in 2010. Looking back, capital markets and M&A were the top two revenue contributors for top-tier firms; whether to merge was the major consideration for medium-tier firms; and boutiques felt the need to expand their business across China, instead of focusing only on Shanghai.

The last 12 months has for China's legal services industry been a period of change as deep-seated as it has been fast-paced. Accelerating out of the Global Financial Crisis, the country's law firms and lawyers have deployed fresh strategies characterised by impressive pragmatism, dynamism and optimism. Here, ALB China takes a step back to reflect on the many milestones of a hectic year

As the leader of a highly experienced in-house team, You Yong, the general manager of China Minmetals’ legal department, highlights some of the key elements to successfully safeguarding the global expansion of a mammoth state-owned enterprise

Already a veteran of an Olympic Games and a US$4bn merger, Adidas China GC Michael Shu knows a thing or two about running an in-house legal department for a multi-national corporation. Here, he shares his insights, including why he likes working with second-tier local firms.

International arbitration – like everything else in China today – has become a growth industry. Spurred by institutional changes and a procession of cross-border transactions, both the number of disputes and the institutions providing dispute resolution services have proliferated.

While global PE investors rush to set up their RMB funds, lawyers are also seeing their private equity expertise migrate from advising offshore funds to domestic funds. How fast have lawyers caught onto their PE game and how determined are they to make it a purely Chinese affair? ALB investigates

The 17th Tianjin Trade Fair & Investment Talk gathered together hundreds of delegates in June, including state officials, business representatives and legal professionals. All participants came to discuss the economic development of Tianjin, and unravelling the impending opportunities driven by positive government policies and stimulus packages. About 940 major projects have led to an investment of nearly US$294bn in the region since 2007.