350,400 visitors a day, six million visitors since its opening. The Shanghai Expo 2010 is hard for anyone to ignore, and law firms are no exception.

Many are seeing business opportunities rippling from the major event and some firms are already in line to seize them. Legal service providers like Beijing Yingke, a firm which has expanded greatly in recent years, and Chang Tsi & Partners, a full service firm with 120 employees and two offices (Beijing HQ and Guangzhou), have both recently set up branch offices in Shanghai.

Yingke Shanghai’s main practice areas include FDI and business restructuring. To achieve its aim of becoming a 300-lawyer strong firm in Shanghai, Yingke has been actively distributing circulars announcing their desire to hire local talents.

“By leveraging Shanghai's advantageous geographic location and strong economic power, our Shanghai office will make our experience and expertise better accessible for all of our clients,” said Simon Tsi, managing partner of Chang Tsi & Partners.

Whilst having a presence in Shanghai is becoming increasingly important for Beijing counterparts, Shanghai firms are also finding Beijing a “must have”.  In recent months, Shanghai-based Haworth & Lexon and Jade & Fountain have both built offices in Beijing.

*Chang Tsi & Partners’ main practice areas include IP, litigation and arbitration, corporate M&A, foreign investment and banking & finance. The firm is one of the five law firms chosen by the Beijing Banking Association to provide special legal services for syndicated loan and their prominent clients include China Life Insurance and China Development Bank.

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