WongPartnership has recently received approval to launch its second China representative office, in Beijing. This year, Latham & Watkins and Australian firm Minter Ellison, amongst others, have both expanded out of Shanghai into Beijing to target larger companies and SOEs.

The Beijing office will be WongPartnership's fourth overseas office after Shanghai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi (Shanghai was its very first foreign venture).  Collectively, the firm will have around 20 fee earners in the mainland, supported by a team of over 40 China practice lawyers.

"We have long recognised the significance of Beijing. The profiles of clients in the two cities are very different. In Beijing you have the SOEs and in Shanghai you get the smaller businesses along with a concentration of MNCs. The scale and types of deals closed are also different.  Both markets offer something different for international firms. That is why you will continue to see international firms' involvement in both cities," said Gerry Gan, joint head of WongPartnership's China Practice.

With its Shanghai office already in operation for six years ago, WongPartnership has won many mandates on Sino-Singaporean deals. The firm recently advised on a RMB12bn JV between Tianjin Eco-City and Keppel Corporation. It also recently closed another JV agreement between Guangzhou Knowledge City Investment and Development and SingBridge International, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Holdings ALB.

Asian firms with dual (Beijing and Shanghai) offices