The firm's Shanghai office will be led by Kristy Calvert who was formerly a legal director (China/Asia) for Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto.

While Ogier may be the first offshore player to launch a mainland Chinese office, it is by no means the first to have considered the move. A number of Ogier's offshore counterparts have been mulling Beijing or Shanghai offices for a number of years. Here, sources close to ALB cite regulatory uncertainty, specifically around the legality of offering advice on the laws of offshore jurisdictions from the mainland, as the major hurdle to opening in the PRC.

But according to a number of lawyers, Ogier's mainland move does not adequately resolve these concerns especially as the firm's office will operate as a 'representative office' of its Hong Kong operations and not be licensed to advise on BVI, Cayman, Guernsey and Jersey law.

Maples and Calder, for instance, said that they will continue to monitor the situation: "We understand that there may still be some regulatory limitations with regard to the establishment of a full execution offshore law firm in the PRC and until that is clarified, and client demand for a Maples office in China is compelling, we will continue to monitor the situation," the firm said in a statement. "At present, given in particular the launch of our new eServices platform which allows all clients, amongst other things, 24/7 online access to the corporate records of its entities, we do not see any immediate need to set up a rep[resentative] office for our corporate formation services," the firm said.

This statement notwithstanding, China remains one of the most lucrative, yet largely untouched, markets for offshore law firms operating in Asia and it may only be a matter of time until other offshore players seek to emulate Ogier's mainland move.