With the trust and praise from clients being the best benchmark for the comprehensive practice quality of lawyers, ALB Client Choice 2017 is proud to present a list of top 20 lawyers from mainland China who are the most sought after in a number of practice areas.

CITIC Ltd. (00267.HK), CITIC Capital Holdings Ltd. and Carlyle Group LP (CG.NASDAQ) recently purchased controlling equities in McDonald's (MCD.NYSE) businesses in mainland China and Hong Kong, via Grand Foods Investment Holdings Ltd. (an offshore special purpose vehicle (SPV) founded by the acquirers). Zhong Lun Law Firm and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as the Chinese and overseas legal advisor to the acquirers respectively.

Huatai Asset Management and Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China Ltd. (COMAC) jointly launched a debt investment plan to raise RMB 15 billion for COMAC’s airliner development project through a perpetual debt offering. The plan was approved and filed by the Insurance Asset Management Association of China (IAMAC) on Aug. 8, 2017. Tian Yuan Law Firm acted as the legal advisor to Huatai Asset Management.

On Jan 25, 2017, Dadi Cinema announced an acquisition of all cinemas owned by Orange Sky Golden Harvest Entertainment (Holdings) Ltd. (“OSGH”) in the mainland China for RMB 3.387 billion. The deal was officially delivered on July 28, 2017. Jia Yuan Law Offices, Morrison & Foerster LLP and King & Wood Mallesons acted as the legal advisors for the deal.

On July 24, 2017, Guotai Junan Securities Co., Ltd. (“Guotai Junan”) successfully raised RMB 7 billion through issuance of 70 million convertible corporate bonds (code: 113013) at the par value of RMB 100 on Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE). Haiwen & Partners acted as the Chinese legal advisor to Guotai Junan for the deal.

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) completed its first RMB 10 billion public issue of exchangeable corporate bonds in the domestic market on July 17, 2017. King & Wood Mallesons advised the issuer for the bond issuance, and has been involved in the deal throughout the process.

ALB China 2017 Top Female Lawyers Ranking is open now. This ranking shows the outstanding female lawyers who provide clients with quality and comprehensive service by leveraging their strength, patience, meticulousness and wisdom.

ALB Top 15 Rising Lawyers focus on the rising lawyers in Mainland China with ambition, potential, excellent performance and established reputation. The new stars demonstrate their love of the legal profession and ambition. They have accumulated plenteous experiences in their respective practice areas and made great achievements.

Not long after rival Asian hub Singapore passed a law to legalise third-party funding for arbitration, Hong Kong also pushed through its own legislation. We look at what this means for the territory, and how the laws differ between the two cities. By John Kang

Submissions for ALB fastest growing firms in China 2017 are open now.