Recently, ALB, affiliated to Thomson Reuters, published the list of “2021 ALB China Top 15 M&A Lawyers”. Li Zhuoru, partner of Jingtian & Gongcheng was among the list.
Jingtian & Gongcheng congratulates Mr. Li on receiving this award, and expresses our heartfelt thanks to all clients for the support and trust.
After the announcement of the list, Mr. Li was interviewed by ALB. The following is authorized to forward.
interview with Daniel Lee, partner at Jingtian & Gongcheng：Brief perspective on VC investment trends in China after the COVID-19 pandemic
ALB: How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted venture capital (VC) investment in China? And what are VC investment trends in the market after the pandemic?
Daniel Lee (Lee): The early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic seemed to have put VC investments on pause, and the overall activity of the VC market slowed down. As the COVID-19 pandemic was brought under control, our work with investment institutions and target companies, including work meetings, due diligence and contract signing, gradually went back to normal. Due to the pandemic, the investment boom in pharmaceutical R&D and medical services has continued; and at the same time, more businesses went online due to the epidemic, benefiting the continuous growth of online education industry. In addition, as the Sino-U.S. trade frictions intensified in 2020, and the Chinese government gives strong support for the development of the semiconductor industry, the investment in this industry shows a trend of increase.
ALB: How have these market changes affected your business? And how did you respond to them?
Lee: The impact of the epidemic in the first half of 2020 gradually eased in the second half of the year as investment activities returned to normal. Some investment institutions even speed up the pace of investment to make up for the losses caused by the slowdown in investment activities due to the impact of the pandemic in the first six month. In addition, during the first six months when the pandemic was in a very serious situation, we had to work virtually – having almost all meetings with our clients online, and all our lawyers trying to work from home instead of in office – which was a disruptive change in the service model that lawyers were used to. And because of this change, law firms and their managers started to rethink whether they really need an expensive, fixed office to provide quality services, and how to manage the work efficiency of the employed lawyer when working home.
ALB: What is your work plan for the next year or two?
Lee: We’ll continue to adjust our business direction to accommodate to the changes in the business environment, and help our clients with their strategic and forward-looking layouts in key areas. On the other hand, we’ll explore other potential business opportunities and business lines based on the existing investment and financing business foundation and our existing client groups, and enhance the capabilities of our teams in terms of coordination and integration in cases, to be prepared to provide better services.
Asian Legal Business is a high-end magazine under Thomson Reuters and one of the most influential legal medias. The top Chinese M&A lawyers list is based on filing by lawyers and market survey, major achievements of lawyers, major achievements in the past 12 months, main clients, awards won, reputation, etc. Partners Dai Guanchun and Huang Yongqing were ranked in the 2017 and 2018 lists respectively.
