Beijing-based Hui Zhong Law Firm, a specialist firm in dispute resolution, has launched an office in Singapore in a regional expansion move regarded as the finishing touch to its globalisation strategy and a key extension of its international network.
Hui Zhong’s Singapore office head, Hazel Tang, told Asia Business Law Journal: “The main business of the Singapore office includes international commercial arbitration, cross-border investment and financing, and maritime and admiralty law. It provides efficient and precise risk management and dispute resolution solutions for Chinese enterprises expanding overseas and international clients investing in China.”
The Singapore launch marks the Chinese firm’s second office outside mainland China, having launched a Hong Kong branch in 2020. In February this year, the firm announced that its Hong Kong office had begun operating in association with Hong Kong-based law firm GH LEGAL.
In an official 12 March announcement, Hui Zhong said that, with Hong Kong and Singapore as dual core hubs, the firm has established a legal service network covering the Guangdong-Hong-Macau Greater Bay Area, and extending to Southeast Asia and the world.
Tang, who joined Hui Zhong as a Singapore-qualified partner last year, had served as a partner at Rajah & Tann Asia and spent 10 years at the Singaporean firm earlier in her career. In more recent years, she was director at the Singapore International Mediation Centre and counsel at the International Chamber of Commerce.
The Singaporean dispute resolution lawyer has more than 17 years of experience in international arbitration with a focus on China-related disputes, covering industries including construction, energy and infrastructure.
Tang said that the Singapore office would focus on China-related disputes, without being limited to any specific laws.
“If a case involves the applicable laws of other countries, we will engage the necessary experts to collaborate, which is common in international disputes. If the dispute involves Singapore law, we will provide this service in the context of international arbitration.”
She added that, for Chinese law matters, the Singapore office would collaborate with the firm’s lawyers based in the Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hong Kong offices.
When asked why the firm chose to launch in Singapore as a foreign law practice (FLP), rather than a joint law venture or a formal law alliance with a local Singaporean law firm, Tang said that as a boutique China-based dispute resolution firm, Hui Zhong decided to enter Singapore as an FLP to focus on international arbitration services.
“This approach ensures that Hui Zhong can seamlessly integrate international rules with local practices in cross-border legal matters, providing clients with high-quality services that combine depth and breadth. In this regard, if it aligns with the best interests of our clients, we will not hesitate to collaborate with like-minded and high-quality local partners.”
According to the Singapore Ministry of Law, an FLP is allowed to offer foreign law-related legal services in all areas of legal practice, and Singapore law-related legal services only in the limited context of international commercial arbitration, or in relation to the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) through certain types of registered lawyers.
