To celebrate IWD, CBLJ speaks to three women in law who have pierced through barriers to advance their careers
The barrier cannot be seen, yet it is still unmistakably there. It stretches between ambition and authority – silent as glass, hard as iron. Countless women, climbing the long ascent of their careers, have looked up at it, reached for it, even pressed against it – yet not all have managed to break through.
In China’s legal profession, the ranks of female lawyers have grown steadily in recent years. But when the lens shifts to law firm management, general counsel offices and other centres of decision-making power, the scales of gender equality remain uneven. The invisible structure known as the “glass ceiling” still hovers over the final mile of women’s professional ascent.
On International Women’s Day 2026, we speak with three women in law who have pierced that ceiling. They lead complex mandates, guide teams and help shape institutions. In their respective arenas, they answer doubt with competence and pressure with resilience.
Their journeys differ, yet they point in the same direction: carving out space of their own beyond walls constructed by quiet bias.
China’s legal industry was long dominated by men. In 2008, Chen Shu, then secretary-general of the Guangzhou Lawyers Association, revealed in an interview as a deputy to the National People’s Congress that women accounted for only about 25% of the profession at the time.
During the next decade, the gender balance has quietly shifted. The 2025 China Business Law Journal survey of 130 domestic law firms found that female lawyers now outnumber their male counterparts, at a ratio of nearly 10 to 9. At the equity partner level, however, the balance remains male-dominated, at roughly 9 to 5.
Hong Kong has followed a similar trajectory. According to statistics from The Law Society of Hong Kong, the proportion of female solicitors rose from 16% in 1983 to 52% in 2023, reaching parity and even surpassing it. Yet in a 2020 media interview, then-president Melissa Pang acknowledged that female representation at partner level was “not high”.
She was the first woman to lead the Law Society since its establishment in 1907.
Behind the numbers lies a lived reality: the door may be open, but the summit remains elusive. As more women enter the legal profession, why do so few reach the top?
HKEX Head of Listing Katherine Ng
As head of listing at HKEX, Katherine Ng leads hundreds of professionals overseeing the roster of companies listed on one of the world’s most important international exchanges. In 2025, HKEX ranked first globally in IPO fundraising, with 119 new listings – a remarkable year for the listing division.
Ng’s career has unfolded across multiple terrains. She began as a lawyer in London and Hong Kong with Linklaters, before moving on to serve as managing director in the legal department at Merrill Lynch and later as political assistant to the Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury in the Hong Kong government.
She joined HKEX’s listing division in 2013. The convergence of these roles – private practice, investment banking and public service – ultimately forged the depth and breadth of her regulatory perspective.
Reflecting on her decision to leave private practice, Ng said that over time she realised that compared to transactions themselves, she was more drawn to how law shaped markets. “That curiosity took me into investment banking, and then to government, which proved to be a pivotal moment.”
Shortly after joining the Hong Kong government in 2008, she found herself confronting the full force of the global financial crisis. The experience offered a close view of how policy, politics and markets intertwine in practice – and reshaped her understanding of regulation and impact.
“When I began my career in capital markets roles, there were few female role models at senior levels. That made me more aware, but also helped me develop resilience and strengthened my conviction that diverse perspectives enhance leadership,” Ng said.
GC Michelle Hung at COSCO Shipping Ports
If Ng’s story reads like an ever-expanding cross-sector map, Michelle Hung’s career at COSCO Shipping Ports resembles a chronicle written over nearly three decades — steady, deliberate and anchored in institutional memory.
Hung has served as general counsel of COSCO Shipping Ports since 1996. Starting from scratch, she built the company’s entire legal function. In 2024, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award at China Business Law Journal’s House Impact Awards.
Speaking of mentorship, she said learning from seasoned leaders shaped her profoundly: she observed how they weighed competing priorities and took responsibility for difficult decisions.
Equally formative was their emphasis on discipline. “Precision in analysis, clarity in communication and consistency in standards” were, she said, “treated as expectations, not aspirations”. Over time, those disciplines became internalised and formed the basis of how she approaches her role.
“Their influence shaped how I understand leadership – not as authority derived from position, but as responsibility exercised through principled and carefully reasoned decisions.”
Looking back on nearly 30 years as general counsel, Hung believes adaptability has been another key factor. Regulatory frameworks and market expectations have transformed dramatically over the decades, alongside the company’s expanding global footprint. “That balance – between rigour and progress – is demanding, but it’s also what makes the work meaningful.”
Jingtian & Gongcheng senior partner Liu Honghuan
From Hung’s steady accumulation of experience, we turn to Liu Honghuan, senior partner at Jingtian & Gongcheng, whose professional temperament reflects a different kind of strength. If Hung’s defining quality is endurance, Liu’s is judgement – honed in decisive moments.
With more than 30 years in dispute resolution, Liu has handled countless complex commercial litigations and arbitrations. Before rejoining Jingtian & Gongcheng, she built and led the dispute resolution team at Baker McKenzie FenXun. Earlier in her career, she headed the litigation and arbitration department at Zhong Lun Law Firm and served as a partner at JunHe.
Prior to entering private practice, she worked in the Economic Division of the Beijing High People’s Court, focusing on trial supervision.
“Entering the court system was an assignment under the planned economy. But choosing law school was a decision I made for myself,” Liu recalled. From the outset of her legal career, she set her sights on dispute resolution – “because it is complex, and because it is fascinating”.
She speaks candidly about the intensity of the work. It is the thrill of it that keeps her there. Dispute resolution demands rapid judgement amid incomplete information and structural complexity. For Liu, decisions made under pressure bring not anxiety but exhilaration.
“Looking back over more than three decades of practice, what shaped me most was not any single landmark case, but the recurring moments of judgement – how to remain clear-headed within complex structures,” she said. “Very often, appearance and reality diverge. Procedure can become a tool and rules can be exploited.
“Having witnessed these tensions and negotiations, my understanding of ‘justice’ has become more concrete. It is not an abstract ideal, but the effort to move as close as possible to fairness within real-world structures.”
She added, “These experiences gradually shaped my professional style. I establish the narrative of a case through the intersection of legal norms and fact-finding, then deconstruct the interest structure, reconstruct the risk landscape, and finally arrive at a judgement.”
Aiming high: Culture, structure and the self
Liu does not believe she has faced obstacles because of her gender. Even so, she recalls with clarity a moment years ago, while chairing an urgent case meeting, she suddenly realised “the room was full of men – and I was the only woman”.
She was once described by classmates as “the most outstanding litigator among the female students”. Her response to this was consistent: “Please remove the word ‘female’.”
“In dispute resolution, there is only one standard. It does not change because you are a woman,” she said. Reflecting on her own path to partnership, she believes advancement has little to do with gender and everything to do with earning clients’ trust, and creating greater value for the firm.
“In common perceptions, high-risk and highly confrontational fields are often imagined as male-dominated. When you first meet a client, you may encounter that assumption,” she said. “But dispute resolution is the ultimate reality check. Whether your judgement stands, whether risk is contained, whether you win or lose – the results come quickly. Results recalibrate bias.”
In her view, the field rewards those who can withstand intense confrontation, who are willing to engage with risk and who can continue making judgements amid uncertainty. “That temperament is not defined by gender,” she said. “But in reality, the proportion of men is indeed somewhat higher.”
Hung, who has built her career in the shipping industry, said she rarely dwelled on the sector’s male-dominated character. “My mindset was simple: do my work well.”
From her experience, credibility comes from the basics – being prepared, thinking clearly and being reliable when it matters. Over time, she believes, people notice, because “results speak for themselves”.
When asked about the “glass ceiling”, Hung pointed to structural realities. Family responsibilities and childbearing often interrupt women’s professional trajectories; in workplaces that reward continuity, such interruptions can become invisible constraints on advancement.
“It is important to emphasise that these factors are not reflections of capability or ambition. They arise from how workplaces and social responsibilities are structured. If leadership pipelines are designed with greater flexibility, transparency and institutional support, many of these barriers can be mitigated,” she said.
She advocates for more flexible promotion pathways and more supportive return-to-work arrangements for women. “[These] would not lower standards; they would broaden access to leadership while maintaining professional excellence.”
From the vantage point of market regulation, Katherine Ng sees barriers facing women in finance as embedded in systems rather than policies.
“Corporate governance frameworks may look neutral on paper, but access to influence – through sponsorship, board exposure and informal decision making – is still uneven,” she observed.
One of Ng’s responsibilities has been advancing board gender diversity among HKEX-listed companies. In January 2022, HKEX introduced rules prohibiting single-gender boards, allowing a three-year transition period. At the time, about one-third of listed companies had all-male boards.
“Today, virtually all Hong Kong-listed companies have at least one female director and more than 45% of our listed companies exceed the minimum requirement,” Ng said. Yet only 23% of boards have reached female representation of 30% or more.
HKEX’s enhancements to the Corporate Governance Code, effective July 2025, further strengthened diversity requirements, including prohibiting single-gender nomination committees and mandating separate disclosure of gender ratios at senior management and staff levels.
Still, Ng cautioned that formal regulation has limits. “Regulation alone cannot shape boardroom dynamics. What matters now is what happens beyond compliance – how boards refresh themselves, how nomination committees approach succession planning, and how informal networks influence who is considered ‘board ready’.” She said, “These decisions are shaped more by culture and practice than by rules.”
She encourages women to step confidently into decision-making spaces – to be visible, to seek sponsorship, and to recognise that governance and leadership benefit from different perspectives, not just traditional ones.
“Strong markets depend on strong governance, and strong governance depends on having the right voices at the table,” she concluded.
Counsel for the next generation
Amid market volatility and the surge of artificial intelligence, early career professionals are feeling the pressure most acutely. Liu observed that AI was rapidly compressing the traditional buffer period for junior lawyers. “Entry level positions are clearly shrinking. Foundational tasks are being replaced, and the pathway of growth may shorten, meaning selection happens earlier.”
For young lawyers drawn to dispute resolution, she encourages deliberate use of the first three years of practice – actively seeking involvement in complex cases and gaining an early understanding of one’s own interests and limits of resilience.
Katherine Ng offers a longer view. “Building resilience is a marathon, not a sprint. Confidence doesn’t come from having everything figured out. It grows through preparation, curiosity and experience.”
Through several career transitions of her own, she has come to see that past experiences may not yield immediate returns in a new role, yet their value often reveals itself over time. She urges young professionals to remain open-minded. “Careers don’t have to be linear to be meaningful.”
“You don’t need to change who you are to succeed. Be diligent, stay curious and allow yourself the confidence to step forward when opportunities arise,” Ng said.
For young women entering the legal profession, Hung offers a clear admonition: “Do not allow stereotypes – whether external or self-imposed – to define the scope of your ambitions. Professional capability should not be confined by assumptions about what one ‘ought’ to pursue or avoid. The most limiting boundaries are often the ones we draw for ourselves.”
She also reminds them that the law does not exist in isolation. Beyond honing legal expertise, one must look outward. Politics, technology, environmental change and cross-border dynamics are constantly reshaping the economic landscape. Only by sustaining global awareness and intellectual curiosity can lawyers better anticipate risk and craft strategy with precision.
