ALB: Could you briefly share with us your practice experience and fields of specialization?

Huang: All my nearly 16 years of working experience has been devoted to legal services. Prior to joining Jingtian & Gongcheng, I first worked with a domestic law firm, and then with Shearman & Sterling LLP, specializing in the restructuring and listing of State-owned enterprises, cross-border merger and acquisition ("M&A") and competition law. Currently, I focus on China-related cross-border M&A, domestic and overseas investment and financing and competition law. 

 

ALB: The M&A market has been active over the past few years. In your opinion, what are some of the major trends in China's investment and M&A market?

Huang: I can think of three broad trends. First, the influence and importance of Chinese enterprises on the M&A market have significantly increased to reach unprecedented levels, which is not only reflected in the transaction value and volume announced, but also in the sophistication demonstrated by Chinese clients in project control as well as their vision, negotiation skills, post-transaction integration ability, etc. Second, significantly more attention is being paid to the retention of core teams, intellectual property rights and competition law issues in M&A, and they often become one of the many core issues in M&A transactions. Third, transaction structures and legal issues have become more complicated, creating a bigger stage for top M&A lawyers to showcase their skills.

 

ALB: As an M&A expert, could you share with us some concrete suggestions on how lawyers in this field should respond to rapid market changes?

Huang: The M&A market changes with each passing day, and the Chinese M&A market changes even faster. First and foremost, I believe a practice team, as a group, must have an “eco-system” in place that can adapt to the market, especially to the local Chinese market. Firms should put their best people who are most needed by projects into the "real battlefield" to avoid being handicapped by “internal friction”. Second, a practice team should not be confined to only the legal work of a transaction, but should branch out to other aspects of the transaction. For example, a transaction lawyer must be well aware of the entire business fundamentals of a transaction, grasp market development trends and the client's aspirations, and always be one step ahead of the client. Lawyers should also keep learning to beef up their knowledge base. They should be able to not only negotiate with their counterparts representing the other side, but also be communicable to business and technical teams. We have been working very hard in this area to ensure that we provide clients with the best services in the face of rapidly changing market challenges. 

 

ALB: As a partner with an impressive M&A track record, what are the focus areas of your practice? Is there any specific plan for those areas in 2018? 

Huang: In recent years, I have been personally focusing on the fields of finance, technology and the Internet while continuing to have a strong portfolio in traditional manufacturing and service sectors. The financial industry is currently undergoing a rather significant change in the policy environment, which may lead to some adjustments in the market landscape. Our team of lawyers will invest resources in this area to explore new practice areas and opportunities. In the field of technology, we plan to devote more efforts to, for example, autonomous cars and other automobile-related fields, the integrated circuit industry and AI technology. China's Internet industry has always been a hot market, and is also one of our key service areas. We hope to provide more subdivided Internet market services in 2018. In addition, we will continue to consolidate our strong position in fund investment practice.