Partner of Jingtian & Gongcheng, Chen Jinjin, Ranked in “2021 ALB China Top 15 TMT Lawyers”
Date:2021-04-20

On April 20, 2021, Asian Legal Business (ALB) affiliated to Thomson Reuters unveiled the list of 2021 ALB China Top 15 TMT Lawyers. Chen Jinjin, partner of Jingtian & Gongcheng, was among the list for his good customer reputation and outstanding market performance.

 

Jingtian & Gongcheng congratulates Mr. Chen on receiving this award, and expresses our heartfelt thanks to all clients for the support and trust. Jingtian & Gongcheng will continue to provide industry-leading and pragmatic legal services to the clients.

 

After the announcement of the list, Mr. Chen was interviewed by ALB. The following is authorized to forward.

 

interview with Chen Jinjin, partner of Jingtian & Gongcheng:Keep up with the times with expertise

 

 

ALB: What new trends and business formats the TMT industry in China has displayed in the past two years? What challenges and opportunities have these dynamics presented to TMT lawyers?

 

Chen Jinjin: Since new trends and business formats in the TMT industry are rather complicated topics, I can share some of my observations and humble opinions only based on my practice in investment and financing and capital market. In terms of policy blueprints, the 14th Five-Year Plan and Vision 2035 have put developing digital industries and building digital China on the agenda, indicating a foreseeable rapid growth in fields such as cloud computing, Internet of Things, 5G and VR. Meanwhile, technology and telecommunications sectors are expected to embrace opportunities in this day and age. Speaking from my experience of providing services to mobile Internet companies, with technological advances and iterations in recent years, mobile Internet devices have become more popular and affordable, making them a new kind of infrastructure. Coupled with the impact of COVID-19 last year, the online migration of users has almost completed. New trends in the TMT industry, especially in the Internet industry, have posed certain opportunities and challenges to TMT lawyers: For starters, capitalization of the TMT industry has been accelerating. A growing number of enterprises have emerged and thrived after years of accumulation, development and reshuffling in the era of mobile Internet. Growing in sizes and capacity, they have evolved into a number of new giants and leaders of various industry segments and at different scales in addition to Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent, while also gradually moving from the primary market to capital market. In terms of both number and volume, they have exceeded the achievement of the last decade combined. Regarding the major capital markets worldwide, against the backdrop of sustained growth in the secondary markets in general, this generation of TMT enterprises have, despite political and economic instability, pressed ahead with capitalization with dazzling performance and constant innovation in general. For example, implementation of the registration-based IPO mechanism in the A-share market, spin-off IPOs, Shenzhen/Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect, the dual-class stock structure and red-chip structure. Also, the historic rules of dual-class shares with different voting rights, secondary listings and the progressive marketization of H-share full circulation in the Hong Kong stock market. What’s more, there are direct listings in the U.S. stock market where SPAC IPO volumes peaked in 2020, while markets in European countries and other parts of the world also jumped on the bandwagon. Mainstream capital markets worldwide have flourished, with market access being leveled generally, ensuring premium enterprises a variety of approaches to enter the market. On the corporate side, capitalization for lots of companies is not the end, but only the process. Intense completion in the industry is far from over, especially when industry titans are remarkably appealing to capital and traffic, and rely on their own geological advantages and premium rights to continuously carry out the layout, competition and integration during the second curve of development in the industry, in a bid to adequately prepare themselves for the fierce battle staged both in and out of the TMT industry. IPO is no longer a one-time deal in that there are various options available such as spin-off listing, secondary listing, dual/multiple listing and home-return listing in the Chinese mainland's A-share stock markets, reducing the iconic bell ringing to a regular practice like refinancing. At the same time, capitalization has promoted the return to primary markets, forming a virtuous circle. The above mentioned have presented incredible opportunities and challenges, as well as a sense of fulfillment, to TMT lawyers specializing in investment and financing and capital market, especially to young lawyers who are roughly the same age as the traders and executives of these TMT enterprises. Jingtian & Gongcheng is known for its expertise in capital market, thanks to which, I had the honor to be a part of Xiaomi’s IPO in Hong Kong, the first company to list under new rules allowing dual-class shares with different voting rights in Hong Kong, as well as other milestone projects such as secondary listings in Hong Kong, listings of the first batch of companies on China’s new STAR Market tech board and home-return listings in the Chinese mainland's A-share stock markets. A group of professional lawyers, including me, have provided high-quality legal services to our TMT clients. It is an honor to receive this award. In fact, the credit should also go to the firm and the team. Then, boundaries of the traditional TMT industry have blurred. As the only market in the world where a massive number of users live in the same time zone, speaking the same language and adopting the same legal system, China is blessed to have a thriving TMT industry that leads the world. However, there are some changes in users, including generations, habits and expansion to lower-tiered markets, which have led to the rise of new business models and discovery of new fields. The increasingly extensive involvement of industry giants and capital in traditional business has also broken down and reshaped the old industry barriers and business logic, which, in turn, have forced some industry veterans and Internet upstarts to form strategic alliances or even new entrepreneurial teams, leading to rejuvenated market. Meanwhile, technology crossover partnerships are bound to be accompanied by business cooperation, such as the in-depth collaboration between Internet companies and companies in the fields of medicine, education, travel and consumption. All these ties have expanded the outreach of the TMT industry, and have continued to expand the service scope of TMT lawyers with more new compliance scenarios and legal co-opetition. Legislation in China still has its own pace and considerations like decades ago, but regulations with teeth have been rolled out at pace through all these years, including the Cybersecurity Law, Provisions on Mobile Games Publishing, Live Streaming Regulations, Guiding Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of Internet Finance and the New Anti-monopoly Law, all of which have had a profound impact on shaping the landscape of relevant industries, promoting lawyers to be more prudent in giving increasingly complex compliance advice and notice of risk. It is imperative and urgent to facilitate cross-industry and multi-jurisdictional cooperation and continuous learning among lawyers. To provide quality services to TMT enterprises, especially leading companies and investors in the industry, requires both comprehensive solutions and specialized services. Therefore, in addition to laying solid ground and working hard, lawyers should also keep an open mind, stay healthy and work as a team. Projects I have been involved in lately, including those related to medical technology, international e-commerce business and online education, have fully reflected the challenges posed by the previously mentioned industry trends to legal services. More importantly, they have proved the professionalism and close teamwork offered by Jingtian & Gongcheng in the fields of medicine, customs, education, labor, intellectual property and data security. Also, the post-traffic dividend era has triggered the replacement of old business with a new one in the TMT industry. Lots of business have focused on attracting traffic in the beginning. During the booming development of the Internet, traffic dividends empowered many industries represented by traditional e-commerce. But as the number of Internet users peaked in China and user attention was divided among giants in sectors such as education, socializing, news and information and entertainment, we have entered an era of post-TMT traffic dividends. The huge cost of traffic has inevitably triggered the replacement of old business with a new one in the TMT industry. Taking the consumer goods industry that has been thriving in recent years as an example, which is built upon three pillars, namely channels, demand and production capacity. Dedicated to promotion and sales, all channels rely on traffic. The TMT enterprises have laid a digital foundation for the consumer industry and increased the authority of online platforms. As the online traffic dividends subsided and user demands diversified and classified, people had more confidence in their nation and culture, which required and promoted old categories and brands to reinvent themselves. Together with increased domestic demand boosted by preferential policies, supply chains and product design and techniques in China have become more mature, which have further driven the domestic demand, thus bringing the market tremendous stock replacement and demand for incrementation. Younger brands, more differentiated categories, higher quality, more popular domestic products and flatter pricing structure are some of the ways to reduce the dependence on traditional traffic dividends. China has truly ushered in the era of productism. As the online and offline traffic-centered models hit the bottlenecks of cost and further growth, the competition for traffic must prioritize the consumption and product itself, thus giving rise to a growing number of premium content and hot items with rapid growth, smooth financing and even listings. The fundamental consumption trend observed in the past couple of years is that old business and markets have been replaced and reformed at pace, while capital maintaining a sound balance between profit seeking and risk aversion. As with the consumer industry, many other industries have embraced both opportunities and challenges posed by the replacement of old business with a new one in the post-traffic era. This is the worst of times, but also the best of times. Never let a good crisis go to waste. 

 

ALB: How do you take these opportunities while addressing accompanied challenges as an outstanding TMT lawyer?

 

Chen Jinjin: As a legal practitioner and an advocate for longer-term rewards, I am committed to providing premium services to existing clients and building a good reputation, while also constantly bettering myself by learning the industry and business thinking. As a link in the social value chain, legal services also have some commercial attributes. For example, in order to improve management efficiency, I paid out of my own pocket to develop a Cloud Management System for Capital Lawyers. To improve the added value of our services, it is important to promote resource sharing with other lawyers along the chain, allocate services reasonably and actively search and reach potential clients. What’s more, after working and solving problems together, we will be closely bonded and trust is earned. Investing in the future trends, especially those in the TMT industry, might as well as a venture investment in future value. And finally, be they TMT lawyers or lawyers specializing in other fields, outstanding lawyers have earned their reputation and achievement that is roughly proportional to the hard work they put in. Niche fields do not necessarily entail dead ends and fiercely competed markets might still hide some opportunities. The more insightful you are, the clearer the fact that it is people who make the difference. There are no shortcuts to success, which can only be achieved by perseverance, compromising and accumulation. I wish you all to make great progress and excellent achievements in your respective fields, and to keep up with the times with your expertise.

 

Owned by Thomson Reuters, Asian Legal Business (ALB) is the world’s leading law journal and one of the most influential legal media in the world. The assessment was made based on the nomination submitted by lawyers and market surveys, while significant achievements in the practice area in the last 12 months, clients’ recommendations, awards received, reputation and other relevant information were also taken into consideration when selecting the top TMT lawyers in China. Hu Zhengzheng and Ye Yusheng, partners of Jingtian & Gongcheng, were listed as ALB China Top 15 TMT Lawyers in 2019 and 2020 respectively.

 

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