Wang Jing
Introducing in foreign law firm management model to provide experience for ensuing law firm reform
As early as in 1994, amid the great wave of law firm reform in China, Mr. Wang Jing founded one of the earliest corporate style law firms in China. The 1990s saw China’s law firms in the early stage of establishment. Wang Jing & Co. Law Firm founded at that time could be deemed as an industry pioneer and explorer. Wang Jing & Co. introduced in the management model commonly adopted by foreign law firms from the outset, which provided a good experience for ensuing law firm reform in China.
A market leader in service network expansion –headquartered in Guangzhou with branches nation-wide
In December 2004, Wang Jing & Co. had its first 10th anniversary. Led by Mr. Wang, Wang Jing & Co. made great achievements in the first 10 years, when it grew from a startup firm to a rising one, legal service teams were built up and offices were established in other major coastal cities such as Haikou, Shanghai, Tianjin, etc. During these ten years and the years that followed, Mr.Wang continued to lead the firm in its untiring efforts to develop and further expand its service network. From 2002 to 2011, Wang Jing & Co. successively set up branches in Shanghai, Tianjin, Qingdao, Xiamen, Shenzhen and Beijing. In 2013 a new branch was set up in Nansha District, Guangzhou, as a positive response to the government’s policies of developing Nansha District and building Nansha International Shipping Center. By then, Wang Jing & Co. had a service network covering all major port cities and regions in China, and became a market leader in the sense that it is a local law firm headquartered in Guangzhou but with a nation-wide service network.
Adhering to continuity, and cultivating a large number of high-quality maritime lawyers and lawyers handling foreign-related matters
Wang Jing & Co. attracted a large number of excellent maritime lawyers and lawyers handling foreign-related matters due to its accurate positioning, professional legal teams and advanced management system. It was regarded as the cradle of professional foreign-related lawyers. Many high-quality lawyers handling foreign-related matters commenced their career in Wang Jing & Co. Under the leadership of Mr. Wang Jing, an “All-Star” team was formed. Many of the team members are widely regarded as top lawyers both at home and abroad, as could be evidenced by many law awards granted by reputable domestic and international legal rating agencies. Now some former lawyers of Wang Jing & Co. who were trained by the firm continue to pursue their career in courts, large State-owned enterprises, foreign-funded enterprises and other law firms to continue to contribute to the development of China’s legal profession and rules of law, as well as realizing their own self-fulfillment.
Mr. Wang Jing and his team have handled a great number of cases involving foreign interests, including many international litigations and arbitrations, high-profile and complex cross-border investment transactions, and international criminal cases, etc. Among them, some of the most classic ones include the case of Burmese pirates’hijack of the “Marine Master”, a general cargo ship owned by Taiwan Gaojian Investment Company, which was cracked through close cooperation with the Chinese police, in particular Mr. Fu Zhenghua, the former Minister of the Ministry of Justice of China and the Deputy-director of the Criminal Investigation Bureau under the Ministry of Public Security in 1999, the case of an oil tanker owned by Thai Siam Monkun Shipping Company being hijacked by Indonesian pirates and some other smuggling and piracy cases, which were widely known in the Southeast Asian seas. And Mr. Wang thus was the top lawyer in South China in terms of the number of cargo ship smuggling cases and piracy cases he had handled. He was therefore specially designated by the International Maritime Organization for handling smuggling and piracy cases.
Being concerned about the development of Guangdong lawyers, setting sail again with full enthusiasm
As an ancient Chinese poem goes “the way ahead islong; I see no ending, yet high and low I'll search with my will unbending”, for China’s legal service level and the country’s Belt and Road Initiative and legal demand in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to match, there is still a long way to go, which calls for unremitting efforts of one generation and even some generations of legal practitioners. Guangzhou, being one of the pioneer cities in China that offer legal services involving foreign interests and now still at the forefront of China’s development strategy, is no doubt an important stage where lawyers handling international matters can seize the opportunities and give a full play to their expertise in law and practice.
In 2017 when China first put forth the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area concept, Mr. Wang already started envisioning and contemplating the integration of the different legal systems in the Greater Bay Area, and carried out studies on how the political and business environments and resources in the Area can be merged and to jointly build the legal service markets in the Area. Today, after having achieved great success and made an honorary retirement from Wang Jing & Co. Law Firm, Mr. Wang still stays true to his original mission and remains concerned about the development of Guangdong lawyers, and the integration and upgrade of legal services in the Greater Bay Area. He thus decided to make use of his rich experience in legal service and law firm management to build another law firm with more comprehensive practices and of broader international perspective, so as to realize the Greater Bay Area blueprint in his mind.
In early 2020, Mr. Wang Jing and his elite team joined Wang Jing & GH Law Firm. Subsequently, the Foreign-related Service Group was set up in the Firm and international practice was introduced in, as a positive response to China’s call for strengthening the development of foreign-related legal services. Now on its 12th anniversary, Wang Jing & GH has set off on the new journey to the Greater Bay Area legal service market, and is committed to building itself into a toptier foreign-related commercial legal service platform in order to provide high-quality legal services for the development of the Greater Bay Area.
Mr. Wang Jing has practiced law for over 30 years with dedication and great contribution to the industry. He always kept up with the development in China. He valued new opportunities and seized each chance occasioned by reforms, and successfully made Wang Jing & Co. Law Firm a leading shipping law firm in China. In this new chapter of China’s history, Mr. Wang links his own career development closely to the country’s development direction, and takes up the new responsibilities and missions in the new era. He is fully committed to the building of a top-tier foreign-related legal service platform in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which hopefully serves as a“Silk Road” in the sense of safe legal protection for China’s participation in global competition.
Mr. Wang Jing will continue to explore the foreign-related area of law with superb craftsmanship. He is determined to contributing to the development of Guangdong lawyers and the construction of legal services within the Greater Bay Area. He will once again become an explorer and witness of the development of the legal service in the Greater Bay Area, and beyond in China.
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