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Anthony QIAO
Equity Partner / Shanghai
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Tel +86-21-6061-3666
Email anthonyqiao@zhonglun.com
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Practices
Chinese Mainland Capital Markets, Hong Kong & Overseas Capital Markets, Financial Products & Trusts
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Industries
Real Estate, Urban Infrastructure, Transportation & Logistics, Tourism & Hospitality, Energy & Power, Insurance, Healthcare
Anthony QIAO
Mr. Qiao has been practicing in the PRC legal service market for over two decades, developing in-depth proficiency with Chinese legal environment and practical experience in foreign-related investment, mergers & acquisitions, and corporate financing in the areas of real estate, infrastructure, and energy.
Representative Matters
One of the most well-known projects that Mr. Qiao has engaged in is the Sino-US Shanghai Disneyland Theme Park Project. He has led a team of outstanding professionals as the sole PRC legal counsel and provided legal services for the project for more than six years. His hard work greatly facilitated the successful signing of a cooperation agreement by both parties in November 2010. Mr. Qiao was retained as the PRC legal counsel for various domestic and overseas leading real estate groups, such as Sun Hong Kai Properties, Kerry Properties, Longfor Properties, and Agile Property, and assisted these clients in many projects with international influence, including, among others, the Shanghai International Finance Centre (IFC) Project, Shanghai International apm Project, and Hainan Clearwater Bay Project jointly invested in and developed by Morgan Stanley Investment Funds and Agile Property. Moreover, over the years, he has represented Carlyle, ING, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Grosvenor, Blackstone, and many other international investment banks and investment funds in their onshore private equity financing, M&A (especially large-scale real estate merger transactions), strategic investment, and pre-IPO financing business activities, including Carlyle’s first onshore acquisition project, Shanghai Zhongfang Forest Villa, Black Stone’s first domestic real estate merger and investment project, and Grosvenor’s first acquisition project in the PRC. Mr. Qiao was also retained as the PRC legal adviser for many international investment banks and companies (e.g., Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Asia, Citi, and Deutsche Bank) and engaged in the corporate reorganization, onshore/offshore reorganization, and IPO projects of many famous enterprises, such as Longfor Properties, China Yongle, Tencent Holdings, Jinke Property Group, Oriental Pearl, Recruit, and Good-Ark Electronics. In October 2016, Mr. Qiao acted as legal counsel for the real estate fund (the investor) of a real estate fund management company in the acquisition of Century Link Project and provided full-range PRC legal services for this project. The transaction amount of this acquisition deal has set a new record for real estate acquisition projects in the Asia-Pacific region that year. Mr. Qiao also provided full-range legal services to ZTO Express Co., Ltd. (“ZTO") for its listing on the New York Stock Exchange by issuing ADSs of ZTO Express (Cayman) Inc., ZTO’s Cayman affiliate.
Mr. Qiao is enthusiastic about social work. As Head of Zhong Lun’s Social Responsibility and Corporate Culture Committee and Chairman of Zhong Lun Charity Foundation’s Council, he leads all committees and committee members to actively engage in all kinds of legal aid activities to help those in need and contribute to building a better society. He also played a proactive role in getting Zhong Lun admitted to the Society of Entrepreneurs & Ecology, the very first institution dedicated to environmental protection and public welfare in China. Committed to social responsibility, this institution brings in entrepreneurs to enhance ecosystem protection. Mr. Qiao has also been working as a volunteer legal consultant for World Food Programme (WFP), devoting himself to poverty alleviation in China. Mr. Qiao serves as the Distinguished Dean and the Distinguished Professor of the Lawyers School of East China University of Political Science and Law. He is a regular speaker for the Outstanding Legal Talent Scheme of the Lawyers School to share legal knowledge and practical experience with undergraduates. His lectures were well received among the students. In March 2011, Mr. Qiao personally donated CNY one-million to establish a scholarship fund named Wenjun Education and Study Scholarship Fund at his alma mater East China University of Political Science and Law (“ECUPL"), and, as a founding sponsor, assisted ECUPL in setting up an ECUPL Education and Development Fund. With all these efforts, he leads all alumni to pay attention to and contribute to the development of ECUPL. What Mr. Qiao has done is reminiscent of the old adages, “Peaches and plums do not have to talk, yet the world beats a path to them"; “The greatest benevolence is like water, and the highest virtue tolerates all".
Honors and Awards
For Individual
Band 1 PRC Lawyer in Real Estate Legal Service, Chambers Asia, 2010-2016
M&A Lawyer of the Year of the 2013 Top Ten Lawyers, Fang Yuan Lv Zheng Magazine (under the auspices of the Prosecution Daily and the Supreme People‘s Procuratorate)
Outstanding Lawyer in real estate and construction, China Law & Practice Awards, 2013
Outstanding Asian Lawyer in several fields including M&A, Corporate Commerce and Banking, asialaw, 2004-2013
Ranked No. 1 in the 2nd batch of Oriental Great Lawyer, 2011
National Excellent Lawyer in 2008-2010, All China Lawyers Association, 2011
Shanghai Excellent Lawyer in 2008-2010 (with the highest number of votes), 2011,
China’s Best Real Estate Lawyer, Practical Law Corporation, 2010-2012
Annual China Real Estate Legal Master, “Invest China, Invest Future” Real Estate Finance Summit, 2008
China’s Top 30 Most Influential Lawyers, Asian Legal Business, 2005
Hot 25 Lawyers, Asian Legal Business, 2010
Top 10 Shanghai Excellent Young Lawyers, Outstanding Non-litigation Lawyers and Top 10 Young Elitists of Shanghai Pudong New Area
Memberships & Affiliations
Legal Counsel, Shanghai Municipal People’s Government
Deputy Director, Construction & Real Estate Committee of All China Lawyers Association
Vice Chairman and Standing Director (the 8th Session), Shanghai Bar Association
Deputy, the 3rd Session of the National People’s Congress of Pudong New Area
Chairman, Professional Legal Service Association of Shanghai Pudong New Area
Standing Committee Member (the 5th Session), Pudong New Area Youth Federation
Committee Member (the 5th Session) and Arbitrator, Shanghai Arbitration Commission
Arbitrator, Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (Shanghai International Arbitration Center)
Committee Member, Shanghai Municipal Administrative Reconsideration Committee
Distinguished Dean, Lawyers School of East China University of Politics and Law
Director and Committee Member, Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA)
Independent Director, Shanghai Jinqiao Export Processing Zone Development Co., Ltd.
Independent Director, Zhejiang Materials Development Co., Ltd.
Publications
“Research on Offshore Finance Business”, China Law & Practice, 2002
“Future Prospect on the Reform of State-owned Enterprises”, China Law & Practice, 2002
“Laws of Chinese Enterprises’ Overseas Investment”, Shanghai Lawyer, 1999
“Legal Issues on Foreign-related M&As by State-owned Enterprises”, Legal Daily, 1998
Related
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Deals Related
Zhong Lun Assists Sun Hung Kai & Co. (BVI) Limited in Issuing US$375 Million and US$75 Million Notes in HK
Zhong Lun acted as the managers’ PRC law advisor, and the legal team was led by partner Anthony Qiao and included Chi Cheng, Lisa Liu, Hang Xing and Kun Guo.
2022-03-09 -
Events Related
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Awards Related
Zhong Lun Has 28 Practice Areas and 33 Lawyers on asialaw 2023/24 Ranking
On September 13, 2023, asialaw announced its rankings for China's 2023/24 legal market. Zhong Lun was ranked in 28 practice / industry areas, of which 20 industry/practice areas were honored “Outstanding” and “Highly Recommended”. 33 lawyers made it to the rankings.
2023-10-16
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Bar Admissions/Professional Qualifications
PRC Bar, 1993
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Education
Senior Visiting Scholar, New York University School of Law
Visiting Research Fellow, University of Wisconsin Law School
LL.M., Fudan University Law School
LL.B., East China University of Politics and Law -
Professional Experience
Zhong Lun Law Firm
Shanghai Pu Dong Law Firm
Shanghai Foreign Economy Law Firm
Overseas Chinese Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal Government
Shanghai Light Industry Bureau -
Languages
Chinese
English