Akin Gump provides its clients with both advice and the services of one of the world’s leading public policy and lobbying practices.

As Chinese companies move increasingly into overseas markets, they will require a broad array of legal, policy and regulatory services. Among the world’s great global law firms, Akin Gump is one of only a few that can provide an entire range of those services in one firm.* Together with his colleagues in the firm’s China practice, the senior partner of Akin Gump who is heading the new Beijing office makes directly available to the firm’s Chinese and foreign clients Akin Gump’s powerful combination of legal talent and political experience. Akin Gump’s newest office brings to Beijing the firm’s traditions of deep loyalty to its clients and aggressive commitment to their interests, further expanding the firm’s ability to deliver creative solutions to complex problems anywhere in the world. The Beijing office works closely with bilingual Chinese and American lawyers in Akin Gump offices in the United States to deliver seamless service to both Chinese and foreign clients.

Foreign companies entering or expanding their investments or operations in China need experienced legal counsel with a thorough understanding of the Chinese government, economic and political systems. Just as Chinese companies may face significant political risks and policy challenges in the United States, foreign companies often must overcome unique policy and cultural hurdles in China. Akin Gump's lawyers and advisors understand China’s legal and governmental landscape and the PRC’s political institutions. We appreciate how cultural differences can often make it more difficult to identify and to resolve legal and political risks that stand in the way of commercial success in the China market.

Akin Gump’s practices in business transactions; private equity and funds; environment, natural resources and energy; intellectual property; and international trade are widely recognized as among the world’s best. In tandem with the firm’s renowned policy and lobbying practice, they provide the firm’s Chinese and foreign clients alike with the resources necessary to overcome obstacles and close deals anywhere in the world.

Akin Gump's Long Experience in China

In 1977 Robert S. Strauss took a temporary leave of absence from Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, the law firm he founded in 1945, to head the Office of the Special Trade Representative (STR) for President Jimmy Carter. The hallmark achievement of Ambassador Strauss’s career as the STR was his negotiation of the first trade agreement in history between the United States and China, inaugurating a trading and investment relationship that is now the most significant in the world. Ambassador Strauss and the Chinese leaders with whom he negotiated became friends, and before he returned to his law practice, Mr. Strauss welcomed Deng Xiaoping to the United States in 1979 and accompanied the Chinese leader on his tour of America.

In the more than 25 years since Ambassador Strauss helped to open trade and investment relations between China and the United States, Akin Gump has worked shoulder to shoulder with clients on both sides of the growing relationship. We have invested in expanding bilateral commercial ties between the two nations. Among the firm’s notable achievements: working with leading U.S. companies and coalitions in heated congressional debates — first to champion annual renewal of China’s MFN status, then for the successful approval of Permanent Normal Trade Relations, and finally for China’s accession to the WTO.

Today, the firm numbers among its clients many of China’s leading companies. In a complex and dramatic matter that involved the highest levels of the U.S. government, Akin Gump represented the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) in its effort to acquire the assets of Unocal. Akin Gump lawyers also have represented major U.S. corporations in China. Akin Gump’s extensive China experience also includes the representation of—

• a major ministry in matters relating to the Chinese honey dumping case
• Chinese honey exporters and importers in the negotiation of the first suspension agreement in a U.S. dumping case against China
• one of China's largest electricity companies in a U.S. antidumping case involving imports of televisions into the United States from Malaysia and China
• one of the principal Chinese oil companies in connection with the development and financing of a $650 million petrochemical project
• two of the “Big Four” Chinese banks and a Chinese investment company in litigation involving investments in the U.S. and in China
• a Chinese sports equipment manufacturer in U.S. matters
• the lenders on Hopewell’s GS2 superhighway project in Guangdong Province
• project sponsors and U.S.-based multinational energy corporations in numerous LNG matters in China
• a drilling technology company in a joint venture with a Chinese government oilfield equipment manufacturer
• a multinational energy trading company in the development of a hydroelectric project in southwest China
• a major multinational energy trading company subsidiary in the development of the Hainan Island project
• a U.S. ceiling fan manufacturer in its negotiation of a joint venture with a Chinese partner
• a leading U.S. aerospace company in lobbying the U.S. Congress for approval of PNTR for China
• a leading U.S. telecom services provider on U.S. sanctions and export control restrictions affecting structuring corporate transactions with a Chinese telecommunications equipment manufacturer
• a U.S. satellite services company in lobbying USTR for negotiation of a bilateral commercial satellite launch agreement with China
• a leading U.S. financial services company in supporting the WTO accession process for China.

* Akin Gump advises both Chinese and foreign clients with respect to international legal issues and issues arising under the laws of the jurisdictions in which our lawyers are licensed, in accordance with Chinese law.