China Desk
We provide a wide range of services to German and European companies and investors venturing onto the Chinese market, drawing on the China Desk’s large network.
The advisors on our China Desk have been providing Chinese companies and investors with support during their complex transactions and investment projects since the China Desk was originally set up in 2007. Over this time, we have acquired extensive experience and an in-depth understanding of how we can assist Chinese companies and investors in their activities across all the major economic sectors in Germany and Europe.
The advisors working for our China Desk are aware of the similarities and differences between the relevant jurisdictions, economies and cultures. They are well-equipped to reach the right conclusions when providing their advice and to create trust and crucial added value for our clients.
Your benefits
Multidisciplinary and intercultural teams
Noerr’s clients benefit from the extensive experience of the advisors on our China Desk and the entire firm’s pool of expertise. Our advisors offer full-service legal advice from a single source on all the legal and commercial aspects of corporations and at the same time on all issues affecting family-owned business and private clients. By involving specialists from various legal disciplines in a certain client engagement, our China Desk devises solutions for our clients that are sensible and feasible from a commercial point of view; internationally experienced tax advisors and auditors round off our advisory services.
Besides providing excellent advice on specialist topics, we are well connected in business and politics. We are familiar with the markets, market players and rules of business and know what it takes to be successful in an environment that is new and still unfamiliar to our clients.
When handling a client engagement, a specially tailored team of experts works together on an equal footing. Distinctive cultural practices and specific legal approaches and developments are a matter of course for our international, intercultural China Desk and help shape our advice. German lawyers with a long Chinese track record as well as experienced Mandarin-native speaking lawyers with Western legal training will be ready to lend a hand. We provide our clients with prompt, practical and customised advice.
Established international network
As we maintain 15offices in ten countries, we can also guarantee top-quality legal advice at an international level. We have built up close links to the best law firms around the world by cultivating relationships over time, forming our own cooperative ventures and being members of networks. Our international teams are well attuned to each other, as we have been working successfully with most of our foreign “best friends” law firms for years.
Maintaining a strong network in China is crucial to us. By keeping in contact with our clients, leading Chinese law firms, auditing and tax consulting companies, management consultants and M&A advisors and visiting them on a regular basis, we have built up enduring relationships based on trust with our business partners in China. We also give regular lectures and take part in various events organised by Chinese governments, lawyers’ associations, chambers of commerce and business associations in large and economically growing cities and regions.
See here for more information on our expertise and international experience.
Flexible fee structures
Apart from charging for our advice on an hourly basis, we are open to alternative billing models. These may include blended rates, lump sum arrangements or, in certain cases, capped fee arrangements. We will be glad to provide regular updates on the client’s accrued fees, if requested. We of course discuss details of the fees transparently at the beginning of our instruction.
Investment protection and compliance
- Investment protection and litigation
At Noerr, we have over one hundred litigation experts who provide a full range of advisory services throughout Europe to help you successfully resolve national and international legal disputes. This includes key areas such as corporate and financial litigation, D&O liability, class and mass action defence, cyber risks, antitrust disputes, intellectual property, product liability and safety, white-collar crime and arbitration [see also Dispute Resolution].
- Compliance and internal investigations
We proactively advise our clients and adopt a preventative approach when helping them to design and implement effective compliance programmes, whistleblowing systems, employee training or internal policies and also help them to plan and conduct internal investigations. We are also able to assist them, both domestically and abroad, in responding to compliance breaches and can represent and defend them if they are subject to criminal prosecution [see also Compliance & Investigations].
- Data privacy
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides Germany and the EU with a strong legal framework, compliance with which is essential for all companies within the EU as well as for the cross-border transfer of data to non-EU countries. Noerr has its own separate Data Privacy practice group and applies this expertise when dealing with legal requirements that arise in other areas such as IT, employment law, competition and corporate law. In an international context, we provide technology-oriented advice on data protection structures and data protection management, data transfers, the compliant design and further development of business models and HR processes, as well as the data protection compliant design of e-commerce and the avoidance of cyber risks [see also Data Privacy].
- Crisis management and restructuring
Where a company finds itself in distress, the combined expertise of practitioners in numerous legal disciplines is needed to assess all of the possible implications for the company. Our Restructuring & Insolvency team specialises in designing and implementing complex financing and transaction structures. We ensure that there is transparency in the relationship between higher-ranking and lower-ranking creditors. We develop restructuring plans and ensure that they are legally implemented by preparing insolvency plan proceedings. We also assist our clients in undertaking extensive searches for potential investors and by providing them with interim management advice as well as assisting them in due diligence processes. Where requested, we lead contract negotiations for the purchase and sale of distressed companies [see also Restructuring & Insolvency, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions].
Market entry and international growth
- Company formations in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe
We advise you on selecting a suitable legal form for setting up a company in Germany. In greenfield investments, we also review and advise on the subsidy and investment aid programmes applicable in Germany, Central and Eastern Europe and the European Union prior to market entry. One of our main practice areas involves advising on the regulatory frameworks in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe. We can also provide Chinese entrepreneurs or investors with a “Legal Environment Report on (Direct) Investment in Germany or CEE” if required [see also Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions].
- M&A and transaction-related advice
We have assisted clients in more than 50 cross-border transactions originating in China during the last 15 years. We advise on buying and selling companies and equity interests, buy-and-build strategies and joint ventures, while supporting our clients throughout the entire transaction process [see also Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions].
- Regulatory framework
We advise on all regulatory issues arising in Germany and the European Union. This mainly includes advice on merger control, whether filing merger notifications to the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission or coordinating filings abroad. Another key strength is providing foreign trade advice on investment screening in connection with the tightening of investment controls for foreign direct investment. Our broad-based experience and established relationships with the relevant authorities are particularly helpful for Chinese entrepreneurs and investors [see also Antitrust & Competition, Regulatory & Governmental Affairs].
- Economic sectors and regulated industries
We have extensive industry-specific experience in automotive and new mobility, engineering, healthcare, digital business, cyber security, data protection, infrastructure, energy, environment, logistics and transport, electrical and medical engineering, telecommunications, financial services, insurance and reinsurance as well as other relevant sectors and industries [see also Expertise].
- Finance and tax structuring
We advise on designing and implementing structures to finance your entrepreneurial goals using both debt and equity capital. This also covers efficient tax structuring via capital markets, banks or providers of alternative financing such as insurers and pension and credit funds. We combine our expertise in national and international tax law with our specialist knowledge in other areas of commercial law that are particularly relevant for businesses [see also Banking & Finance, Capital Markets].
Positioning on the target market
- Corporate governance
Providing corporate governance advice to companies is highly complex, especially in an international context. For Chinese entrepreneurs and investors experiencing strong international growth, setting up a suitable corporate governance structure is often a major challenge. Often, companies are acquired and subsidiaries are founded without organising the required corporate structures in the form of an overarching governance framework. We advise on the appropriate structure and composition of corporate bodies in Germany and Central and Eastern Europe, especially on the topics of effective management, co-determination and strategy, and pay and incentive models as well as how to implement and comply with these to ensure efficiency and diversity in decision-making structures [see also Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions].
- Growth
We advise on expanding production capacities, devising and developing distribution systems, licensing models and supply chains, logistics as well as all issues relating to consumer protection, quality assurance, product safety and importing and exporting goods. This also includes adapting and reorganising corporate structures to reflect the company’s requirements [see also Commerce & Trade, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions].
- Employment law and HR-related subjects
We advise on all aspects of employment and labour law, including matters involving executive boards and directors, designing and optimising employment relationships and operating structures, using external staff, employee secondments, residency law questions, working time models, pay and incentive systems, pension schemes, social benefits, employee data protection as well as observing compliance requirements under employment law [see also Employment & Pensions].
- Intellectual property
We have our own team of experienced intellectual property lawyers and also work closely with patent attorneys and technical specialists who are skilled in this area. We provide comprehensive advice on patent, trade mark and technology law. Our practice ranges from strategic advice, portfolio management, representation in trade mark and patent infringement and competition proceedings to employee inventions, licensing and patent litigation [see also Intellectual Property].
- Digitalisation
We advise on the legal challenges and opportunities posed by advancing digitalisation for your business, both at management level and in manufacturing, services and processes, such as Industry 4.0, artificial intelligence, big data, platform companies, e-commerce, payment systems, IT outsourcing and offshoring, cloud computing and software licence management as well as cyber risks [see also IT & Outsourcing, Digital Business, Antitrust & Competition].
