VGE Law Firm

Based in Guangzhou, the center of commercial activities in the South China, VGE Law Firm is an unofficial organization which advises on all forms of commercial arrangement and social activity. In order to meet our clients'various needs, we commit ourselves to providing professional & comprehensive legal services to those foreign enterprises, alien businessmen & investors who have particular interests in China, and people from all walks of life and all over the world.

Over the years, we have earned the confidence of our clients through the dedication, diligence and care with which we execute our services. As a matter of fact, our organization allows us to draw upon the experience of many professionals at the firm and thus provide our clients with coordinated and effective legal advice across traditional practice boundaries.

The strength of our practice is that it allows us to apply specialists to such issues, often critical to the success of a project, but without allowing legal technicalities to dominate the commercial requirements. We aim to provide our clients with high quality legal advice and representation. We value professional integrity, pursuit of our clients' best interests, emphasizing solutions to legal issues and problems, responsiveness to clients' needs and legal advice supported by solid understandings of relevant business contexts and market conditions. All in all, we work with our clients to create structures which enable those involved to have confidence in the strength of one relationship without constraining them from pursuing other important projects.

Practice area:

1. Project finance and structured finance

2. Banking business and derivative products
– Mergers and acquisitions
– Corporate restructuring and reorganization
– Securities
– Litigation and arbitration
– International trade and cross border investments
– High technology and venture capital investments
– Intellectual property matters
– Foreign direct investments and share transfers
– Real estate matters
– Entertainment
– Employment and labor
– Bankruptcy
– Insurance
– Information Technology
– Tax advice and planning
– Environmental protection
– General legal counseling
– International joint ventures

3. Civil & Commercial Litigation
We have successfully assisted our clients to retrieve billions of RMB in civil and commercial litigations. Our attorneys' broad expertise give us strong advantages in helping our clients protect their civil rights and financial interests.

4. Administrative Litigation
Our lawyers have extensive experiences in representing both government and claimant in administrative litigations.

5. Arbitration
VGE Law Firm lawyers have experiences in representing clients both in China and other major arbitration centers of the world. We are one of the few firms in China with extensive expertise in international arbitration. Our lawyers successfully represent clients in domestic arbitration centers, such as CEITEC, as well as in international arbitration centers, such as ICC arbitration court, SIAC, etc.

6. Banking and Finance
A number of lawyers at the firm began providing legal services for the Banking Industry in the early 1980's and are experienced in domestic and international financing such as trade financing, derivatives, bilateral financing, syndicated loan facilities, receivables financing and debt restructuring. We have represented both lenders and borrowers and have also provided services for facilitators, underwriters, investors and issuers in the issuance of bonds, notes, commercial paper, certificates of deposit and other securities instruments. Our services in this area include:

- Banking regulation
- Foreign exchange control and foreign debt registration
- Negotiations
- Preparation of legal documentation
- Establishment of security arrangements and related matters

In addition, we have extensive experience in project finance, acting on behalf of lenders, export credit agencies, international financial organizations, project sponsors, project companies, contractors and suppliers involved in infrastructure finance projects in China, including power, water treatment, bridges, ports, airports, telecommunications facilities, manufacturing facilities, and chemical and industrial plants.

Over the years, we have represented many world renowned financial institutions, prestigious international leasing companies, foreign lenders and aircraft manufacturers in a variety of aircraft financing and leasing transactions, including direct acquisitions, sale and lease-backs, operating leases, leveraged leases, Japanese leveraged leases, securities lease financings, mortgages and security packages.

7. Mergers and Acquisitions

As China's economy increasingly integrates into the world economy, corporate mergers and acquisitions have become more and more popular with companies as a means to gain corporate presence in a new market or to dispose of assets in order to better focus on core business. Our mergers and acquisitions practice concentrates on legal advice, negotiations and the preparation of legal documentation for the acquisition and disposition of businesses and assets, in which our investment, securities, tax, corporate and accounting expertise all are used for the benefit of our clients.

We represent acquirers, target companies, financial advisors and major stockholders in a wide variety of industries and in all types of takeover transactions, including:

- Mergers and acquisitions by and between enterprises with foreign investments, companies
　listed in China and overseas, and domestic companies
- Strategic investments and joint ventures
- Venture capital transactions
- Management Buy-Outs
Foreign Investments

VGE Law Firm has extensive experience in foreign direct investments in China. Some of our lawyers working in this group started representing foreign investors in the early 1980's at the beginning of China's opening. Our practice in this area focuses on foreign direct investments, corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and matters related to investments in China such as labor, tax, intellectual property protection, imports and exports and commercial contracts. Our services include the following:

- Initial investment planning and due diligence
- Establishment of joint ventures, wholly-foreign-owned enterprises or other forms of corporate existence for foreign investment
- Financial planning and structuring
- Tax planning, formulation of exit strategies
- Design of corporate governance
- Customs formalities
- Labor and human resources
- Registrations and filings with government authorities
- Ongoing legal services to foreign invested enterprises
- Restructuring and liquidation of foreign invested enterprises

8. Intellectual Property

Our intellectual property practice group represents many major multinational corporations in securing and enforcing their intellectual property rights. We have substantial experience and an established reputation in handling large and complex administrative and legal proceedings involving a variety of industries. We provide a full range of services in relation to trademarks, patents, copyrights, trade names, trade secrets and unfair competition matters. Our IP group's practice areas include:

- Advising on strategy for protection of trademarks, patents, copyrights and other intellectual property related rights and risk management measures
- Conducting search, watch and investigation of trademarks and patents, and providing legal opinions thereon
- Prosecution of trademark and patent applications
- Patent and trademark annuity payment and reminding services
- Preparing and filing trademark oppositions and cancellations
- Acquisitions of intellectual property rights
- Advising on assignment and licensing of intellectual property rights
- Procurement of copyright and computer software registrations
- Advising on domain name issues, and registrations of domain names on the Internet
- Drafting contracts concerning intellectual property rights
- Advising on protection of trade secrets and other unfair competition matters
- Recording intellectual property rights with Customs
- Enforcing intellectual property rights through administrative or legal proceedings
- Assisting domestic companies in dealing with investigations, queries, administrative or legal proceedings from foreign administrative or judicial authorities
- Advising and counseling on other intellectual property related matters

9. Litigation and Arbitration

With many professionals from various trades, we have the resources and expertise to handle the most complex arbitrations and litigations in China . In addition, We have the experience to deal effectively with parties, tribunals and witnesses from all types of legal and commercial cultures. We have a highly successful litigation and arbitration practice serving our corporate and individual clients. Our practice includes the following services:

- Background searches and asset preservation actions
- Civil proceedings, including assessment of claims and development of strategy, trial and appeal
- Arbitration, mediation and other alternative dispute resolution proceedings
- Development of strategies to resolve complex litigation disputes, including multiple claims among parties, multiple jurisdictions,; and parallel regulatory, civil and criminal proceedings
- Advice on business decisions and strategies that pose litigation risks
- Enforcement of court judgments and orders

Our approach emphasizes the resolution of disputes with objective advice, and effective representation at trial or arbitration hearings and through the appellate process. We have represented our clients in many important litigation and administrative proceedings before courts and administrative agencies throughout China for many leading corporations and financial institutions. A number of our lawyers are former judges or procurators in major Chinese courts or procuratorates, bringing with them rich experience in legal proceedings, decision making and enforcement. Our experiences in litigation and arbitration include the following fields:

Disputes relating to International trade, letters of credit, bills of exchange
- Maritime disputes
- Bank loan and security disputes
- Disputes among foreign and Chinese joint venture partners
- Disputes relating to intellectual property rights such as trademarks, patents, domain names and copy rights
- Product liability litigation and arbitration
- Disputes relating to the offering and trade of securities
- Employment and labor issues
- Jurisdiction disputes

10. Bankruptcy and Reorganization

We have extensive experience in a variety of corporate reorganization, debt restructuring, workout, bankruptcy and liquidation transactions, representing both creditors and debtors including Chinese and foreign banks and other financial institutions, securities companies, underwriters, Chinese state-owned enterprises, private corporations, public companies, Chinese-foreign joint ventures and wholly foreign owned enterprises. We provide the following services:
- Participation in debt restructuring and bankruptcy negotiations among creditors and debtors
- Participation in corporate reorganization meetings and legal due diligence
- Preparation of legal documents, including restructuring agreements, credit agreements, settlement agreements, bankruptcy applications, consents, waivers, board resolutions, authorizations and documents of corporate governance
- Assistance in obtaining third party consents and waivers
- Participation in court and arbitration proceedings and enforcement matters

11. Employment and Labor

We provide comprehensive legal services relating to employment and labor matters to banks, multinational companies, and trade organizations. Our services include the following:

- Employment contract and termination
- Design and implementation of employment and human resources programs
- Design of labor strategies in mergers and acquisitions
- Labor law compliance advice
- Litigation and arbitration relating to labor and employment issues

12. Insurance

We have extensive experience handling insurance related matters. We have participated in the IPO and listing of most of the large Chinese insurance companies. In addition, we have represented a number of international insurance groups in their China related businesses.
Our services include the following:

- Design of insurance products and compliance matters
- Insurance litigation
- Share transfers
- Advising on insurance regulatory matters
- Merger and acquisition of insurance companies
- Insurance derivatives

13. Real Estate

We have a strong real estate practice and our real estate department has been involved in many major real estate development projects in the South China. Our clients include many of the most prominent names in China real estate trade. We provide the following services to our clients:

- Assignment and transfer of land-use-right;
- Formulating development plans;
- Preparation of legal documents including real estate presale contracts, real estate sale & purchase contracts, mortgage loan contracts
- Filing of presale registration, sale registration and mortgage registration
- Advising on the construction and management of hotels

14. Tax, Environment and General Legal Counseling


15. Other practice:

- General legal counseling
- Environmental due diligence and compliance advice
- Tax planning advice, negotiations with tax authorities and agencies


Other legal services
Legal advice and consultations concerning Chinese affairs (including but not limited to investment, commercial transactions, arbitrations and litigations) by means of the Internet;

Agency of registration for the purpose of establishment of new offices, branches, affiliates, subsidiaries and joint ventures within the domain of PRC;

Agency of registration of copyright, trademark, and patent;

Agency of business investigation concerning credits;

Agency of commercial negotiations, contracts drafting and review with regard to international business transactions;

Procedures of services

(Clients in need send e-mails of enquiries) →(attorneys designated by VGE Law Firm respond to client within 24 hours upon receipt of client's e-mail and/or telephones)→ (agency agreement is made and entered into by and between VGE Law Firm and clients)→ (clients pay the retainer fees to VGE Law Firm)→(attorneys designated by VGE Law Firm commence to work for clients)→ (clients'written confirmation in regard to VGE Law Firm's accomplishment of legal services)


Contact us:
Web: www.vgelaw.com/en/index.html 
E-mail: vge@vgelaw.com 
           tao_23@163.com
Tel: 0086-20-8755 5825
Fax: 0086-20-8755 7599
Mobile phone: 0086-(0)13602412533(Wallace)

Source: VGE Law Firm

Editor: Ronald Li