“Save the Date!” – SIPAC Announces Dates for Second Annual Sino-International Law Forum to be Held in Shanghai on 14-15 November 2024

The Sino International Professional Advisory Council (SIPAC) is excited to announce the dates for the second annual Sino-International Law Forum, slated to be held again at the W Hotel on the North Bund in Shanghai.  The dates for the 2024 Forum are 14-15 November.  Super early bird rates for foreign lawyer delegates are now open for purchase.  For more information, see here .

About the Sino-International Law Forum:

The Sino-International Law Forum, sponsored by the Sino International Professional Advisory Council (SIPAC), is the premier international legal event in China, bringing together hundreds of senior in-house and compliance experts from top China companies and leading cross-border lawyers from across China with their counterparts from around the world.

At the inaugural event in November 2023, >40 lawyers from firms covering >50 countries around the world attended, and engaged in in-person interaction and on-site networking with nearly 100 senior in-house legal & compliance experts from top Chinese companies and leading lawyers from top Red Circle law firms as well as scores of lawyers from the MOJ Top 1000 Cross-border Lawyers List.

The inaugural 2-day event was universally acclaimed by all participants as the best and most prestigious international legal forum ever held in China.

The Second Annual Sino-International Law Forum promises to be even Bigger and Better!  We look forward to having you join us this November in Shanghai!

Selected Reports from the 2023 Inaugural Sino-International Law Forum:

The Chinese in-house counsel perspective:

China Eastern Airlines GC and CCO, Guo Junxiu, who was a keynote speaker on the first day of the event, praised the conference as “the best international legal conference in China in more than 10 years, if not longer,” noting that it was unprecedented to see so many foreign lawyers together in one place in China.

This was extremely valuable for Chinese companies with international operations, Guo said, who have a continuing need to identify trusted legal counsel in an increasing number of jurisdictions around the world.

This sentiment was echoed by all other in-house lawyers who registered for and attended the event, which included senior in-house representatives of such prominent companies as Lenovo, Syngenta (owned by Sinochem), Nio, Geely, BYD, China FAW, YMTC, Inspur, TCL, Hisense, Alibaba DAMO Academy (Alibaba R&D), Cai Niao (formerly Alibaba Logistics), Chint Group, Boke Games, BangBang Robot, Instig, China Investment Corporation, Silk Road Fund, Pudong Development Bank, China Minsheng Bank, China Taiping Assets, Southern Power Grid International, China Electronics, China Construction, China Merchants Port Group, Harbin Pharmaceutical, Sinopec, Weichai (China) Investment, Longyi Green Energy, Green Technology Bank, Tongwei Solar, Avita, 3Peak, etc.

The foreign law firm perspective:

The forum provided the perfect platform for these leading in-house lawyers to connect directly with top foreign lawyers from around the world, and all attendees took advantage of the unique networking opportunities presented by the conference.  It was common for in-house counsel to come with a target list of firms they wanted to meet with, a trend that continued after the conference concluded, resulting in scores of quality referrals to participating law firms from around the world.  

At the same time, the foreign lawyer delegates had their own lists of target in-house contacts, and as one foreign lawyer noted, in many cases, the Chinese side pro-actively sought him out even before he had a chance to find them.  “It’s a lawyer’s dream,” he said.  This was a common refrain among the foreign lawyers as it became evident that there was a strong pent-up demand from the Chinese side to reach out to their foreign counterparts to help service their growing international legal requirements.

The Chinese law firm perspective

The participants from Chinese law firms formed the third critical cohort of participants in the Sino-International Law Forum.  Chinese law firms now increasingly take the role of lead counsel on cross-border trade and investment matters as well as in respect of international legal disputes involving Chinese parties, which is the natural next stage in the development of the Chinese legal profession, and which also aligns with the Chinese government policy preference to elevate the role of Chinese professionals on behalf of Chinese enterprises as they continue their global expansion.   As such, the Chinese law firms are critical conduits for their Chinese clients which have international business operations.

Like their in-house clients and colleagues, the Chinese law firm lawyers at the forum similarly displayed exceptional enthusiasm for the opportunity to interact directly with top lawyers from around the world.  Julia Zhang, a partner at Red Circle firm Haiwen & Partners, who chaired the ESG panel discussion, lauded the event as “fantastic,” which she indicated was the universal assessment of everyone in attendance. 

For the full report on the inaugural Sino-International Law Forum, click here.