Today, businesses are working to provide engaging and more personalised products in local markets to unlock growth momentum. To better assist the process, we are excited to present the China Business Law Awards (Regional) 2022 as our cover story, mapping out top legal service providers across some of the country’s most dynamic economic zones.

After two decades of development, national law firms have transformed from generalised market capture – pivotal on Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen – to regional market penetration, with a wider spread of offices providing diversified services through integration of resources across the country. In the meantime, local law firms have formed large and solid local networks to survive, and the boundaries of their services are widening.

The awards identify the leading law firms in each region, and each regional category is divided into “Branch office” and “Home-grown” law firms. To determine the winners, we focused carefully at each law firm’s outstanding transactions, cases and other notable achievements in the past year, and also took into account the nominations and recommendations from in-house counsel, management decision-makers, government officials and academics to judge each firm’s performance on a multi-dimensional basis.

Local intelligence also plays a key role in paving the way for China’s Belt and Road Initiative. In our annual outbound investment report, Trade route revival, we explore how territorial experts in Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa are aiding China’s investment activities, especially in critical, capital-starved sectors such as infrastructure, energy, resources and construction.

On an even bigger scale, Surviving the deluge asks legal specialists from different jurisdictions how clients can draw on experience from damage control practices around the globe as we face one of the most difficult periods since the 2008 Global Financial Crisis.

There is good news back in Hong Kong as the city reopens its borders to the world and travel is back on the menu for local professionals. Mariel Dimsey, recently appointed secretary-general of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, tells us in Moving on up about her new role and plans to enhance the city’s reputation as a leading dispute resolution hub.

For Chinese companies that have developed into multinational operations, anti-bribery, anti-fraud and export control compliance become problematic if not dealt with carefully. In Building compliance culture, Du Jin, general counsel and assistant president at Shenzhen-listed Hytera Communications, shares practical experience and tips by revealing how he helped his company establish an effective compliance system.