China Business Law Journal – December 2022/January 2023

Confidence: A precious commodity

Before we talk about recovery, let’s talk about confidence, a key driver of growth and measure of resilience. As China reopens, the three-year public health crisis seems to have finally fallen behind us, but will the economy bounce back smoothly?

As we ring in the new year, this issue will review a fundamental regime, examine pricing strategies in the legal market, take stock of representative transactions, and discuss potential opportunities under new rules to see where we really stand, and to land our confidence on solid ground with reason and facts.

To boost confidence, reliable institutional support is essential. Under China’s complicated economic reality, where a growing number of business entities are in dire need of an exit, various stakeholders often have negative perceptions of the idea of bankruptcies. However, the table is turning as parties have witnessed the successful restructuring of conglomerates such as HNA Group and Founder Group with the efforts of the professional community of lawyers, accountants and bankruptcy judges, providing testament to how the bankruptcy reorganisation procedure not only removes zombie companies, but also serves as a constructive rescue to distressed businesses.

At a time when the top legislature is further refining a draft amendment to the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law, in our cover story, Time for Plan B?, senior bankruptcy lawyers discuss the legislative gaps and administrative support measures in the current regime, and share the innovative repayment plans that they have formulated in practice.

The ample returns of professional services are certainly another confidence booster. With a serious wane in international capital market activity, and the deepening of IPO registration system reform in the A-share market, domestic bourses have been exceptionally active in the past year. On the money takes a close look at domestic capital markets and how legal service providers are quickly adjusting their pricing strategies to reap monetary rewards.

Looking back at recent industrial achievements, we have even more reason to be confident. As always, China Business Law Journal selected the deals that stood out as our Deals of the Year 2022 from a massive submission database of Chinese and international law firms, taking into account factors that included overall significance, complexity and innovative nature.

Confidence is a product of innovation. In Fees to please, Hong Kong’s former Secretary for Justice, Teresa Cheng, and dispute resolution expert Edward Liu, analyse the bountiful benefits for arbitration parties, legal representatives and third-party funders under Hong Kong’s newly introduced rules of third-party funded arbitration and the outcome-related fee structure for arbitration.

May we at China Business Law Journal also take this opportunity to wish all our valued readers a happy and prosperous Year of the Rabbit.

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