Allen Zhao

Introduction

Allen Zhao is a partner at Zhong Lun Law Firm’s Shanghai office and has over 18 years of legal practice experience. His primary areas of expertise include financial asset management, investment and mergers & acquisitions, corporate governance, and dispute resolution (litigation and arbitration). He has extensive industry experience spanning insurance, real estate and infrastructure, and renewable energy.

Since the start of his legal career, Zhao has consistently provided comprehensive legal services across the “heavy asset” industry, including but not limited to real estate, infrastructure, renewable energy and manufacturing. His practice spans the entire investment lifecycle — fundraising, investment, management and exit — and covers areas such as the establishment of various investment vehicles, capital raising, project investment and M&A, asset management, and the issuance of public and private REITs.

Zhao’s clients include USD/RMB-denominated funds, insurance companies and insurance asset management companies, trust companies, asset management firms specialising in real estate and renewable energy, as well as developers in these sectors.

In the field of investment and M&A, Zhao, as the leading counsel, has successfully represented domestic and international investors in over 1,000 investment and M&A projects. He has earned high praise from clients for his exceptional problem-solving skills, outstanding negotiation abilities, excellent transaction management, and hands-on approach. With years of professional experience, he is well-versed in the legal aspects of every stage of investment and M&A processes, enabling him to provide clients with comprehensive, one-stop legal services.

Zhao is a member of the Shanghai Bar Association’s M&A and Restructuring Research Committee. He has been recognised in numerous prestigious international legal rankings. He was listed in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2025 as a Recommended Lawyer for the Greater China Region and been featured in the Chambers Greater China Region Guide 2024 as a Notable Practitioner in Insurance Law. From 2020 to 2023, he was consecutively ranked by Legalband as a Recommended Lawyer in Insurance, and in 2024, he was named a Leading Lawyer in M&A by Legalband.