Chai Jie

Introduction

Chai Jie is an equity partner at Tian Yuan Law Firm. Highly regarded in cross-border acquisitions and investment, his practice covers a wide range of outbound and inbound transactions, including M&A, outward and foreign direct investment, acquisition and project finance. He has extensive experience in investment, development and construction projects in major power, mining, natural resources and other industries, representing both Chinese and foreign companies, financial institutions and export credit agencies on transactions under the Belt and Road Initiative.

In the past 10 years, he advised on a number of significant transactions that won “Deal of the Year” awards from China Business Law Journal (CBLJ), Asian Legal Business, IFLR, China Law & Practice, and China’s Legal Daily. These include: China Yangtze Power’s USD560 million mandatory tender offer through its Peruvian subsidiary for Luz del Sur, and its USD3.59 billion acquisition of Peruvian power entities (including Luz del Sur) from Sempra Energy through an international auction; CTG International’s USD1.74bn KAROT hydropower project in Pakistan developed on a build-own-operate-transfer model financed by China Eximbank, China Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and the Silk Road Fund; China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Group’s acquisition and development of White Rock Wind Farm in Australia; China International Water & Electric’s acquisition, finance and development of hydro projects in Brazil, and its EUR360m (USD380.7m) acquisition of EDP Renewables’ wind power assets in Portugal; and China Three Gorges’ EUR2.6bn acquisition of equity stakes in EDP.

Beyond transactional work, Chai has also advised Chinese companies on antitrust filings in foreign jurisdictions as well as national security, export controls and sanctions regime of the US and the EU, resolving conflict of laws issues in cross-border compliance. In the 1990s, he was appointed by the Chinese government to its Compensation Working Group advising Chinese citizens and companies in their claims for damages suffered from the Gulf War before the UN Security Council.

Chai has been recognised by The Legal 500 and IFLR1000, and named an “A-List Legal Elite” by CBLJ. Legalband included him in its top 15 foreign-related practice lawyers and top 15 outbound investment lawyers, and has continuously listed him as band 1 in overseas investment. He was nominated at the Asia Legal Awards 2024 for “Lawyer of the Year” in energy and infrastructure.

Chai earned his LLB from Peking University, his LLM from Tulane University School of Law, where he was honoured with a Tulane scholarship.

He authored Country Focus: China, Getting the Deal Through: Licensing (2011), and co-authored The Acquisition and Leveraged Finance Review (2018), The Mining Law Review (2018), Getting What You Bargained For: Importance and Challenges of Due Diligence in Chinese Outbound Investment (2016), Getting the Deal Through – Acquisition Finance (2014), and Beyond Boundaries: A Panoramic Analysis of Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions (Jiangsu People’s Publishing House, 2013).