The joint venture, to be known as ABL & SW, is registered in the Qianhai Modern Service Industry Co-operatation Zone in the 10m-strong city of Shenzhen, located just north of Hong Kong. Qianhai has been set up in special circumstances to test out the flexibility of the Chinese currency and to pilot banking reform. 

Hong Kong venture

The joint venture will focus inititally on cross-border lending, finance, capital leasing and foreign securities issues. Stevenson Wong is contributing three lawyers to the joint venture, while AllBright makes up the other seven. The two firms set up a Hong Kong joint venture together in 2013, as a way of giving AllBright a footprint on the island. 

Close to megalopolis

By 2020 new roads and railway lines will have positioned Qianhai at a 30-minute commute from Hong Kong and at an hour from the Pearl River Delta, one of the most densely urbanised regions in the world. It is a megalopolis whose main nine cities had a combined population of 58m at the end of 2013.  Source:  Asian Legal Business