Zhang Yu & Partners is being set up by Guohua Zhang and Steve Yu. The team will initially focus on opportunities for clients in the digital business and consumer products sectors as well as offering cross-border advisory services for Osborne Clarke's sector clients with requirements in Mainland China. A qualified PRC lawyer and registered foreign lawyer in Hong Kong who is fluent in English, Mandarin and the Shanghai dialect, Guohua Zhang’s practice areas include investment, cross-border mergers and acquisitions and general corporate and commercial advice in China.  Zhang was most recently a consultant on secondment with Koh Vass & Co as a registered foreign lawyer.

Experience

Previously the managing partner of US law firm Armstrong Teasdale's Shanghai office, Steve Yu has 20 years of experience advising western clients doing business in China. Mr Yu is also one of the first Chinese lawyers advising on China’s emerging antitrust regime.  Zhang Yu & Partners together with Koh Vass & Co in Hong Kong will service clients across China and internationally. The team will initially comprise of six other lawyers. 

Asian footprint

Osborne Clarke has been looking to extend its Asian frontprint - last year it secured a deal with OC Queen Street in Singapore last year, an association with Koh Vass & Co in Hong Kong in 2015 and a working relationship with BTG Legal in India, which was started in 2014. Simon Beswick, International CEO at Osborne Clarke, commented: 'This is a major step forward in strengthening our international business as we now have a robust Asian regional offering from offices in Hong Kong, Mumbai, Shanghai and Singapore. We can now fully support our clients who want to enter the second largest market in the world, and equally, we are well positioned to target local Chinese companies with our international sector expertise.'