We talk to one of the big law firms operating around the world, which has major operations in Hong Kong and mainland China. WBA recently honoured one of its top lawyers with a lifetime achievement award.

A lawyer honoured with a lifetime achievement award from WealthBriefingAsia in its Greater China Awards for 2021 argues that his Hong Kong-based practice has an edge over many local and international competitors because of the breadth of its expertise, and its close Chinese links.

Clifford Ng, a partner at Zhong Lun in Hong Kong, has seen some of the changes happening in the Asian jurisdiction and mainland China, and says that Hong Kong will prosper while it continues to ride the wave of China’s economic dynamism.

Zhong Lun is a big firm. It has more than 360 partners and over 2,300 professionals working in 18 offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, Chongqing, Qingdao, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Haikou, Tokyo, Hong Kong, London, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Almaty. Within the Hong Kong office, there are about 50 lawyers. This is very much a business that emphasises how it has boots on the ground.

“We are a China-based firm and that makes our business a bit unique,” Ng told WealthBriefingAsia in a recent interview. “A lot of new wealth is coming out of China, both domestically generated and also from offshore. The space has opened up for PRC firms to provide a `one-stop-shop’.”

Ng joined the firm a decade ago. “Banks were starting to ask for PRC tax opinions around structures. That was the primary driver for me to join a PRC shop,” he said. 

“There are a lot of foreign firms in this market and not all of them make money and [some] are heavily subsidised by their home offices,” Ng continued. “We are probably one of the largest teams in Hong Kong and regionally that does this kind of work.”

One quality of the firm is that it has the capacity to address a range of client needs in-house, he said. “Some firms tend to be just focused on trusts and tax and many international firms do not see private clients as a practice focus.”

There’s a definite pivot going on in Hong Kong, a former UK colony, since the handover of 1997 - a process which has accelerated. 

“Hong Kong is going to be more of a domestic market and there will be less relative dominance by foreign firms,” Ng said. More Chinese banks and brokerages are getting involved in the busy IPO market in Hong Kong, he said. 

Reflecting on the award, in what has been a tough time because of COVID-19, Ng said: “To adjust to all the changes has been a challenging year for everybody. We have been focused on anticipating clients’ needs and staying in front of what they are thinking about.”

“The award is very much a team effort and we are nothing without each other,” he said. 

“We have been lucky here in Hong Kong in being able to ride the Chinese economic wave. So long as that continues to happen, Hong Kong will be a beneficiary. We need to stay nimble and tenacious,” Ng added.