Global law firm Dentons has recruited partner Shaohui Zhang as Head of the China Desk in Luxembourg; his mandate will be to assist Chinese companies investing into Luxembourg and the wider European market, as well as European companies expanding into China - he joined the firm’s corporate practice on 1 September 2017.

Prior to joining Dentons, Shaohui Zhang was the Head of the Luxembourg-China Desk at Allen & Overy. He brings over a decade of experience as a corporate lawyer, advising on mergers and acquisitions, foreign direct investments and initial public offerings. He has worked in both Brussels and Luxembourg, and speaks Mandarin, Cantonese, French and English.

We are seeing more and more Chinese companies investing into Luxembourg, or using Luxembourg as an entry point into the EU common market,” said Frédéric Feyten, Luxembourg Managing Partner at Dentons. “We are delighted to welcome Shaohui onboard to better serve the needs of those clients. He is a highly respected international lawyer and brings extensive relationships with Chinese banks and corporations operating in Luxembourg.”

Part of our strategy in Europe is to utilize our unmatched presence in China as a competitive advantage, in order to enlarge our share in representing large Chinese companies in their investments on the continent,” said Tomasz Dabrowski, CEO of Dentons Europe. “Shaohui’s recruitment is the first partner-level hire of a Chinese lawyer in Europe and demonstrates our strong commitment to our Chinese clients.”

Shaohui Zhang is one of the founders and former president of the Association for Chinese Lawyers in Europe (ACLE), giving him insight into the needs of Chinese investors.

Shaohui Zhang commented on his move, “As the world’s largest law firm and the largest law firm in China, Dentons is truly unique. At the same time, the Firm has a well respected team here in Luxembourg and across Europe, and this combination is a very attractive proposition for my clients.”