PUBLICATIONS

Over the past three decades, China's legal market has undergone a tremendous transformation. As one of the first partnership law firms in China, JT&N is proud to have remained at the forefront of this dynamic journey, thanks to the continued trust and support of our clients.

Since our founding, the firm has experienced substantial growth. We now serve clients across more than 40 practice areas. In addition to our headquarters in Beijing, we have established 14 offices across China and 3 overseas branches. However, this growth has never been pursued blindly. Even during our most rapid expansion, we adhered to a steady and sustainable path, developing only fully integrated offices and bringing in legal talent who align with our culture and values. Today, our core structure is largely in place. The next phase is about strengthening key regions and priority practice areas, with a focus on meeting the evolving needs of our clients.

If I were to summarize the drivers of JT&N's sustained growth, I would highlight three key factors: 

We continuously monitor developments in the legal market and proactively adjust our strategies. For instance, following China's accession to the WTO, there was a surge in demand for WTO and trade remedy services, which we quickly developed strong capabilities. In recent years, as clients have increasingly focused on tariff structures and supply chain compliance, our close attention to evolving client needs has enabled us to anticipate these shifts and respond effectively.

Our approach to expanding into new practice areas and geographies is also client-centered, we follow where legal needs are emerging and where our support can create value. 

Our goal has never been to scale indiscriminately or to serve every legal demand in every jurisdiction. Instead, we focus our expansion on where legal demand is rising and our value can be best applied, those with genuine potential for long-term development.

In recent years, we have actively expanded our outbound legal services in response to the surge of Chinese enterprises going global. While this trend presented new opportunities, it also aligned with our existing strengths. In the early stages, most outbound activity centered on trade, whereas today it increasingly involves overseas investments. At the same time, we have been developing both inbound and outbound legal services, having advised on several multibillion-dollar projects. These give us a distinct first-mover advantage in the field.

Unlike many firms, JT&N has achieved a relatively high level of internal integration. Profit and cost structures are centrally managed, and our lawyers, regardless of office location, operate within unified practice groups. This model helps us bridge geographical divides and deploy firm-wide resources efficiently.

We regularly organize internal cross-practice and cross-regional events. For emerging areas, we have launched specialized research centers, covering areas such as the Digital Economy, ESG, and Government Legal Affairs, to unite our lawyers around focused expertise and bolster their work with firm‑wide resources and strategic backing. Our Digital Economy Research Center, for instance, launched last year and already has over 40 legal product prototypes ready for rollout.

We are also committed to empowering the next generation. By entrusting young partners with project leadership and providing them with structured, ongoing training, we support their professional growth, broaden their perspectives, and strengthen their capabilities. This approach ensures we remain both resilient and diverse in addressing complex client challenges.

In the field of cross-border legal services, Chinese lawyers are playing an increasingly central role. In the past, they were often brought into international transactions primarily to advise on PRC law, while international counsel—typically from the UK or US—took the lead on major offshore matters. In recent years, however, this dynamic has begun to shift.

At JT&N, we have led numerous cross-border matters in recent years, acting as lead counsel to coordinate both domestic and international teams and deliver end-to-end legal solutions. Chinese enterprises are now deeply involved in global investment and dispute resolution, and due to the way they structure their outbound investments and design their international strategies, related legal matters are often highly complex. In the course of supporting such work, Chinese lawyers have accumulated valuable experience and sharpened their capabilities in international legal practice. Today, our clients include not only Chinese businesses but also foreign companies, we once helped a Swiss client secure a favorable award in an LCIA arbitration.

Complex cross-border mandates typically fall into several categories, each requiring a distinct approach. 

A deep understanding of various legal frameworks is critical, but even the most seasoned international lawyers cannot be experts in every jurisdiction. This is where strong global collaboration becomes essential. JT&N has cultivated a broad international network, we serve as Vice President of ADVOC, and have developed long-term collaborations with leading local firms in over 180 countries and regions. As lead counsel, our role is to identify key legal priorities and manage the project holistically. Our experience enables us to recommend local counsel with the right expertise and cost-efficiency for each matter. 

In such cases, we first look internally for collaboration. As a full-service law firm, we have a lot of brilliant teams. Our integrated structure enables tighter cross-team collaboration than many peer firms can achieve, which allows us to provide clients with truly seamless service. 

It happens more often than expected. These require lawyers to break down and simplify uncertainty through systematic analysis—mapping the legal landscape, identifying key risks, and executing step-by-step solutions. This demands a high level of strategic clarity and legal insight. 

In addition to the client, these cases frequently involve government authorities, industry players, or other stakeholders, and are often subject to tight deadlines. Such matters demand rigorous project coordination and the ability to maintain service quality under significant time and external pressure. 

Our role is to uncover hidden legal implications and align legal strategy with business objectives. For instance, a client planning to set up manufacturing operations in Southeast Asia may initially seek advice on local compliance. But through further discussions, we uncover broader strategic goals, like future exports to the US or EU, which require early consideration of supply chain regulations and potential dispute risks. Lawyers must be able to look beyond the surface—to uncover the client's true needs and plan proactively. This requires not only legal expertise, but also global perspective and commercial acumen. 

Many emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, have been evolving for several years. But in the past two years, as the barriers to individual adoption have lowered and industry use cases have become more tangible, these technologies are beginning to have a significant impact across sectors.

As with the internet in its early days, we believe that new technologies must be actively embraced. Even if the tools are evolving and not yet fully optimized for legal use, lawyers must proactively learn and adapt. Lifelong learning is essential in our profession—whether it's new laws or new technologies.

In China, the pace of adoption is particularly fast. In the legal sector, technology is reshaping not only how lawyers work, but also the scope of legal services.

At JT&N, we actively encourage the use of legal tech tools to help lawyers improve their efficiency and expand their thinking. Many excellent tools are available and evolving rapidly. Some of our teams are already highly proficient with them, while others are still building foundational familiarity. To accelerate this process, we offer regular training sessions that combine external experts and experienced lawyers, covering both technical know-how and practical use cases. We aim to help our lawyers move beyond basic functions and toward more advanced, integrated applications that truly support our legal work.

Technology is reshaping the legal landscape and creating entirely new areas of practice. New legal issues are emerging, including those related to AI-generated IP, cross-border data transfers, and some with uniquely Chinese characteristics, such as Trusted Data Spaces. In response, as I mentioned before, JT&N established the Digital Economy Research Center, bringing together outstanding lawyers from various disciplines. The Center is organized into groups to consolidate expertise and resources. We believe these growing areas will not only expand rapidly but also converge with other legal domains, paving the way for new sub-specialties to emerge.

In recent years, compliance and regulatory requirements in China have evolved at a rapid pace. The 2024 revision of the PRC Company Law, for example, introduced a host of new requirements, prompting a surge in client inquiries. We immediately conducted the in-depth review, and one of our partners summarized 90 key highlights in a widely circulated article that received tens of thousands of views. That reflects the heightened awareness among Chinese enterprises around legal compliance.

In the area of data regulation, the pace of change has been even faster. New rules governing cross-border data transfers, for instance, have recently been introduced. Lawyers must stay constantly abreast of changes and help clients adjust their compliance systems in real-time.

Specifically, as legal counsel, we are responsible for consolidating relevant regulatory information and advising clients on systems and frameworks, along with the legal risks they may face. Our guidance must go beyond legal interpretation to encompass practical, industry-specific insights. While business decisions ultimately rest with the client, lawyers must approach their work with strong commercial awareness.

While often seen as a burden, compliance is in fact a strategic enabler of long-term success.

In the past, many Chinese enterprises have had relatively weak compliance awareness compared to their global peers. This has started to improve recently, but gaps remain. We frequently encounter companies that seek help only after compliance problems arise. At that point, legal support is focused more on damage mitigation than prevention, and in some cases, the consequences can be severe enough to threaten the company's survival.

A key role of legal counsel is to help clients triage regulatory risks, determining what's mission-critical and what's discretionary. With a well-prioritized compliance roadmap, companies can effectively balance legal demands with strategic goals.