China Business Law Journal – July/August 2025

Eyes on the ball

Mixue Group, Hengrui Pharma, CATL … one blockbuster IPO after another has pumped up the morale of Hong Kong’s capital market and its many anxious investors this year, propelling the financial hub once again to the top spot in global IPOs.

But is it lightning in a bottle or a sign of full rebound? After all, capital market stagnation has been only one of the factors haunting business vitality in recent years. In our cover story, Embracing risk, partners from leading law firms in China comment on the regulatory challenges and compliance pressure faced by businesses, while offering advice on seizing the opportunities in emerging sectors, even if they come with unique risks and conundrums.

Innovative drug is one such sector, capitalising on not only years of scientific and technological evolution, but also the imminent “patent cliff ” threatening global pharma giants. In Out-licensing is in, legal experts in the pharmaceutical field examine how to take highly profitable out-licensing deals to the finish line, as well as the legal pitfalls that, if left unchecked, may derail them.

It will take time for the excitement in China’s pharmaceutical, high-end manufacturing and AI sectors to elevate the entire business landscape, and even longer for these benefits to reach the intermediaries such as law firms.

In No time to rest, we dissect the two-year revenue statistics of 111 Chinese law firms and the ferocious competition behind their declining median revenue. While there are many nuances and uncertainties in the legal market, one thing has become clear: for lawyers, more work no longer equals more profits.

The winds of change are felt just as keenly by in-house counsel, increasingly transitioning from risk controllers to strategic partners. In Walk a fine line, general counsel share insights from various industries, joining forces in tackling the complex market environment and evolving business needs.

At China Business Law Journal, the gathering of great legal minds is not contained to these pages. In July, we hosted the CBLJ Forum Beijing 2025, attracting more than 500 senior executives, in-house counsel and legal professionals to the capital’s JW Marriott Hotel, as well as 260,000 spectators in the live broadcast.

The full-day event boasted 13 panel sessions featuring more than 80 speakers, covering topics including outbound risks, sanctions, US and Hong Kong IPOs, and trade secret protection.

Finally, in-house counsel should not miss this year’s CBLJ PRC Law Firm Directory, an indexed compendium enumerating China’s leading law firms and a comprehensive resource of market intelligence.