China Business Law Journal – February 2026

Coping with greater risks

Apart from expert advice and staunch representation, businesses desire most of all from their legal counsel a sense of assurance, that the mounting and relentless legal risks are being dealt with by capable hands – evaluated, neutralised, contained, or sometimes cautiously embraced. It is a persistent pursuit for certainty, even though the pursuers understand all too well that absolute certainty is not in the cards, even in the best of times.

And these are hardly the best of times. World news is often more alarming than inspiring. Even positive developments such as the leaps and bounds in AI agent technology – OpenClaw being the face of the movement – raises just as many concerns. Will this tech finally render our jobs redundant? How will we protect our trade secrets when AI is given so much access and autonomy?

In this confluence of domestic evolution, global complexities and technological innovations, in-house counsel in China find more challenges but also more value in their work. In our cover story titled Anchoring growth, general counsel from various sectors discuss their hopes, plans and worries, heading into not just the Year of the Horse, but also a new Five-Year Plan cycle.

From key legal updates like the new Cybersecurity Law to new regulations specific to agriculture, e-commerce and medical devices, general counsel strive to rise to the challenge by transforming sound legal and compliance from basic functions into competitive advantages.

External counsel is just as indispensable to businesses’ legal well-being, and a vital part of their future planning. In Layered control, partners from nine prominent law firms address some of the market’s most engaging topics including global tax rights, VAM agreements, and countering the risks of AI agents.

One of the risks that well-intentioned businesses cannot get far enough away from is circular trading, a fraudulent practice that involves a series of transactions that eventually move the goods, often non-existent, back to the seller or its affiliate. The problem is, such falsities can be difficult to detect, and businesses could unwittingly become an accessory.

Fortunately, there are always traces visible to the trained eye. In Squaring up to circular training, Robin Luo, chief legal officer for North Asia, and Ashley Xu, senior legal counsel at Louis Dreyfus Company, offer detailed advice on red flags to watch out for and ways to shore up defences against circular trading in the world of bulk commodities.

Lastly, we unveil the winners of The A-List 2025-26: Rising Stars, a lineup of well-recognised partners aged 40 or under in China’s legal market. We could not have compiled this list without staunch support and participation from the legal community, and we offer our heartfelt thanks to all who took part in our market survey and a resounding congratulations to the winners.