18 Asian Legal Business | January 2025 Manager partner roundtable China’s economy remained in recovery mode throughout 2024. According to the latest data, GDP growth rates for the first three quarters stood at 5.3 percent, 4.7 percent, and 4.6 percent, respectively, with an annual target of “around 5 percent” expected to be met. Several bright spots underpinned this growth. In Q3, high-tech manufacturing surged by 9.1 percent, and the services sector—particularly in IT and business services—showed robust performance. Meanwhile, total trade volume increased, with Q3 exports rising 6.2 percent. Outlook: 2025 展望2025 overseas compliance, bankruptcy restructuring, and intellectual property. At the same time, themes like countercyclical policy, heightened regulation, and geopolitical instability have spurred growth in the legal services of dispute resolution, cybersecurity and data protection, criminal compliance, and export controls. As of the end of 2023, China had over 730,000 lawyers and 41,132 law firms, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. While these numbers continued to grow over the past year, the pace of expansion has slowed. As the new year begins, ALB once again invites leaders of China’s top law firms to reflect on the past year’s opportunities and challenges, while outlining their firms’ key development strategies for 2025, and offering their perspectives on emerging industry trends. By Hu Yangxiaoxiao 新年伊始，ALB再度邀请中国领先律师事务所的管理者，分享过去一年的机遇和挑战，并展望 2025年的律所发展关键词，以及行业演进新趋势。 作者：胡阳潇潇 By late December, boosted by stronger export growth and policy stimulus, the World Bank raised its forecast for China’s 2024 GDP growth to 4.9 percent. However, it also highlighted key challenges for 2025, including weakened household and business confidence, the ongoing property sector downturn, the need for a stronger social safety net, and fiscal pressures on local governments. Across domestic and international markets, Chinese companies are seeking “second growth curves,” driving demand for legal services in cross-border M&A,
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