14 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 JANUARY 2024 YEAR AHEAD 2024 The Chinese economy has gone through a tumultuous recovery in the past year: its GDP registered growth of 4.5 percent in the first quarter, followed by a high growth of 6.3 percent in the second quarter; going into the third quarter, the number fell back to 4.9 percent before rebounding to around 5 percent in the last quarter. Over the past few months, a series of domestic and foreign policy adjustments in China have signaled optimism for the new year, but the clouds of uncertainty have not completely dissipated. At the beginning of 2024, many mainstream media organisations have chosen “confidence” as the central theme for the new year. Whether the confidence of private enterprises, foreign investors, consumers, and other groups can be restored this year is of crucial importance. Against this backdrop, Chinese firms are also expected to see their performance in 2024 ebb and flow in tandem with the wave of confidence. Firms usually take stock of the gains and mishaps in the past year at the turn of the year. Wang Dong, Director of East & Concord Partners, admits that after rapid growth in the first quarter of 2023, the firm’s performance in the next three quarters was relatively subdued. Throughout the year, the firm achieved approximately 10 percent of revenue growth “mainly on the back of the over 40 partners recruited at the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023.” Zhang Liguo, Chief Partner of Grandway Law Offices, points out that “2023 saw significant changes in China’s capital market. The development of the legal industry is inseparable from the overall environment, and the industry was relatively challenging in the past year. As a highly specialized firm where capital market practice has always been the core business, Grandway also experienced a year-on-year decline in revenue due to policy changes and economic conditions.” Zhang He, Director of the Management Committee of Tiantai Law Firm, shares that Tiantai’s revenue remained largely stable in 2023, “achieving steady growth in the face of challenges posed by the external environment.” Meanwhile, Zhu Xiaoqing, Director of Co-effort Law Firm, also says that “stability” was the main theme of the firm’s development last year. Although certain practice areas experienced stagnation or even decline due to industry and economic conditions, “overall, Co-effort’s revenue in 2023 remained stable and slightly increased year-on-year.” YEAR AHEAD 2024 展望2024 Image: Yudhistirama/Shutterstock.com The year 2023, officially the first post-pandemic year, is now behind us. It was a year that saw ambition and disappointment, impact and resilience, fatigue and perseverance, commitment and responsibility. With the dawn of the new year, ALB speaks to the heads of leading firms in the Chinese market, inviting them to recount their firms’ key developments and achievements over the past year, as well as their cautious optimism as they gear up for the long haul in a landscape marked by continual flux. “后疫情首年”2023转瞬即逝，这一年混杂了期待与失落、冲击与韧性、疲乏与坚守、承诺与责任。新年年初之际， ALB再次对话中国市场领先律所的管理者们，请他们分享过去一年律所的发展情况、业务亮点，以及他们如何 “管理信心”，在变幻莫测的环境中做好长期规划。 BY HU YANGXIAOXIAO 作者：胡阳潇潇
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjA0NzE4Mw==