23 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 WWW.LEGALBUSINESSONLINE.COM/CHINA TOP 15 INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING LAWYERS liquidation from my mentor. Gradually, I became involved in handling risk disposal for numerous securities companies like Xinhua Securities and Min’an Securities.” Before joining Zhong Lun in 2006, Xu had already gained substantial practical experience in legal matters related to the liquidation of securities companies. Xu Shengfeng tells ALB that the development of the insolvency and restructuring business in China has been relatively slow. For a significant period after the implementation of the new bankruptcy law, the number of bankruptcy cases remained low each year. This indirectly resulted in a scarcity of lawyers specializing in bankruptcy nationwide at that time. “Unlike the current thriving situation, few were willing to engage in bankruptcy work back then. People wondered about the prospects of this field. I, too, had my concerns.” However, confronted with a niche field that few dared to venture into, Xu chose to persevere without hesitation. Under the influence of Xu Meizheng, former Deputy Director of the Macroeconomic Department of the State Commission for Restructuring Economy and the then Executive Director of Beijing Zhonghe Yingtai Financial Consulting Co., Ltd., Xu Shengfeng led his team to delve tirelessly into bankruptcy and restructuring for over a decade. They strategically incorporated corporate insolvency and restructuring business into the law firm’s development. Today, as the head of Zhong Lun’s I&R business, Xu Shengfeng has spearheaded numerous major and complex bankruptcy cases with nationwide influence. He believes that passion is the most crucial attribute for a bankruptcy lawyer, determining how far one can progress in this field. Xu Yu, a senior partner and director of the management committee of Hylands Law Firm, single-handedly set up the firm’s insolvency restructuring and special assets disposal department and led the department to rapidly develop into the core business department of the firm. He tells ALB that the insolvency and restructuring industry has indeed seen an upturn and a period of opportunity in recent years due to policy reforms, the economic downturn and other factors. “In recent years, China has continued to promote the supply-side structural reform, the gradual improvement of the exit system of market entities, coupled with the impact of the new crown epidemic and the downturn of the market economy, the number of bankruptcy and reorganization cases has shown a year-on-year trend of incremental increase, and the bankruptcy and reorganization industry as a whole has entered into a period of upturn, which has provided lawyers engaged in the bankruptcy and reorganization professions with more and broader room for development. “ Xu adds. For Wang Chunsheng, the executive chairman of the board of directors of Faxian Law Firm, his involvement in the insolvency and restructuring field began in the first year of the official implementation of the Enterprise Bankruptcy Law. He tells ALB that he personally had a keen interest in insolvency and restructuring. In the same year, Wang led the law firm to be shortlisted in the first batch of bankruptcy administrators’ intermediary agencies of the Sichuan Provincial High Court. However, it has been a challenging journey for him. Wang frankly admits that until 2015, the development of local bankruptcy business in Sichuan Province lagged significantly behind. Yet, with the collective efforts of all teams in the firm, Faxian Law Firm became one of the three top-tier bankruptcy administrators of the Chengdu Intermediate People’s Court in early 2017. “The bankruptcy administrator not only plays a common but indispensable role but also must possess a spirit of dedication. Though handling insolvency and restructuring business was initially tough, requiring team coordination and experience accumulation, we gained insights from every case and gradually transitioned from skepticism to recognition,” says Wang. HOT TOPICS The insolvency and restructuring business has gained considerable traction, giving rise to various pressing topics TOP 15 INSOLVENCY & RESTRUCTURING LAWYERS 十五佳破产重组律师 CHEN FENG 陈枫 Grandall Law Firm 国浩律师事务所 FAN LIYA 范利亚 DeHeng Law Offices 德恒律师事务所 WANG CHUNSHENG 王春生 Faxian Law Firm 发现律师事务所 WANG LE 王乐 King & Wood Mallesons 金杜律师事务所 WANG ZHAOTONG 王兆同 W&H Law Firm 炜衡律师事务所 WU JIE 吴杰 LONGAN LAW FIRM 隆安律师事务所 XING LIXIN 邢立新 Hai Run Law Firm 海润天睿律师事务所
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