32 ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS CHINA • 亚洲法律杂志-中国版 OCTOBER 2023 2023 ALB CHINA TOP 15 FEMALE LAWYERS In recent years, the number of female lawyers in China’s legal profession has been steadily increasing, and the male-to-female ratio among lawyers is trending towards greater balance. Despite the significant achievements of many female lawyers in their careers, a majority of them still encounter numerous challenges in their professional development. Currently, more than 40 percent of lawyers in China’s first-tier cities, including Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, are women. Data from the Shenzhen Lawyers Association, in fact, reveals a continuous increase in the proportion of female lawyers in Shenzhen since 2017. Additionally, half of the lawyers in second-tier cities like Dalian are women. CAREER PATH Catherine Shen, a partner at Commerce & Finance Law Offices, shared with ALB that she has been working as a lawyer for 18 years. Before joining the firm in 2018, she had worked at international law firms, multinational corporations, and domestic law firms, focusing on mergers and acquisitions (M&A), private equity, and foreign investment. “In 2019, I helped an international investment institution complete a benchmark project, which was seen as the first investment in a data center with a variable interest entity (VIE) structure. The deal was extremely difficult due to the complex transaction structure. I took the lead in providing high-quality and efficient legal services of international standard for this project, including the design of the transaction structure, due diligence, and drafting, reviewing, and negotiating all the bilingual transaction documents. It was highly appreciated by the client,” says Shen. Since joining Commerce & Finance Law Offices in 2018, Shen has led her team in handling nearly 100 investment and acquisition projects in the field of new economy real estate. These projects encompass warehousing and logistics, data centres, biomedical industrial parks, and other industrial parks, serviced apartments, hotels, and commercial complexes, among others. The projects include not only asset-level investment and acquisition, but also the establishment of joint venture real estate investment platforms and equity financing for new economy infrastructure operators. Grace Zheng is the senior partner at Co-effort Law Firm. She has been practicing in foreign-related matters since 1999, covering shipping logistics, ship financing, and foreign-related arbitration. Over the past 20 years of practice, she has acted as the legal advisor to many domestic and foreign import and export trading companies, financial institutions, financial leasing companies, shipping logistics enterprises, and ship repairing and building enterprises. Zheng has provided legal 女性能顶半边天，巾帼力量在任何行业领域都值得被尊重。今年上榜ALB China十五佳女律师榜单的杰出女性律 师们也因其在法律服务行业的卓越成就而获得了市场的认可。ALB与部分上榜者进行了访谈，希望了解她们职业 生涯的成长之路、当今女性律师所应对的挑战以及对未来进阶的展望。 排名、撰文：《亚洲法律杂志》 Women play a significant role in society and deserve to be recognized and celebrated in every industry. This year, ALB China Top 15 Female Lawyers showcases exceptional lawyers acknowledged by the market for their outstanding contributions to the legal services sector. ALB engages in conversations with a few of these remarkable professionals to delve into their career trajectories, the hurdles female lawyers encounter, and their aspirations for future progression. RANKING AND TEXT BY ASIAN LEGAL BUSINESS TOP 15 FEMALE LAWYERS 十五佳女律师
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