Areas of Practice

• IT & Telecoms
• M & A
• Education
• Private Equity & Venture Capital

About Philip

Philip is recognized as one of China's top lawyers for his work on foreign direct investment, M&A, intellectual property, new media, and private equity and venture capital financing. He also has extensive experience in advising on investment structures.

Philip is well-known for having advised one of China's largest portals, Sohu.com, on its successful Nasdaq IPO. He also worked on a number of the largest M&As in China's Internet, e-commerce, and gaming sectors (including the largest M&A transaction in China’s Internet sector to date, between Alibaba and Yahoo).

Phillip has worked extensively on regulatory, censorship and commercial issues in the technology, media and telecoms industries. He has assisted several leading international media companies in establishing a presence in the PRC, including helping Time Warner to launch its first satellite channel on China's cable network. Phillip also assisted Bertelsmann to establish the first Sino-foreign book distribution joint venture in the PRC, and advised the SARFT on its China Multi-Media Broadcasting (CMMB) project -China's first domestically developed mobile TV standard. He also enjoys a pre-eminent reputation for advising top Chinese media groups on their ventures abroad.

In addition, Philip is actively involved in advising entities in a wide array of other industries, including education, real estate, retail, medical services, agriculture, coal mining, bio-diesel, energy and public utilities.

Major Publications

• "Mergers and Acquisitions in China's New Economy Sector: Legal, Commercial, and Strategic Perspectives" (Negotiating and Structuring Acquisitions in China, Aspatore 2008)
• China's Media & Entertainment Law, Vol II (TransAsia 2006)
• China's Media & Entertainment Law, Vol I (TransAsia 2003)
• China's IT & Telecom Legislation, Vol III (TransAsia 2003)
• China's IT Policy & Legislation, Vol II (TransAsia 2001)
• China's Internet Policy and & Legislation (TransAsia 1999)
• A Professional's Guide to PRC Land Legislation (Sweet & Maxwell 1999)
• A Professional's Guide to PRC Land Legislation (Financial Times Media & Telecoms 1998)

He has also contributed several articles on cross-border investments to international newspapers and professional publications, such as Spectrum/IEEE, The Asian Wall Street Journal and China Law & Practice.

Advisory Posts and Awards

• Vice-chairman, Shanghai IT & Telecoms Law Association (2003 - present)
• Member, Advisory Board to the Telecoms Administration of the PRC Ministry of Information Industry (2006)
• Member, National Telecoms Service User Committee (2004)
• Invited by the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television to analyze and comment on new international IT and media legislation (2006)
• Leading China Lawyer for 2002 and 2004 - 2010 (Asia Law & Practice)
• A Top 10 IT Lawyer in China for 2005 (Legal Daily)

Speeches and Conferences

Philip is regularly invited to speak at international conferences on topics relating to PRC IT & telecoms law. For details, please see our events page.

Key Clients