Longan has steadied its footing in the Pearl River Delta region of the PRC by setting up its second Guangdong office in Guangzhou. The PRD, which comprises of Hong Kong, Guangdong Province and Macau, is one of the most economically dynamic regions of the PRC.
"We view Guangzhou to be of strategic importance to Longan. Setting up an office in Guangzhou will strengthen our national network," said founding partner, Xu Jiali.
Longan is headquartered in Beijing and has offices in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Shenyang and now Guangzhou.
"We also have plans to open an office in Hong Kong in the near future. Together with our current offices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Longan will have a strong presence and capability in southern China," said Xu.
According to the bar association statistics, the revenues of the legal industry in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen are the largest in the country, making up 70% of total revenues for the whole PRC. Amongst these four cities, Guangzhou was previously the missing link for Longan.
Longan is not the only Beijing firm to realise the economic development of the PRD region recently. Lifang & Partners also opened an office in Guangzhou last year, while Han Kun and Zhongyin both established an office in Shenzhen earlier this year.
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►►Guangzhou legal industry at a glance
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• By August 2008, there were more than 5,200
lawyers and nearly 300 private practice law firms
• 70% of the lawyers hold a bachelor degree, 19% have a double degree or a post-graduate degree, and 1% have a PhD
• 76% of firms have specialised practice groups
• More than 30 firms have set up
branch offices in other cities
• 14 Hong Kong firms have established
representative offices
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