China is about relationships—forming them, maintaining them, building trust and then cutting deals. China, for the Westerner especially, is also about learning to flow with change. In fact, that’s how it came to be that Interlaw was able to Chair the Conference, present the Opening Remarks, help to formulate the agenda of the conference and created the opportunity for eight of our Interlaw members to become speakers at the 2nd Annual China Corporate Counsel Conference. (See Photos in Gallery)

It started four years ago when attending ACCA,  the American Corporate Counsel Association’s Annual Meeting, representing Interlaw as a sponsor for the conference.  I met a woman from Shanghai who was the Legal Director for Greater China of Nexans, a global cable company, headquartered in Paris.  Catherine Wang was determined to start an in-house counsel group in China and perhaps to eventually link with ACCA in some way.  For years we corresponded by email—she would give me leads on top Shanghai firms to consider for Interlaw membership, and I, in turn, would let her know about some of the innovative things that Interlaw was doing that she was eager to learn from and perhaps translate to Chinese culture.  She was particularly intrigued by the Women Lawyers of Interlaw group that had recently been formed. 

In 2003 Catherine did, in fact, form a Shanghai Corporate Counsel Forum.  Chinese in-house counsel would meet monthly for breakfast, sharing their challenges, approaches, and success stories.  In-house counsel is a relatively new phenomenon in China.  For those attorneys who have chosen in-house counsel as their career, they are pioneers in this new fledgling profession, still sorting out their roles and responsibilities and striving to gain the respect and recognition that this new profession deserves.

In March, when I was in Shanghai with Jim Harrowell and Hunt & Hunt’s China Desk Director, Katie Young, I stopped by to pay Catherine a visit.  Over coffee, she told me of the great success of the 1st Annual Chinese Corporate Counsel—approximately 120 in-house counsel, legal media, and sponsors came together to learn more about what it means to be an in-house counsel of local and global companies in China.   Her enthusiasm and sense of mission for creating a legitimate profession of corporate counsel was contagious.  It became clear that Interlaw could provide valuable resources to help further the goals of this most worthwhile endeavor.  One cup of coffee led to another and by the time I left, we had outlined possible dates for the next conference, agreed on Guangzhou as the conference location (since we would already have many of our members there for the  AGM 2004) and she put me in touch with the conference organizer, EFG’s Daniel Zhu.

What resulted was the 2nd Annual Corporate Counsel Conference, China 2004, held in the Guangdong International Hotel in Guangzhou, October 29th with  130 attendees, including representatives from the American, British, French and German Chambers of Commerce in Guangzhou, the president of the Hong Kong Corporate Counsel Association and the Chairman of the Guangdong Bar Association. As Executive Director of Interlaw, I chaired the event,  Jim Harrowell, Chair of Interlaw and partner with Hunt & Hunt (Sydney) presented  the Opening Remarks and led an interactive Speaker/Delegate Q & A session, and eight Interlawyers were presenters on  four international panels:

How to Locate, Acquire and Manage Businesses in the US and Africa, presented by Bill Capps of Jeffer, Mangels, Butler & Marmaro LLP (Los Angeles) and Chris Okeke of Ajumogobia & Okeke (Lagos, Nigeria)

Accessing North American Capital Market, presented by Steve Weinberg of Kronish Lieb in New York and Jay Lefton of Aird & Berlis in Toronto, assisted by Jason Au of Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong

How to Make Your Company More Attractive to Foreign Investors, presented by Dan Avery of Goulston & Storrs (Boston)

Managing Investment and Trade in China’s Changing Regulatory Framework:  Issues for Inbound Investment and Outbound Sales in the New Playing Field”,  presented by Andrew Hudson of Hunt &  Hunt (Melbourne) and Hank Lo (Stevenson Wong & Co. (Hong Kong).

See full agenda (link to agenda)

If developing and maintaining relationships is key to doing business in China, so is “going with the flow” and learning to live with, and adapt to, change.  Catherine Wang, who was suppose to be a key note speaker at the conference, accepted a new position at Microsoft, China, and due to conflicts, was unable to attend. Since delegates didn’t sign up until the last minute, there was no way to gauge their interests in specific topics.  We learned that the Guangzhou lawyers present were more interested in local topics such as M & A of PRC companies, China’s Bankruptcy Law, and Dealing with Non-Performing Loans in China, and the topics presented by the international panels  had less of a sense of immediacy for many of the participants.

It was a great learning experience for all of us—having simultaneous translations from English to Chinese and vice versa, hearing of the interests and concerns of in-house counsel, and experiencing the cultural differences first hand.  We hope to build on the relationships that were created and strengthened in Guangzhou and will continue to seek new opportunities for our members in this new powerhouse—the People’s Republic of China.