On July 9, 2021, the 10th Han Kun Youth Legal Scholarship Final Examination and Award Ceremony was held in the Beijing office of Han Kun Law Offices. Han Kun, a new-generation full-service law firm, while witnessing and benefitting from China's tremendous change and rapid development, has seen firsthand the urgent need for high-end legal talents. In light of this social context, Han Kun launched the "Han Kun Youth Legal Scholarship" project in 2012, which has been successfully held for ten consecutive years and will continue in the future.
This year, the launch of the scholarship in April has seen proactive participation of thousands of law students from colleges and universities across the country. An internal panel comprising Han Kun partners selected 10 stellar candidates for a final examination after a careful review and assessment of the candidates. Today, after the fierce competition before the final examination panel (composed of well-known law school professors and Han Kun partners), five students were awarded the scholarship (each received a scholarship of RMB100,000), including Lei Qi from Peking University, Lin Ruihao from Tsinghua University, Yang Runrun from Peking University, Yan Beichen from University of International Business and Economics, and Zhang Yanyi from Renmin University of China. The other five students were awarded honorary commendation (each received a scholarship of RMB10,000).
List of scholarship winners and honorary awards winners (in no particular order)
Scholarship Winners
Lei Qi
Lei Qi graduated from Peking University Law School with top honors and is about to pursue further legal studies at Oxford University. Ms. Lei believes she greatly benefited from her experience participating in the scholarship competition as it was a valuable learning opportunity, especially interacting with lawyers. She aspires to steadily become a legal talent with global perspective and is eager to give back to society with what she learns. In addition, Ms. Lei also called on those considering to apply for the Han Kun Scholarship to do so without hesitation, explaining that the process itself is a valuable opportunity for applicants to reflect and introspect and everyone can gain valuable experience during the process.
Lin Ruihao
Lin Ruihao graduated from Tsinghua University with dual degrees in Philosophy and Law (Sociology). During his studies at Tsinghua, Mr. Lin achieved impressive academic credentials and won a comprehensive scholarship and academic excellence scholarship. In addition, he was admitted to the Yinghua Scholars Program at Tsinghua University, and went to Oxford University as an exchange student for a year. He will soon attend Cornell University to study in the J.D. program. Mr. Lin appreciates Han Kun for holding the event, for it not only provides subsidies to young students but also contributes to promoting exchanges among outstanding young students. In the future, he is determined to keep a down-to-earth attitude, constantly reflect on himself, and live a meaningful life. Mr. Lin hopes that he, together with all other outstanding candidates in the competition, will become a mainstay of China’s rule of law construction.
Yang Runrun
Yang Runrun graduated from Peking University Law School with dual degrees in Law and Business Administration and earned the title of "Beijing Outstanding Graduate". She is currently studying in a dual master's degree program at Paris Institute of Political Studies and the University of Pennsylvania and will soon attend the University of Pennsylvania for an LL.M. Ms. Yang adores multi-cultural communications and has participated multiple global exchange projects covering countries including United States, Malaysia, and Russia. She has also been involved in many legal aid programs such as the Serve for China Country Law Popularization Program, the AI Program of the Supreme People's Court, and the Peking University Cutting-Edge Legal Issues Research Group. In the future, she will continue exploring the legal field with a special focus on Internet law. Ms. Yang appreciates the concept of the Han Kun Scholarship and desires to carry on the tradition. Her dream is to join hands with like-minded people to do her bit to promote rule of law construction in China.
Yan Beichen
Yan Beichen graduated from the Law School of the University of International Business and Economics, and will go to Renmin University of China to study for an LL.M. degree in Civil and Commercial Law. Mr. Yan adores swimming and harmonica, and is also an amateur marathon runner. Mr. Yan appreciates the philosophy of the Han Kun Scholarship, which encourages students to obtain sufficient legal education before they practice law, and encourages excellent legal talents to reward the country and society with their knowledge and abilities. He wishes to become a legal practitioner with a solid legal background who never forgets the original intent that propelled him to choose legal profession—fighting for fairness and justice.
Zhang Yankun
Zhang Yankun graduated from the Law School of the Renmin University of China and will attend Tsinghua University for an LL.M. program in Civil and Commercial Law. During her studies at Renmin University, she not only majored in law and achieved excellent academic credentials, but also majored in French, and won a national scholarship and the title of "Beijing Outstanding Graduate". Ms. Zhang has participated in multiple moot court competitions and had impressive performances at all those competitions. Ms. Zhang highly appreciates the concept of the Han Kun Scholarship, mentioning in her acceptance speech that Han Kun demonstrates its sense in undertaking social responsibility by holding the event. Ms. Zhang hopes that she, as a Scholarship winner, will shoulder her social responsibility and inherit the spirit of the honor. In the future, Ms. Zhang hopes to make her contribution to the country, society, and the people by employing her expertise in civil and commercial law, and become a legal practitioner with high professional skills, integrity, and a warm heart.
Honorary Award Winners
Guo Xueqing
Guo Xueqing graduated from Fudan University with a bachelor's degree in international law, and will continue to pursue a J.D. degree at Fudan University. She has diverse hobbies, such as reading and painting. Ms. Guo deeply appreciates Han Kun for closely watching hot and practical legal issues, as well as its determination to promote China's advancement and development of legal institutions. She hopes to combine what she learns with practice and become a conscientious legal practitioner with a global perspective.
Wei Yiwen
Wei Yiwen graduated from the Law School of Renmin University of China, and will attend New York University for an LL.M. program this fall. She has diverse hobbies and pursues her interests with both enthusiasm and perseverance. Ms. Wei mentioned the Han Kun Scholarship competition provides an excellent platform for bringing together a group of like-minded and hard-working young people and provides them with exceptional opportunities for development. In the future, she will always bear in mind the spirit of "benefiting from society, rewarding society" and will be always ready to help those in need. She hopes to focus her practice on compliance and government regulation after she finishes her overseas studies and returns to China, and will further explore legal subjects in which she is interested, including privacy and data protection, protection of labor rights and interests, anti-corruption, and anti-trust.
Yao Shuyi
Yao Shuyi graduated from Fudan University, is currently studying at Shanghai Jiao Tong University in an LL.M. program, and will go to New York University for an LL.M. program later this year. Ms. Yao has a wide range of hobbies, such as going to art exhibitions, listening to audio books, and cooking. She mentioned in her acceptance speech that she appreciated Han Kun for providing young law students with more opportunities by holding the event. She aims to become a foreign-related lawyer, provide support to Chinese enterprises in their cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and to assist them with disputes that may rise in their "going global". She wishes to devote her spare time to legal aid work and help vulnerable groups with her legal expertise.
Zhang Xinyu
Zhang Xinyu graduated from Tsinghua University with a dual bachelor's degrees in Law and in Economics, and will continue to attend an LL.M. program for civil and commercial law at Law School of Tsinghua University. Mr. Zhang is a winner of many honors and titles, including the National Scholarship, Jiangping Scholarship of Civil Law, and Honorary Dean's Graduate. He has impressive performances in several English language competitions, has participated in multiple moot court competitions, and has also been active in international communications and social practice. Mr. Zhang mentioned in his acceptance speech that Han Kun demonstrates its high aspirations and expectations of young law students by holding the event, encouraging young students to have more confidence in pursuing their legal careers. He felt greatly honored to be awarded the Han Kun Scholarship and was glad to have the opportunity to communicate with judges, experts, and other young talents. In the future, he will deeply explore civil and commercial law and wishes to grow into a legal talent with solid professional skills and broad global perspective and will contribute his part to the construction of rule of law in China.
Zhang Qijia
Zhang Qijia just completed her undergraduate and graduate education in economic law at the China University of Political Science and Law, where she assisted professors in many bankruptcy law projects. She will attend Oxford University for an LL.M. program. Ms. Zhang loves music and travel, and is keen to explore and experience different environments and cultures. Ms. Zhang says that she appreciates Han Kun's philosophy of encouraging young students to pursue their dreams while also rewarding society, and hopes that she can inherit this spirit in practice. In the future, she hopes to become a business lawyer with both Chinese experience and global perspective, and provide high-quality legal services to clients, the industry, and society by employing on her solid legal skills and flexible business mind.
This is the tenth time the firm has held the Han Kun Youth Legal Scholarship. The event, which aims to "encourage outstanding law talents to continue to pursue their studies and promote the lasting progress and prosperity of the Chinese legal industry", grants scholarships to outstanding young talents who graduate with impressive academic credentials from formal colleges and universities in China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) who intend to study for a formal degree at prestigious law schools both at home and abroad and plan to pursue a legal career after they complete their studies. As a leading full-service law firm in China, Han Kun encourages young legal students to train and exhibit their talents on a bigger platform, to convey the spirit and concepts of legal practitioners, and to contribute to the development of the rule of law construction in China.
A representative from the final examination panel delivered a speech at the ceremony. He first congratulated the winners on winning the Scholarship, and mentioned he has high expectations for the winners and believes they will become the next generation of legal elites and make greater contributions to the advancement of Chinese law. In closing, he also congratulated Han Kun for having held these ten exceptional scholarship competitions, and hoped that Han Kun will continue to lead Chinese law firms and help young law students to realize their dreams in pursuing their legal careers.
Li Xiaoming, a Han Kun partner and firm Co-CEO, who was also a member of the final examination panel, said that "as the Party celebrates the centenary of its founding, the Han Kun Youth Legal Scholarship welcomes its tenth anniversary. The new era provides young people with a bigger platform, which brings more opportunities as well as more challenges. In the past ten years, we have been pleased to see the growth in the number of legal practitioners, and more and more outstanding students continue to pursue their legal studies both at home and abroad. They are active in a variety of legal practices and contribute to the development and progress of the Chinese legal industry. The Han Kun Youth Legal Scholarship will continue to accompany young legal talents and provide support to help them to pursue their dreams in the next decade."
