On December 17, 2024, after a wide-ranging market survey and independent editorial assessment, China Business Law Journal unveiled this year's The A-List 2024: Visionaries in China's legal market, which includes 100 lawyers practicing PRC law and 80 lawyers practicing in foreign law firms or overseas. Four Han Kun partners Kelvin Gao, Charles Li, David Li, and Yan Wang (in alphabetical order by surname) were selected for their outstanding contributions to Chinese legal practice.
Kelvin Gao
Mr. Gao has practised law for more than two decades and has extensive experience in a variety of fields and industries. His major practice areas include M&A, formation and deployment of private equity funds, securities offerings, and corporate restructuring. Mr. Gao has been legal counsel to numerous leading investment institutions, multinationals and unicorn companies, for which he has provided a full range of legal services, from deal structuring and legal documentation to closing, for their various cross-border M&A, joint ventures and financing projects in industries covering the internet, computer software, entertainment media, education and training, consumer and retail, as well as healthcare services. Mr. Gao routinely serves as counsel to many leading institutional investors.
Mr. Gao has been consistently recognized by leading global legal directories such as Chambers, Legal 500, and IFLR as a leading lawyer in Venture Capital and Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions, Investment Funds, TMT and Healthcare, and has been awarded as External Counsel of the Year by In-House Community for consecutive years.
Charles Li
Mr. Li has been working at Han Kun Law Offices since January 2005, where he specializes in public and private financings (equity and debt), mergers and acquisitions, incorporation and corporate restructuring, foreign direct investment, and intellectual property protection. He has represented many Chinese and international companies in a wide variety of cross-border transactions in different industries such as telecommunications, the Internet, information technology, energy, clean technology, consumer goods, healthcare, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. Mr. Li is knowledgeable of PRC industry policies, corporate structure, capital operation, financial planning, and investment and project management.
Mr. Li has been consistently recognized by leading global legal directories such as Chambers, Legal 500, IFLR, ALB, Asialaw Profiles, China Law and Practice and China Business Law Journal as a leading authority in China on Venture Capital and Private Equity, Mergers and Acquisitions, Capital Markets Transactions, TMT and Healthcare.
David Li
Mr. David Li specialises in private equity and venture capital, capital markets, M&A and foreign direct investment. He has extensive experience in the PE and VC industry and has represented numerous well-known foreign and domestic PE and VC funds in their investments in China. Mr. Li has assisted hundreds of companies in connection with private placements, which cover a variety of industry sectors, including the internet, AI, education, biotech, consumer, new energy, gaming, media and advanced manufacturing. He has also advised a wide range of clients on IPOs on both domestic and overseas stock exchanges and has represented clients in various high-profile M&A deals.
Mr. Li has been consistently recognized by leading global legal directories such as Chambers, Legal 500, IFLR, ALB and China Law and Practice as a leading lawyer in Venture Capital and Private Equity and TMT.
Yan Wang
Mr. Wang is the founding partner of Han Kun's IP department. He is a seasoned litigator who has spent more than 20 years in top US and China law firms, guiding both emerging and established companies through IP, antitrust and other global disputes. He serves as one of the firm's managing partners and leads its IP department of over 150 professionals.
Mr. Wang has considerable experience representing high-profile clients in IP disputes across a diverse portfolio of technologies, including mobile phones, automotives, electronics, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. His practice comprehensively spans competition issues, with a particular focus on anti-trust litigations and investigations.
Mr. Wang has been consistently recognized and honored by leading global legal directories such Chambers Greater China Region, Legal 500, ALB, Benchmark Litigation, MIP and IAM as a leading IP authority in China.
China Business Law Journal's A-List 2024: Visionaries honors seasoned legal luminaries who have distinguished themselves both within and beyond their firms. In key management positions of founders, managing partners or heads of practice areas, they excel in their profession and develop sharp industry insight to steer their firms' strategic growth.
Committed to the betterment of the legal ecosystem, not only do these trailblazers spearhead business innovation with a panoramic vision. They also actively engage on the broader social stage, lending their expertise to industry associations and public institutions. Their transformative impact extends to legislative consultation and charitable initiatives – hallmarks of their industry eminence and steadfast social responsibility.
The final list is the aggregate result of market nominations, candidates' own submitted supportive information, and independent research conducted by the editorial team.
