ENG

  • Kent WOO

    Equity Partner / Guangzhou

  • Tel +86-20-2826-1777

    Email kentwoo@zhonglun.com

  • Practices

    Investment/M&A & Corporate Governance, Litigation & Arbitration, Cybersecurity & Data Protection

  • Industries

    Telecommunications & Internet

CV

Kent WOO

Kent Woo has over 20 years of experience practicing as a lawyer in China. Kent's expertise includes corporate & commercial law, foreign direct investment, mergers & acquisitions, litigation & arbitration, and data protection & cybersecurity. His clients are mainly multinational corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises from various countries and regions around the world, including European countries, the United States, India, Israel, Australia, and Hong Kong SAR. Serving a diverse international client base, Kent has developed tailored strategies for international business transactions in a wide range of industries, including the drafting of various transactional documents related to the establishment and operation of foreign-invested enterprises, participating in negotiations and resolving transactional disputes, and providing legal advice and services for data compliance under the Chinese legal system. Kent is fluent in English and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese).

Representative Matters

Foreign Investment/Sino-foreign Joint Venture/ M&A

  • Assisted a well-known real estate company and a Singaporean high-end hotel management company to open a luxury hotel in Foshan, providing services on drafting hotel and club design service agreement, hotel management contract, trademark license contract, etc.

  • Provided legal services to an internationally renowned Indian hotel management company for its investment in China as well as assisting it in the management and operation of its online platform

  • Advised a major soccer-based sports club in Portugal on setting up its joint venture in China, covering foreign exchange, taxation, general corporate investment laws, and reviewing related legal documents

  • Provided retainer-based  legal services including contract drafting and compliance for the wholly-owned subsidiary of a well-known French escalator group (with a history of over 150 years) located in Foshan, Guangdong

  • Assisted a large labor insurance company in Hong Kong and a domestic safety protection equipment company to establish a Sino-foreign joint venture in China

  • Advised a famous US homeware and security products company on relocating its manufacturing bases in China, including negotiating the lease, compensation from the local government, renovation, and preparing the transactional documents

  • Assisted a Canadian airline with conducting due diligence, negotiation, risk control, and drafting relevant legal documents on extension of Sino-foreign joint ventures, asset evaluations, equity transfers, etc.

  • Advised a leading Southeast Asian food and restaurant company on its commercial franchises and the establishment of its branches in China

  • Provided legal advisory services to a multinational children's products enterprise, covering IP strategy, implementation and protection of its IP rights, and implementation of relevant measures; advised on the incorporation of its subsidiary

  • Advised a French company on its acquisition of a manufacturing enterprise in Guangzhou by providing such legal services as due diligence, preparing acquisition documents,      negotiation and closing

  • Provided retainer-based legal services for the wholly-owned China subsidiary of a leading French nuclear power company

  • Advised a Singapore based private company on its equity investment in a software technology company in China

  • Advised a South American company on rental and general management of commercial properties in China and conducting e-commerce business with a major Chinese e-commerce portal

  • Advised a UK-based multinational FMCG giant on setting up a WFOE in Shenzhen to develop its franchise business in China

 

Foreign-Related Dispute Resolution

  • Represented a leading French nuclear power pipe industry group in a dispute with a domestic enterprise over contracts for international sale of goods involving an amount of more than RMB 150 million

  • Represented a Hong Kong environmental management company in a dispute with a Guangzhou machinery company over contracts for international sale of goods involving an amount of over HKD 20 million

  • Represented a famous German branded electric appliance company in a dispute with an electric appliance company in Foshan Shunde, Guangdong over contracts for international sale of goods involving an amount of over RMB 10 million

  • Assisted a major lighting equipment company based in Foshan in settling claims for damages against several Chinese companies, involving an amount of more than RMB 8 million

  • Represented a German trading company in a dispute with a Guangzhou enterprise over contracts for international sale of goods

  • Represented a wholly owned Chinese subsidiary of a Hong Kong leading international garment company over a lease contract dispute with a domestic company

  • Represented a French enterprise in arbitration regarding a dispute over contracts for international sale of goods

  • Represented an Australian multinational electrical appliance company by providing legal services on a dispute over contracts for the international sale of goods

  • Represented a German telematics company in a dispute with a domestic enterprise over contracts for international sale of goods

  • Assisted a major American company providing cross-border payment services and its Guangzhou office to solve cross-border payment disputes

  • Provided legal services for a German company in a dispute over contracts for international sale of face masks

  • Assisted the Guangzhou company of a Japanese world-renowned electronics company in internal compliance and anti-corruption investigation

  • Assisted a wholly owned subsidiary of a French group with a history of over 150 years in Foshan, Guangdong in internal compliance and anti-corruption investigation

  • Represented clients from the United Kingdom defrauded of fictitious cryptocurrency investments via an online network, involving an amount of approximately USD 2 million

 

Intellectual Property, Data Protection & Cybersecurity

  • Advised a leading global cross-border e-commerce Israeli enterprise on compliance, data protection, cybersecurity and other matters related to its operations in China in connection with its entry into the Chinese market for cross-border payment services

  • Provided retainer-based legal services for a German software company to take actions against online IP infringement in China and advised on data protection and cybersecurity and China related transactions

  • Provided legal advisory services to a mobile marketing platform which provides a platform for measuring and managing data for clients around the world, involving the data transfer restrictions set out in the DSL and the PIPL

  • Providing retainer-based legal services for a U.S payment services company on data protection and cybersecurity compliance in China

  • Advised a UK headquartered international school in Guangdong on data protection      policies and corporate commercial documents

  • Represented a major food company in Hong Kong in a dispute over trademark infringement and unfair competition, which was awarded as one of the "Top Ten Intellectual Property Cases Handled by the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court" and "Top Ten Cases of Intellectual Property Trial in Guangdong in 2013" by the Higher People's Court of Guangdong

  • Handled a dispute over website infringement on behalf of a well-known Hong Kong restaurant chain, achieving remarkable results.

  • Represented a famous American oil company against a Guilin technology company and its automobile beauty chain company for trademark infringement and unfair competition and won the case

  • Represented a major UK corporation in handling a trademark infringement dispute with a real estate company and a beverage & food company in China

  • Represented a major UK corporation in handling a dispute over trademark infringement and unfair competition with various real estate companies in west China. This case was selected as one of the 50 typical intellectual property protection cases published by the Supreme People's Court in 2011

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to an Israeli software company on data protection, network security and other aspects of China-related transactions involved in the course copyright enforcement operations in China

Honors and Awards

Leading Lawyer in Specialized International Legal Affairs in Guangzhou , Guangzhou Lawyers Association

Guangdong Leading Lawyer on Foreign Related Affairs, Guangdong Lawyers Association

Guangzhou Leading Lawyer on Related Affairs, Guangzhou Lawyers Association

Memberships & Affiliations

Deputy Director, 10th Foreign Legal Related Affairs Committee of Guangzhou Lawyers Association

Member, Disciplinary Committee of Guangzhou Lawyers Association

Member, the British Chamber of Commerce, South China Guangdong

Member, the Australian Chamber of Commerce, South China

Member, IBA (International Bar Association)

Publications

"Getting the most out of property purchase contracts", China Law & Practice, September 2014

"The Mechanism of Minimum Salary in Mainland China", HRM(the Official Journal of the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management), October 2010

"Employment Management in China at an Age of Economic Slowdown", HRM(the Official Journal of the Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management), July 2009

"Foreign Invested Educational Institutions", Asia Legal Business, November 2004

"Restructuring Your Distribution in China", Asian Legal Business, August 2004

Related

  • Bar Admissions/Professional Qualifications

    People's Republic of China

  • Education

    LL.M. (International Business Law), University of Manchester
    LL.M. (International Law), Sun Yat-Sen University

  • Professional Experience

    2015 to Present, Partner, Zhong Lun Law Firm
    2009 to 2015, Partner, Guangda Law Firm
    2003 to 2009, Partner, Kingson Law Firm
    2001 to 2002, Legal Counsel, Yahoo! China
    1997 to 2001, Legal Assistant, Masons Guangzhou Office

  • Languages

    Chinese
    English