ENG

  • Chongwen LI

    Equity Partner / Beijing

  • Tel +86-10-5087-2888

    Email lichongwen@zhonglun.com

  • Practices

    Litigation & Arbitration, Debt Restructuring & Non-performing Assets, Compliance & Investigation

  • Industries

    Real Estate, Urban Infrastructure, Banking & Financial Services

CV

Chongwen LI

Mr. Li obtained his LL.B. degree from Southwest University of Political Science and Law and LL.M. degree from Jilin University. He has been working as a PRC qualified lawyer in the dispute resolution area for over 20 years. Drawing on solid professional skills, profound practical experience, meticulous approaches, and the ability to maintain a comprehensive perspective and devise innovative solutions to disputes, he has achieved exceptional success, won the trust of his clients, and established an outstanding reputation in the industry.
Mr. Li is adept at handling large, complicated, difficult commercial disputes regarding banking and financing, securities investment, real estate cooperative development, control and takeover of listed companies, venture capital, construction, etc. Mr. Li leads a team of more than 10 lawyers with solid academic and practice background handling highly influential and representative cases before the Supreme People's Court and its five circuit courts, high and intermediate people's courts of major provinces and cities in China, as well as China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Beijing International Arbitration Center (BIAC), and Shenzhen Arbitration Commission (SZAC). He and his team are dedicated to providing professional and practical dispute resolution strategies to clients and creatively solving litigation risks and business crises. Several cases that his team represented are selected into the Gazette of the Supreme People's Court and other case collection publications.
Mr. Li is highly recommended by many of his clients, including banking institutions such as China Construction Bank, Bank of China, Shengjing Bank, and their branches, non-bank financial institutions such as Haitong Securities Co., Ltd., Huatai Security (Shanghai) Asset Management Co., Ltd., Taikang Asset Management Co., Ltd., China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd., China Huarong Asset Management Co., Ltd., CMW Asset Management Co., Ltd., Guangdong Utrust Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., Cedars International Trust Co., Ltd., Zhong Chuan Finance Co., Ltd., and AVIC Trust Co., Ltd., state-owned giants such as China Communications Constructions, China Energy Investment Corporation, China Railway Group Limited and Fujian Metallurgical (Holding) Co., Ltd., well-known private enterprises such as Fujian Guancheng, Chongqing Lummy Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Rong Yu Group Co., Ltd., Qing Dian Energy Group, and Huijin Lifang Asset Management, foreign-related corporations such as Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd., Toyota Motor (China) Investment Co., Ltd. and Cummins (China) Investment Co., Ltd., as well as government agencies and government-sponsored institutions such as Ministry of Land and Resources, Beijing Housing Provident Fund Center, and the Information Center of China's Ministry of Finance.

Representative Matters

Litigation

  • Represented Fujian Rare Earth (Group) Co., Ltd. before the Supreme People's Court in the second instance trial and review of retrial claims concerning its approximately CNY 1 billion contract dispute with Xiushui Jutong Investment Holding Co., Ltd. and a third party Jiangxi Jutong Industry Co., Ltd. and won the case for the client. This is the first case where the Supreme People's Court has upheld, through a judgment, the validity of an equity transfer guarantee under which the ownership of the equity was acquired by the creditor upon liquidation of the equity after the obligor had failed to fulfil its obligations guaranteed. In addition, the second-instance judgment of the case has been included in the Interpretation and Application of the Minutes of National Court Work Conference for Trial of Civil and Commercial Cases composed by the Civil Adjudication Tribunal No.2 of the Supreme People's Court

  • Represented Beihai Weihao Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. and Beihai Animal Byproducts Import and Export Co., Ltd. of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in their over CNY 53 million dispute with Guangxi Beisheng Group Co., Ltd. about a land use right transfer agreement before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The case set the precedent that confirmation of the invalidation of a contract is not subject to statute of limitations. The case has been included as a representative case in the 9th issue of the Gazette of the Supreme People's Court in 2006

  • Represented Anhua Meibo Group in its approximately CNY 1 billion dispute with Yihe Yinfeng Industry Co., Ltd. and others over an equity transfer agreement before the Supreme People's Court and helped the client recover hundreds of millions worth of losses in CNY by settling the dispute through compromise

  • Represented China Cinda Asset Management Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 830 million dispute with Jiujiang Chemical Factory and Jiujiang Chemical Fiber Factory, among others, over a loan guarantee agreement before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Jiangxi Province and won the case for the client, with the judgment fully enforced through debt restructuring

  • Represented a state-owned construction company before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Heilongjiang Province in its dispute of around CNY 500 million with a real estate company over a construction contract

  • Represented an individual before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Hainan Province in his approximately CNY 200 million dispute with a Hainan-based industry company and another individual over a contract for establishment of a joint venture, joint development of real estate, and private lending, winning the case for the client and helping him achieve his business goals through enforcement by auction

  • Represented a Chinese mainland company and a Hong Kong-based investment company in their approximately CNY 430 million contract dispute with an urban administration bureau before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Hebei Province, obtaining a final judgment in favor of the clients

  • Represented Guangdong State Grid Co., Ltd. before the Supreme People's Court in the retrial of the client's approximately CNY 300 million dispute with Jieyang Luyuan Stock Company Limited and other entities over a power supply contract, persuaded the court to change the venue of the hearings to ensure a fair trial and helped secure a settlement between the parties, recovering nearly CNY 100 million worth of direct losses for the client and avoiding billions of CNY of potential losses in other similar cases

  • Represented Hainan Changyu Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Hainan Province in its dispute of about CNY 200 million with Xinlong Holding (Group) Co., Ltd. and an individual over a contract for establishment of a joint venture and joint development of real estate and successfully caused the case moved up to the Supreme People's Court, which then remanded the case to the trial court for a new trial. The client ended up winning the case and causing the debtors to abide by the judgment

  • Represented CITIC Guoan Group Co., Ltd. and Skyworth Group Co., Ltd. before the Supreme People's Court and High People's Court of Jiangsu Province in their contract dispute of over CNY 200 million with Jiangsu Administration for Industry and Commerce and won the case for the client. In this case, the preservation measure employed against the administration caused it to surrender a land parcel used by a company under it, and the surrendered land was auctioned off to fully compensate the client for all its principal, interest, legal costs, and attorney's fee, among other losses

  • Represented Beijing Uni-construction Real Estate Development Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 150 million dispute with Minfu Property Group Co., Ltd. over an entrustment agreement before the Supreme People's Court and won the case for the client

  • Represented Weihai City Huancui District Rural Credit Cooperative before the Supreme People's Court in the retrial of an approximately CNY 80 million dispute with Kunming Commercial Bank (now known as Fudian Bank) over the right of recourse to certain negotiable instruments and a guarantee agreement and protected the client from all liability by settling the dispute through compromise

  • Represented the Jiangxi Branch of China Construction Bank Corporation in the second instance trial of its over CNY 70 million dispute with a bank corporation about an entrusted loan agreement before the Supreme People's Court and won the case for the client, with the client bearing no liability

  • Represented a Shenyang-based insurance company in its approximately CNY 27 million dispute with a Chengdu-based company over unjust enrichment before High People's Court of Sichuan Province and Intermediate People's Court of Chengdu City, winning the case for the client and helping it recover all losses

  • Represented the Nanchang Office of China Cinda Asset Management Corporation in its around CNY 100 million dispute with Jiangxi Green Pharmacy Co., Ltd. over a loan guarantee agreement before High People's Court of Jiangxi Province, winning the case for the client and securing a debt restructuring of the other party

  • Represented Guangdong Utrust Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 700 million dispute with Dalian Tianzhi Industry Co., Ltd. and others over a financial loan guarantee agreement before High People's Court of Liaoning Province and Intermediate People's Court of Dalian Municipality, winning the case for the client and recovering all losses of the client through auction of a famous mall in Dalian worth over CNY 800 million

  • Represented six major shareholders of a listed company in their approximately CNY 2.6 billion capital increase dispute with the company triggered by performance compensation before High People's Court of Beijing Municipality, persuading the court to dismiss the main claims of the opposing party and helping the clients avoid substantial losses amounting to about CNY 2 billion. This case involves intricate procedures, such as major asset restructuring of the listed company, performance compensation, compensation for depreciation, and collection of evidence overseas

  • Represented an individual before High People's Court of Beijing Municipality in his CNY 240 million dispute with Beijing Oriental Yuelong Real Estate Co., Ltd. and Beijing Tianya Property Development Co., Ltd. over a contract for establishment of a joint venture and joint development of real estate

  • Represented a bank in its approximately CNY 220 million dispute with China City Construction Holding Group Company over a corporate bond transaction before High People's Court of Beijing Municipality and Beijing No.2 Intermediate People's Court and obtained a favorable judgment for the client

  • Represented Changzhou Jinghuang Capital Management Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 80 million dispute with an individual, Jiangsu Zhenfa Holding Group Co., Ltd., and Zhenfa Energy Group Co., Ltd., among others, over capital increase before High People's Court of Beijing Municipality and helped the client achieve its business goals by settling the dispute through compromise

  • Represented Changsha Zhaosheng Real Estate Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 466 million dispute with Changsha Municipal Land Administration over a contract for grant of construction land use rights before High People's Court of Hunan Province

  • Represented a wholly-owned subsidiary of a well-known listed pharmaceutical company in the second instance of its over 230 million CNY contract dispute with a Changchun-based pharmaceutical company before High People's Court of Jilin Province over the exclusive right to distribute the first generic "tadalafil tablets" in China, having the first-instance judgment overturned by the court and thereby recovering losses in an amount of tens of millions of CNY for the client


Arbitration

  • Represented Chengshang Group Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 200 million dispute with Pacific China Holdings Ltd. over a Chinese-foreign contractual joint venture agreement before the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, securing an arbitral award in favor of the client and taking back the property and occupancy fees of previous Renmin Mall located in the core commercial area for the client

  • Represented a subsidiary of a central enterprise and a well-known business group in an approximately CNY 1.8 billion BT contract dispute with a local administration committee and its local investment platform, among others, before the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission 

  • Represented China Merchants Wealth Asset Management Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 200 million dispute with a private company over an income right transfer and repurchase agreement before the Beijing Arbitration Commission, securing an arbitral award in favor of the client and recovering all debts for it through enforcement

  • Represented Shenzhen Skyworth-RGB Electronics Co., Ltd. in its approximately CNY 330 million capital contribution transfer dispute and its approximately CNY 200 million share transfer dispute with a major shareholder of a listed company before the Beijing Arbitration Commission, securing arbitral awards in favor of the client in both cases and recovering all debts for the client through prompt preservation of shares held by the shareholder in the listed company and conclusion of a settlement agreement between the parties during the enforcement of the award

  • Represented a well-known capital management group before the Beijing Arbitration Commission in its approximately CNY 650 million dispute with a trading company over a contract for the latter's compensation for a shortfall of the former's investment in a private placement offering of a listed company and secured an arbitral award in favor of the client

  • Represented a well-known capital management company in its approximately CNY 550 million dispute with a joint-stock company over making good a shortfall of investment before the Beijing Arbitration Commission, and won all claims for the client despite the complex structure of the transaction and the extremely complicated information and data involved

  • Represented Beijing Hanwei Plaza Property Development Co., Ltd. before the Beijing Arbitration Commission in its approximately CNY 67 million dispute over payment of construction costs of Hanwei Tower, obtaining a favorable arbitral award and recovering over CNY 40 million worth of losses for the client

  • Represented a construction company in its dispute with a travel group company over its approximately CNY 800 million hotel transfer contract before the Beijing Arbitration Commission

  • Represented Shenzhen Saige Co., Ltd. in its dispute with Zongheng International Electronics Expo City (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. over a cooperation agreement before the Beijing Arbitration Commission and helped the client achieve its business goals by settling the dispute through compromise

  • Represented Jilin Towngas in its approximately CNY 150 million dispute with Shenzhen Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. over a financial leasing agreement before the Shenzhen Arbitration Commission (also known as the Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration)


Other Representative Work

  • Provided legal services to scores of listed companies or actual controllers in their disputes over rights of control amid hostile takeovers

  • Provided legal services to many listed companies which faced potential administrative penalties from the China Securities Regulatory Commission for their suspected violations of the securities law and got the clients to secure a mitigated penalty or be exempted from a huge penalty

  • Provided legal services to Shanghai Lilith Technology Corporation in its dispute with a Shanghai-based investment partnership (LP) over equity interests in game software development, leading to a settlement between the parties out of the court

  • Provided legal services to Tsingtao Brewery Co., Ltd. in its dispute over a series of contracts with an individual

  • Provided legal services to China Merchants Wealth Asset Management Co., Ltd. in setting aside a judgment and in its dispute over an asset management contract with an investment company, a real estate development company, and other entities

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to Ministry of Land and Resources

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to the Information Network Center of China's Ministry of Finance

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to Beijing Housing Provident Fund Center

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to the Beijing Branch of China Guangfa Bank

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to China Merchants Wealth Asset Management Co., Ltd.

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to Taikang Asset Management Co., Ltd.

  • Provided retainer-based legal services to Beijing Rail Transit Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. of China Railway 16th Bureau Group Co., Ltd.

Honors and Awards

For Individual

Litigation Star, Benchmark Litigation PRC, 2022

Top 15 Litigation Lawyers, ALB China, 2023

Recommended Lawyer - China's Mainland, The Legal 500, 2023

Memberships & Affiliations

Legal Professional, China Banking Industry Association

Off-campus Mentor, Renmin University of China

Former Researcher, Center of Study of Difficult and Complicated Cases, China University of Political Science and Law

Former Arbitrator, Wuhan Arbitration Commission

Publications

“Study on the Scheme of Right of Subrogation Based on the Contract Law”, Jilin Renmin Press

Related

  • Bar Admissions/Professional Qualifications

    PRC Bar, 2002

  • Education

    Jilin University, 2000
    Southwest University of Political Science and Law, 1992

  • Professional Experience

    Partner, Zhong Lun Law Firm, 2014 to present
    Partner, Grandway Law Offices, 2012-2014
    Partner, Beijing Kaiwen Law Firm, 2002-2012
    Associate, Beijing Kaiyuan Law Firm, 2001-2002
    Judge of a people's court, 1992-2001

  • Languages

    Chinese