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Professionals
  • Joseph Li
     Shanghai
     Member of PRC Bar
  • Partner
  • Practices：
    Corporate
  • Tel：
    8621 6859 0516
  • Fax：
    8610 8587 0079
  • Email：
    joseph.j.li@chancebridge.com
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Practice areas and experience

Joseph Li is the Executive Partner of the Shanghai office and a partner in the corporate division of Chance Bridge Law Firm. Mr. Li has 20 years of extensive legal and compliance experience, is qualified as a PRC lawyer, and is an anti-fraud examiner certified by ACFE. Mr. Li specializes in cross-border investment, merger and acquisition, corporate compliance, corporate restructuring and reorganization, intellectual property protection, and related commercial dispute resolutions, especially good at generally counseling the China business of multinational companies and the going-global business initiatives and overseas investment of Chinese companies. Mr. Li recently has provided services to clients from the industries of FMCG, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, Internet and E-commerce, automobile and auto parts, healthcare, life service and logistics, and so on.


Mr. Li previously led the China legal function of a leading nutrition multinational company and the Asia legal function of a leading beauty multinational company. For over a decade, he was responsible for all legal and compliance matters, covering corporate, marketing, sales, R&D, and manufacturing business units in the areas of commercial transaction, investment and financing, anti-corruption and privacy compliance, intellectual property, employment, and general corporate matters, which brought him field experience about post-merger integration, corporate governance, and cross-border compliance. His prior private practice in Hogan Lovells and Dorsey & Whitney, two leading international law firms, focused on merger and acquisition, foreign direct investment, and joint ventures in multiple industries such as Internet and information technology, life science, FMCG and retail, fashion and beauty, sports and entertainment, energy and infrastructure, electronics and electrical, private equity, and venture capital.


Mr. Li has provided legal services to numerous European and American companies investing directly in the Yangtze River Delta region in the initial years after China's accession to the WTO. Subsequently, he also assisted many foreign-invested manufacturing companies and trading firms in expanding their business channels and networks across various regions in China by obtaining distribution rights. Mr. Li served as the external legal advisor for the joint venture project between Anschutz Entertainment Group and China's Oriental Pearl Group, which later became the Shanghai Mercedes-Benz Arena. He provided full legal support for the design, construction, operation, naming, and commercial marketing of the Shanghai Expo Performing Arts Center, making significant contributions to the successful hosting of the Shanghai World Expo. Mr. Li also provided legal consulting services for the high-lift system project of the C919 aircraft, designed and constructed by Moog Inc. in cooperation with the Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC), contributing to the successful launch of China's first-generation large aircraft. During his tenure at Coty Inc., Mr. Li completed the acquisition and post-merger integration of China's skincare leader, Tjoy Group, establishing Coty (China) Investment Co., Ltd. as the investment headquarters, supporting the overall merger of Coty Inc. and Procter & Gamble's beauty business.


Mr. Li has accumulated extensive theoretical and practical experience in the fields of cybersecurity, data compliance, and personal information protection. He holds certifications as a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) from the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), a Certified Information Privacy Professional and Fellow (CIPP/CIPM/CIPT/FIP) from the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), a Data Protection Officer (DPO) and Information Security Officer (ISO) from EXIN, a Certified Data Management Professional (CDMP) from the Data Management Association (DAMA), and a Certified Individual Information Protection Professional (CISP-PIP) from the China Information Security Evaluation Center (CNITSEC). Mr. Li recently provided compliance services in data security and personal information protection in the areas of corporate data governance, cross-border data transfer, and data product transactions.


Work experience

  • Chance Bridge Partners, Partner
  • Herbalife Nutrition, Vice President, Legal
  • Coty Inc., Legal Director
  • Hogan Lovells, Associate
  • Dorsey & Whitney, Legal Consultant
  • Li Ning Company, Legal Counsel


Educational background

  • China Europe International Business School, Mini-EMBA, Organizational Leadership
  • Hong Kong University, Faculty of Economics, International MBA
  • University of California, Berkeley Law School, LLM and Law & Technology Program
  • University of Sydney, Law School, LLM
  • Donghua University, Faculty of Law, LLB


Working language

Chinese and English

Cross-border investment and M&A

  • Advising and representing a leading Chinese AI company in establishing its R&D center in the U.S. and manufacturing facility in Vietnam;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in establishing a China R&D center in Shanghai and a new manufacturing plant in Nanjing;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in setting up an e-commerce legal entity in Guangzhou, applying for an Electronic Data Interchange License, and developing its e-commerce platform business;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. beauty company in its acquisition of a Chinese leading skincare company and managing the post-merger integration;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. beauty company in setting up a foreign-invested holding company as its regional headquarters to integrate and manage existing and future investments in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. beauty company in establishing a joint venture with a leading Korean cosmetics company in Seoul to distribute products in the local market;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. sports and entertainment company in its joint venture with a domestic public company to build and operate a world-class arena in Shanghai;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. accounting and consulting firm in its acquisition of a consulting firm in Shanghai;
  • Advising and representing a leading European private equity fund in its acquisition of Qingdao carbon black business;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. energy company in its acquisition of a liquefied petroleum gas business in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. investment bank in its acquisition of a transportation infrastructure project in Chongqing;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. venture capital fund in its investment in a Chinese pharmaceutical company in Hainan;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. food company in its acquisition of the assets of two domestic food companies in Qingdao;
  • Advising and representing a U.S. cryogenic equipment company in its establishing a Sino-foreign joint venture in Changzhou for the production of cryogenic distribution equipment;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.K. engineering and manufacturing company in its establishment of a wholly foreign-owned manufacturing enterprise in Changzhou;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. medical device company in its establishment of a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai for the import and distribution of dental products;
  • Advising and representing a U.S. industrial absorbent company in its establishment of a wholly foreign-owned enterprise in Shanghai;
  • Advising and representing a U.S. optical products company in its establishment of a wholly foreign-owned manufacturing enterprise in Suzhou;
  • Advising and representing a U.S. flexible products company in its establishment of a wholly foreign-owned manufacturing enterprise in Suzhou;

 

Cross-border compliance & regulatory affairs

  • Advising a leading German manufacturing company with respect to cybersecurity and data protection compliance matters;
  • Advising a leading German chemical company with respect to data security and data cross-border transfer compliance matters;
  • Advising a leading Chinese financial media with respect to data compliance for data product transactions;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in establishing a data governance framework to improve data protection and privacy compliance in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in conducting a privacy impact assessment on digital product development and design in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in its internal investigation in response to SEC/DOJ corruption allegations and improving the company's compliance management and internal control systems;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company to respond to government investigations in China about suspected unfair or deceptive business practices;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in designing a new business model and continuously refining and improving it to comply with the Direct Selling Regulations and the Anti-Pyramid Scheme Regulations;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company's cross-border e-commerce channel in compliance with customs regulations to successfully bring overseas products to the China market;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. consulting company to respond the government investigation from the market supervision authority in Shanghai;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. retail company to respond the government investigation from the labor authorities in China;

 

Intellectual property protection

  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in investigating and prosecuting unauthorized parallel imports and sales of domestic products on the Internet to protect the company's brand and channels in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company and a leading U.S. beauty company in trademark disputes, and obtaining well-known trademark status in China for the company's trademarks;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. education institution to seek remedies for copyright infringement in China;

 

Corporate restructuring and reorganization

  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. nutrition company in restructuring its regional sales team and closing a large number of branches;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. beauty company in disposing of redundant manufacturing facilities, intellectual property, equipment, and machinery and completing changes to business models;
  • Advising and representing a leading Chinese sporting goods company in its corporate financing and disposition of a licensed brand;

 

Corporate and commercial matters

  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. aerospace industry company on the design and supply of critical components for the largest commercial airliner designed and manufactured in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. fashion company in connection with its international trade, distribution, and retail operations in China;
  • Advising and representing a leading U.S. medical device company in connection with the operation and management of its distribution business in China;
  • Advising and representing a U.S. entertainment company in connection with its commercial performance at the Shanghai International Arts Festival;
  • Advising and representing a leading Chinese pharmaceutical company in connection with its distribution and retail business.

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