01
Explain before you decide
A legal answer is only useful if you understand the reasoning, the risks and the alternatives. We set out the position before asking you to choose.
About the firm
A Shanghai law firm for international lives and businesses.
We advise clients who are new to China, established here, or managing a Chinese matter from another country — and who want the position explained clearly, in English.
Clarity about China, without the distance.
Shanghai Shengwo Law Firm is based in Jing'an, at the centre of the city's commercial life. Our client desk works with international companies, executives and families on matters that require a Chinese legal view and an international perspective.
A legal question in China rarely stands alone. A lease affects company registration; a termination affects an immigration status; a family decision affects property in two countries. We look at the matter as a sequence of practical steps, not as an isolated clause in a document.
We explain the law in plain English, identify the decisions that belong to you and handle the Chinese-language work that follows. Where a matter requires advice in another jurisdiction, we coordinate with your existing lawyer, accountant or family adviser.
We do not publish client names or outcomes. Enquiries and instructions are treated with discretion, and we confirm conflicts and engagement terms before substantive work begins.
Our approach
Three things we try to do well.
The work is technical, but the experience should not be. These principles shape how we run a matter.
02
Keep the matter joined up
We consider the Chinese position alongside the practical consequences for your company, your family or your plans elsewhere.
03
Put the scope in writing
Clear deliverables, clear assumptions and a clear fee basis. You should know what is included before the work begins.
Who we work with
Different clients, different questions.
Our clients share an international dimension. The matter in front of them can be commercial, personal or both.
International companies
Foreign-invested enterprises and cross-border businesses that need a Shanghai firm for contracts, employment, market entry, IP and disputes. We work with in-house counsel, overseas headquarters and local management.
Executives & assignees
Foreign employees and their families moving to or leaving Shanghai. The work often starts with a work permit or employment contract and widens to housing, schooling-related documents and personal arrangements.
International families
Families with members, assets or relationships in more than one jurisdiction. We handle sensitive personal matters with discretion and coordinate the recognition questions that arise across borders.
Advisers abroad
Lawyers, accountants and family offices outside China who need a Shanghai counterpart to execute local steps, review documents or provide a China-law view to their client.
Language & communication
The working language is English. The local work is handled in Chinese.
One conversation, two legal languages.
Meetings, advice, drafts and status updates are provided in English. Chinese-language documents, filings and correspondence are prepared or reviewed within the same matter, so you do not have to assemble a separate translation chain.
Where a document must be signed in Chinese, we explain the effect of the Chinese text before you sign. Where a foreign document is needed in China, we identify the translation, notarisation or legalisation step required.
Advice in English
Clear explanations of the Chinese law and process
Clear explanations of the Chinese law and process
Chinese documents managed
Drafting, review, filing and correspondence
Drafting, review, filing and correspondence
Cross-border coordination
Working with your advisers outside China
Working with your advisers outside China
Find us
In Jing'an, at the centre of the city.
Our office is on the 33rd floor of SOHO Donghai Plaza on Tongren Road. Visits are by appointment.
Shanghai Shengwo Law Firm
33F, SOHO Donghai Plaza, No. 299 Tongren Road, Jing'an District, Shanghai
上海市静安区铜仁路299号SOHO东海广场33楼
158-2183-2774From outside China: +86 158 2183 2774 · 7×24
Telephone answered 7×24Office visits by appointment