Senior Clifford Chance partner quits for King & Wood

Clifford Chance partner Rupert Li has left the firm to become international managing partner at King & Wood.

The capital markets specialist was also a member of the magic circle firm’s management committee in London.

At King & Wood he will split his time between Beijing and Hong Kong offices and has been tasked with ramping up the firm’s international presence, as it looks ahead to a period of growth.

Li was involved in a number of high-profile transactions at Clifford Chance since joining the firm from Morrison Foerster in 2006.

Last year he acted on Chinese governments £13.66bn cash injection into the mining group Rio Tinto (February 23, 2009).

In a statement released this morning, Peter Charlton, Clifford Chance regional managing partner for Asia, said: “In the four years since he joined Clifford Chance, Rupert has made a significant contribution to the growth and management of our China practice and to the development of our lawyers in China.”

“He has been a respected member of several firm management committees and a good friend and mentor to his colleagues in China.”

“We certainly hope to maintain our excellent relations with Rupert after he joins his new firm, and we wish him the very best going forward.”