Taylor Wessing realises Beijing dream

Taylor Wessing has opened its long-planned Beijing office after receiving its operating licence from the Chinese ­authorities last month. The base will be headed by the firm’s international China group head ­Florian Ranft and partner Christoph Hezel, assisted by two ­associates.

The firm hopes to make three additional lateral associate hires in Beijing and to train and send three Germany-based lawyers to Beijing by the end of the year. The Beijing office will focus on advising ­European companies that want to enter China and Chinese companies planning to move in the opposite direction.

The ­Beijing office will work with the firm’s 12-strong Shanghai base as well as the ‘China desk’, which is staffed by 38 lawyers ­distributed across China, France, Germany and London.