中资所近年来在香港发展迅猛，天元香港备受市场关注。近日，天元香港合伙人李竟弘、纪晓东和刘宁接受了《亚洲法律杂志（ALB）》的专访并登载于亚洲版12月刊，下附媒体采访报道的中文翻译。
天元律师事务所香港办公室于2016年成立，尽管在过去的一年，疫情和中美关系紧张影响了资本流动，天元香港资本市场业务仍稳健增长。
天元香港拥有50位合伙人和律师，具备提供香港上市服务的强劲实力。
天元香港合伙人李竟弘表示，本所今年通过为客户提交近20份上市申请，进一步强化了市场领先的地位。
“我们不仅在IPO数量上处于领先地位，而且在不同的行业领域也处于领先地位，”李律师说。“一个是医疗服务。连续三年，我们参与了该行业年度最大的交易，如2019年的锦欣生殖集团有限公司、2020年的海吉亚医疗保健控股有限公司和2021年的朝聚眼科控股有限公司。（注：天元香港包揽了2021年全部成功香港上市的连锁医疗企业。）
“本所另一个引人注目的领域是娱乐和游戏行业。”
“在过去的几年里，天元香港服务于大多数独立游戏公司的香港上市，”李律师说。“特别是，我们在2020年完成的祖龙娱乐上市，是香港最大的独立游戏公司的上市项目。”天元香港合伙人刘宁表示。
“2021年初，我们为稻草熊娱乐集团的香港上市提供了服务，这是该行业的首个上市项目，也开启了后续娱乐相关企业在香港申报上市的浪潮。”
天元香港于2020年完成9宗主板香港首次公开发行，在香港中资律师事务所中脱颖而出。
国际标准加中国知识
对于熟悉天元律师事务所在境内强劲实力的人来说，香港分所的崛起并不奇怪。与内地团队的合作是天元香港的强项之一。“我们境内团队的支持至关重要，这给了我们香港律师（对中国法律）更全面的认知，”李律师说。
此外，这项合作使天元香港分所能够充分利用其在中国内地为数众多而强大的分所资源。
“鉴于我们的律师可以在北京、上海和深圳等城市的办公室工作，我们可以更好地为客户服务，”刘律师说。
刘律师说，由于这种合作，天元可以将内地和香港的顾问都引入同一个上市项目，让客户对律所在管理成本和时间方面的效率放心。
李律师说，天元香港团队会积极主动地在企业发展早期开始为客户提供服务，并擅于解决棘手的问题。
人才是天元香港的另一个关键力量。
李律师说，几乎天元香港所有的合伙人和律师都有在国际律师事务所工作的经验和对中国市场良好的了解。
这种深厚的知识储备是天元在中国境内多家分所带来的另一个好处：使境内和香港的律师能够密切联系和合作。
“我们服务的优势在于国际化标准和本地化认知的结合，”李律师说。
新形势，新机遇
本所发展策略的成效日益显现：随着境内外新的监管环境落地，香港正在成为企业走向国际资本市场的更理想平台，天元香港合伙人纪晓东律师表示。
“随着中国《网络安全法》和《数据安全法》的颁布，对跨境数据的存储和处理提出了严格要求，拥有数百万用户所生成数据的公司可能会将注意力转移到香港募集资金，”纪律师说。
“趋严的监管实操也影响了原本计划在上海科创板上市的公司。随着市场收紧科技产业的科创属性，一些公司撤回了上市申请，而这些公司可能会转向香港，”纪律师指出。
“天元长期服务众多希望于中国内地或美国上市的客户，并担任其中国律师；如果其中一些客户想转到香港上市，我们可能具备先发优势而成为他们的香港顾问，“纪律师补充道。
随着新法规政策的出台和实施，天元香港将抓住更多的发展机遇。
“我们可以接触那些受到监管变化影响较大的潜在客户，并尽最大努力吸引他们来香港，”纪律师说。
2022年继续成长
刘律师说，2022年的目标是“做大做强”。
随着天元香港的持续增长，“我们会努力完成更多有市场影响力的交易”。李律师预计本所也将在特定领域继续发展壮大，并在2022年争取更大的市场份额。
对于纪律师和天元香港的其他合伙人来说，随着越来越多的中国公司将目光投向香港资本市场，业务可能会变得更加同质化，未来一年将是一个“律所差异化优势竞争”的机会。

Tian Yuan Law Firm Hong Kong Office, which launched in 2016, continued to expand its Hong Kong capital markets practice through the past year even as the pandemic and Sino-U.S. tensions impacted capital flows.

With over 50 fee earners, Tian Yuan Hong Kong has cemented its reputation as the leading firm for IPO work in Hong Kong.   The firm solidified its leading status this year through its work in filing around 20 IPO applications for its clients, says Nan Li, a partner of Tian Yuan Hong Kong.
“We are not only leading in the number of IPOs, but also leading in different industries,”   says   Li. “One is medical services. For three consecutive years, we worked on the largest deals of the year in this industry, such as Jinxin Fertility Group Ltd. in 2019, Hygeia Healthcare Holdings Co. Ltd. in 2020 and Chaoju Eye Care Holdings Ltd. in 2021.”
Another eye-catching area for the firm is entertainment.
“In the past few years, Tian Yuan Hong Kong served most independent gaming companies,”   says Li. “In particular, the Archosaur Games IPO we completed in 2020 is the largest independent gaming company IPO in Hong Kong,”   says Ning Liu, a partner of Tian Yuan Hong Kong.
“At the beginning of 2021, we provided services for the Hong Kong listing of Strawbear Entertainment Group, which is a pioneer listing in this industry and opened a wave of subsequent entertainment-related companies filing IPOs in Hong Kong.”   Tian Yuan Hong Kong completed 9 mainboard Hong Kong IPOs in 2020 and stood out among PRC law firms with offices in Hong Kong in this regard.
International standards plus Chinese know-how
The firm’s rise is not surprising to those who are familiar with Tian Yuan Law Firm’s strong practice in China Mainland. The collaboration with the Mainland team is one of the strengths of Tian Yuan Hong Kong. “The support of our Mainland Chinese team is crucial, which give us Hong Kong lawyers comprehensive know-how,”   Li says.
Also, the collaboration enables Tian Yuan Hong Kong to leverage the resources of a large and strong network of office in China Mainland.
“Given that our lawyers can work from our offices in cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, we can serve clients better,”   says Liu.   As a result of this collaboration, Liu says, Tian Yuan can bring in both Mainland and Hong Kong counsels into one IPO, reassuring clients of the firm’s efficiency in terms of management cost and time
Li says Tian Yuan Hong Kong is prominent in its proactivity in serving the clients quite early on and tackling the problems. Talent is another key strength of Tian Yuan Hong Kong.   Almost all of the associates and partners in the firm have experience in international law firms and understand the China market comprehensively, says Li.
This deep pool of knowledge is another benefit of Tian Yuan’s network throughout China Mainland, which enables lawyers from both the Mainland and Hong Kong to interact with and work closely together.   “Our services are a combination of international standard and Chinese knowhow,”   says Li.
New environment, new chances
The firm’s strategy is increasingly functional as new regulatory environments present Hong Kong as a preferable choice for international issues, says William Ji, a partner at Tian Yuan Hong Kong.
Companies with millions of users generating data might shift their focus to Hong Kong for fundraising as the enactment of the Cyber Security Law and Data Security Law in China has imposed strict requirements on cross-border data storage and processing, says Ji.
“Strict regulations have also impacted companies aiming to go public in the Shanghai STAR market. As the market tightened the attribute of sci-tech innovation, a fair number of companies pulled back their listing applications, and these companies might turn to Hong Kong,”observes Ji.
“Tian Yuan Law Firm has been serving its clients aiming to go public in China Mainland   or the U.S. as their domestic counsel; if some of those clients want to switch to Hong Kong for listing, we   may have firstmover advantage to be their Hong Kong counsel,”   adds Ji.
And with more regulations promulgated and implemented   in the offing work, Tian Yuan Hong Kong will try to seize more opportunities.
“We may approach potential clients who have been significantly affected by the regulatory changes and try our best to attract them to Hong Kong,” suggests Ji.
Continued growth in 2022
The goal for 2022, says Liu, is to “grow bigger and stronger”.
“Also, we want to approach more influential deals in the market”. As Tian Yuan Hong Kong continues growing, Li expects the firm to also grow stronger in specific areas and to seize a larger market share in 2022.
For Ji and Tian Yuan Hong Kong’s other partners, the year ahead will offer an opportunity to “differentiate the firm’s advantages”   as with more Chinese firms look towards the Hong Kong capital market, and the business may become more homogeneous.