Ashurst is pleased to announce the appointment of Patrick Phua as a partner in its China practice. Patrick, an experienced finance lawyer specialising in derivatives and structured products, joins Ashurst from the Beijing office of Mallesons Stephen Jaques, where he was head of the derivatives, structured finance and banking practice in China.

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised Dragone Entertainment GmbH on its 10 year strategic cooperation with Dalian Wanda Group, a leading commercial real estate developer in China.

Dr. Ren Yunling, a highly experienced attorney in the field of intellectual property joined King & Wood as a partner of the IP Litigation group in Beijing.

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised China Communications Services Corporation Limited (CCS) on its domestic share and H-share rights issue.

Covington & Burling is adding a highly regarded corporate team to its Beijing and Silicon Valley offices, bolstering Covington’s global transactional capabilities in the technology and life sciences sectors.

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised Beijing Jingneng Clean Energy Co., Limited on its US$244 million global offering of shares and listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised Affinity Equity Partners and Unitas Capital on the sale of Leader Harvest Power Technologies Holdings Limited through auction to Schneider Electric SA for US$650 million. The transaction closed after successfully obtaining China merger control clearances.

International law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has advised New China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (NCI) on its US$1.9 billion global offering of shares and simultaneous A + H listing on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges. With today’s listing, NCI became the only company to have A + H shares listed simultaneously this year.

Expanding its strategic investment in Asia and globally, Bingham McCutchen LLP announces the opening of a Beijing office with the addition of recognized international lawyer Xiaowei Ye as a partner and the transfer of Tokyo corporate partner Brian Beglin to Beijing. Ye and Beglin will serve as managing partners of the new office, Bingham’s third Asian location in addition to Tokyo and Hong Kong. Both are also principals in Bingham Consulting LLC, the firm’s affiliated business providing strategic and public policy advice on cross-border and multijurisdictional matters.

O’Melveny & Myers LLP represents Global Education & Technology Group Limited (Nasdaq: GEDU), a leading provider of language training, educational courses and test preparation services in China, in its proposed sale to Pearson plc (Pearson), a global media and education company headquartered in London.  The parties have entered into a definitive agreement and plan of merger pursuant to which Pearson (through a merger sub) would acquire all outstanding Global Education shares for a total value of approximately US$294 million.  The transaction remains subject to approval by Global Education’s shareholders and is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2011.