Guantao successfully represents client in application for recognition and enforcement of a Hong Kong arbitral award

Recently, in a case handled by Guantao involving an application for the recognition and enforcement of a Hong Kong arbitral award, the Kunming Intermediate People’s Court of Yunnan Province ( “Kunming Intermediate Court”) issued a civil ruling fully supporting all claims advanced by Guantao on behalf of the applicant.

In this case, the applicant was an overseas entity, while the respondents were local Yunnan enterprises and certain individuals. The dispute arose from multiple equity transfer agreements of a complex structure, each containing repurchase provisions. The amount in dispute reached several hundred million RMB. During the Hong Kong arbitration proceedings, the case was heard by three-member tribunal composed of well-known arbitrators. Both parties also engaged leading industry experts to provide expert reports on the legal issues involved. After obtaining a favorable arbitral award, the applicant applied to the Kunming Intermediate Court for recognition and enforcement of the Hong Kong award in Mainland China. Guantao efficiently initiated the enforcement proceedings on behalf of the applicant and, in accordance with the Arrangements of the Supreme People's Court on the Reciprocal Enforcement of Arbitration Awards by Mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and its supplementary arrangements, clearly and persuasively demonstrated the enforceability of the Hong Kong arbitral award before the Court.

According to the Supreme People’s Court’s periodically issued Annual Report on Judicial Review of Commercial Arbitration, in recent years courts nationwide have concluded only dozens of cases annually concerning applications for recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan. Based on publicly available information, this case may represent the first instance in Yunnan Province in which a Mainland court substantively ruled to recognize and enforce a Hong Kong arbitral award. It is also among the relatively few such cases in Southwest China, and therefore carries certain demonstrative significance.

This case was led by Shen Peng from Guantao Beijing office, with participation from partner Di Huan and associate Zhang Chuyao, also from Beijing office.

Shen Peng partner of Guantao Law Firm, director of International Arbitration and Mediation Committee

Mr. Shen has extensive experience leading major and complex commercial litigation, cross-border arbitration, and compliance matters. He is particularly adept at handling disputes involving multiple jurisdictions and parallel legal proceedings. Over the past decade, Mr. Shen has led or participated in more than 100 commercial disputes, with a total aggregate amount in controversy exceeding RMB 12 billion. In 2017 and 2018, he was consecutively recognized as a “Next Generation Partner” in dispute resolution in the Asia-Pacific region by The Legal 500.

Mr. Shen is admitted to practice in both China and the State of New York, United States. He serves as a mediator at the Beijing Diversified Dispute Resolution Center, an arbitrator at multiple arbitration institutions, and a specially appointed research fellow at the Arbitration Institute of China University of Political Science and Law. He has delivered lectures on international arbitration at several leading domestic universities and has published numerous articles in mainstream overseas legal media over the past decade, primarily focusing on international arbitration, cross-border litigation, and domestic commercial disputes.

Email:peng.shen@guantao.com

Di Huan partner of Guantao Law Firm

Ms. Di’s practice areas include private equity funds, competition law and antitrust, and corporate and M&A matters. As one of the earliest professionals to serve as a compliance and risk-control head at a private fund manager, she possesses comprehensive, lifecycle experience covering fundraising, investment, management, and exit of private equity funds. She has advised clients in completing over a hundred investment and financing transactions across sectors including semiconductors, biomedicine, advanced manufacturing, and new energy, and has led legal services for the fundraising and operation of private equity funds with assets under management exceeding RMB 10 billion. Ms. Di currently serves as a member of the Private Equity and Equity Investment Legal Committee and the Industry Development and Law Firm Management Guidance Committee of the Beijing Lawyers Association. She is included in the Beijing Lawyers Association’s Foreign-Related Legal Talent Pool and serves as a legal advisory expert to the Shandong Provincial New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion Guidance Fund. In 2025, she was recognized as a recommended lawyer in the “LegalOne Elite 100: Corporate and Commercial” list by LegalOne.

Email: dihuan@guantao.com

Zhang Chuyao associate of Guantao Law Firm, deputy secretary-general of International Investment Committee

Ms. Zhang focuses on dispute resolution, international arbitration, and compliance matters. She has provided legal services to numerous central state-owned enterprises, high-tech companies, and cross-border enterprises.

Email:zcy@guantao.com