James Zimmerman is chief representative and a partner in the firm’s Beijing office. He has been involved with China-related matters for more than 18 years and has lived and worked permanently in Beijing since 1998. Mr. Zimmerman represents multinational clients in a broad range of industries with respect to their joint venture investments, manufacturing investments, liquidation and dissolution of investments, mergers and acquisitions activities, regulatory compliance, customs and trade matters, IP registration and enforcement, and dispute resolution.

He is the author of several books, chapters and articles concerning China and trade related issues, including the China Law Deskbook (1999, 2005) which is a publication of the American Bar Association. Mr. Zimmerman is recognized as one of Asia’s leading business lawyers in the categories of Chinese Law and Dispute Resolution in Euromoney Publications’ AsiaLaw Leading Lawyers Survey 2002, 2003 and again in 2006 and 2007 for Dispute Resolution. He was recognized as a foremost legal practitioner in arbitration in the 2006 edition of The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers and as a leading individual in corporate mergers and acquisitions for foreign law firms in the 2006 AsiaPacific Legal 500. PLC Which Lawyer? Yearbook 2008 recommends Mr. Zimmerman for cross-border advice in China and dispute resolution.

Mr. Zimmerman is admitted to the California bar (1988) and a registered foreign lawyer in China since 1998. He is also admitted to the US Court of International Trade (CIT) and has trial experience before the CIT concerning China-related trade cases. Mr. Zimmerman is also on the Panel of Mediators for the US-China Business Mediation Center (jointly operated by CPR Institute of Dispute Resolution and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade). He is on the panel of arbitrators for the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission.

Mr. Zimmerman is the chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce China (AmCham), co-chair of AmCham’s Legal Committee and former chair of the China Law Committee for the American Bar Association’s International Section.

Representative Experience

• Providing counsel to multinational businesses in establishing, reorganizing, and merger and acquisition activities with respect to foreign investments in the automotive, industrial equipment, food manufacturing equipment, aviation and airport equipment, construction and engineering, pharmaceutical and medical device, petroleum and petrochemicals, IT and telecommunications, retail and franchising, and other industry groups.
• Providing counsel to parties outside China on various high-profile infrastructure projects in the airport, rail, telecom, utilities and water supply, and other government procurements; specifically provided assistance in negotiating and preparing teaming and consortium agreements, technology-related contracts, bid proposals and tender contracts, performance guarantees and surety bonds, and general consultation on procurement matters in China.
• Advising various parties outside China before China Customs on customs audits and investigations, penalty proceedings and general customs compliance issues.
• Advising various global companies outside China on product testing, product registration and approvals, import licensing, applications for sales permits, product inspection and factory audits.
• Providing counsel to Chine-based parties and other Asia-based entities in antidumping cases before US government agencies.
• Advising parties on World Trade Organization compliance related issues including the development of strategies for raising noncompliance issues to the Chinese government.
• Providing counsel to China-based companies in litigation matters before various state and federal courts in the United States.
• Advising parties outside China in arbitration before various arbitral institutions including the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission, the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, the Beijing Arbitration Commission and other arbitral institutions.