Foreigner (Dutchman) Appointed as Global Partner in Chinese Magic Circle Law Firm

Dutch Law Firm Merges With Chinese Mainland Partners Into DeHeng Civil Code NV

THE HAGUE, The Netherlands and BEIJING, February 2, 2011 - Dutch corporate lawyer and lecturer Dr Victor Meijers (1964) is the first
foreigner to have been appointed global partner by the top tier Chinese law
firm DeHeng Law Offices. At the same time, DeHeng Law Offices and boutique
law firm Civil Code NV merged into DeHeng Civil Code NV in Holland.
Prestigious DeHeng Law Offices, at incorporation in 1993 still named China
Law Office, counts over 1,000 lawyers and experts and not only handles major
IPO and M&A cases in the People's Republic of China, but also contributes
actively to law making and Chinese law societies.

In 2010, DeHeng Law Offices have raised over EUR 28.7 billion for
clients. A recent example of an IPO is the listing of the Agricultural Bank
of China last summer, raising EUR17.2 billion for the former owners. A recent
example of a creative piece of legal work is the successful introduction a
few months ago of the RMB bond issued by Chinese state owned companies
through HongKong, by which instrument foreigners can legally invest in RMB.

The appointment of Dr. Meijers is remarkable because no Europeans or
Americans have until now been admitted into the upper echelons of the Chinese
legal system. Dr. Meijers was recently involved with the incorporation of an
international joint venture structure for the expansion of Rotterdam harbour
(2e Maasvlakte); the structuring of MERLIN, a clearing house for e-royalties
of Indy music producers and co-founder of Spotify; the global re-structuring
of KPMG as well as drafting Dutch legislation including the Trade Register
Act (Handelsregisterwet 2007).

After years of building natural trust and common understanding, DeHeng
Civil Code N.V. now constitutes part of the communist spirited Chinese law
firm with global ambitions. This merger is interesting because since the
start of the 'go global' politics in 1999, Chinese investments abroad have
exploded (in 2010 USD 60,000,000,000.00). Investments are also realized in
the Netherlands. Rotterdam harbour relates 25% of it's turnover to Chinese
business. Chinese investments abroad are not limited to logistics and
commodities, but now also move towards the service industries. The
appointment of Victor Meijers gives Holland a direct link to a countryman in
this Chinese powerhouse.

Dr Victor Meijers: "Doing business outbound to China is not the most
important for the Netherlands. It's the other way around: China invests
enormously in the rest of the world. They do that scholarly and precise and
preferably with insight into governance of structures in which they invest.
In the service industry China may also seek a top position. The domination of
the merchant banking and the legal industry by common law jurisdictions is
not written in stone. As for Holland, Chinese people like our country as a
place to work and to live, some Chinese even catching up quickly on the
concept of "gezellig" as Dutch expression for a warm and nice homely
interaction between friends.

The DeHeng Civil Code team in Holland consists of 8 lawyers and 5
paralegals and support, including Chinese and Dutch native speakers. Victor
Meijers founded Civil Code NV in 2005.

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Media contact in Europe, Veronique van Zanten, +31(0)6-51831707, dehengcc at koningvogel.nl