BLG establishes a toehold in China

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National law firm Borden Ladner Gervais LLP is opening a representative office in Beijing, looking to attract more business from China's state-owned enterprises and other Chinese investors interested in Canada's natural resources.

The small office in the Chinese capital's central business district will be staffed with a handful of local business development staff, but no lawyers will be permanently based there. It is BLG's first office outside Canada since it closed a small London office it had a decade ago.

BLG's managing partner, Sean Weir, says BLG has won "more than its fair share" of work from Chinese clients, including large state-owned enterprises shopping for mining and oil-sands assets in Canada in recent years. And despite warning signs after the federal government moved to bar state-owned enterprises from gaining controlling stakes in the oil-sands, he says interest in Canada from Chinese investors has not slowed.

Even though the office will be small and serve largely as a perch for BLG partners flying in and out, Mr. Weir said Chinese clients look favourably on foreign law firms that have gone to the trouble to set up shop in China – a process he said involved approvals from multiple government ministries, even though BLG has no plans to actually practice Chinese law.

(Other prominent Canadian firms such as Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP, Gowling Lafleur Henderson LLP and Bennett Jones LLP also all have some sort of presence in Beijing.)

Mr. Weir also said he did not feel that the recent drop in oil prices, which has some concerned that oil-sands petroleum is now too expensive to produce, would reduce China's interest: "It's very patient money. It's long-term strategies that they are interested in."

He and several other BLG partners are headed over to Beijing to officially open the office with a reception on Oct. 28, a day before the Canada China Business Council holds its annual Beijing gala and meetings, being attended by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard and P.E.I. Premier Robert Ghiz.

Asked about the current clash between the Chinese government and pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, Mr. Weir said it did not affect the firm's plans: "I think China values Hong Kong as too important a commercial centre to mess up. And I don't think they will."