Legal support behind Chengdu’s manufacturing push abroad | China

As Chengdu advances its “Chengdu Brands Going Global” strategy, the city’s manufacturers are shifting from simple product exports to global value chain expansion. For lawyers advising these firms, the shift is clear: legal risk is no longer confined only to investment, M&A and contracts, but extends across every stage of the value chain, from intellectual property protection and compliance to cross-border dispute resolution.

Chengdu has developed a comprehensive legal support system to underpin this outward drive. Anchored in three dimensions – policy guidance, service empowerment and risk management – it provides both direction for companies expanding overseas and a platform for more specialised legal services. This article examines how the system operates and the results it delivers.

Going global

When manufacturers venture abroad, the priorities of their lawyers consistently converge on three imperatives: preventing risk, resolving disputes and protecting rights. The legal support system offers a structured channel for professional assistance.

Policy guidance supplies lawyers with authoritative references for compliance advice; service empowerment broadens access to capable counsel; and risk management mechanisms underscore the benefits of bringing in legal counsel at an early stage.

This model of government building the platform, professionals taking the lead, and enterprises sharing the gains has become a hallmark of Chengdu’s legal ecosystem supporting manufacturers’ expansion overseas.

International legal support

From a practitioner’s standpoint, Chengdu has built an international legal support framework anchored in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. This framework offers companies a clear policy roadmap for going global.

Businesses can draw on government lists of overseas market opportunities and combine them with professional lawyers’ expertise to analyse local legal environments and assess potential risks.

For example, when an electronic information enterprise plans to invest in Southeast Asia, it can use the industry orientations in these lists as guidance and focus on key domains such as foreign investment access, intellectual property protection, labour standards and tax policy.

The findings form a country-specific legal risk report, helping firms avoid hidden legal “reefs” before entering a market. This policy checklist, plus professional due diligence, significantly enhances both the accuracy and safety of a company’s overseas expansion.

End-to-end legal support

End-to-end legal services for cross-border matters have become the core pillar of Chengdu’s manufacturing expansion abroad, aligning closely with the integrated international needs of companies.

Three key dimensions illustrate how specialised legal teams provide value chain-wide support to manufacturers going global.

(1) Legislative alignment. The authors have participated extensively in legislative consultation for new-economy sectors, including the Chengdu Intelligent and Connected Vehicles Promotion Measures. Combining this experience with outbound investment advisory work, they have offered expert recommendations to help harmonise domestic regulations with international standards.

For instance, during the drafting of airworthiness standards for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), the authors referred to EU EASA benchmarks and proposed adding a clause on “mutual recognition of cross-border certification”, reducing repetitive review costs for subsequent export approvals.

(2) Specialised services. Through the city’s legislative liaison mechanism, the authors have provided one-on-one legal support for overseas investment to companies such as Tongwei Solar, Renxin Robotics, Ellington Electronics Technology, and Chengdu’s automotive manufacturers.

In one case involving a leading Chinese electronics manufacturing services provider building a plant in Thailand, a “domestic-foreign lawyer collaboration” model was implemented, delivering comprehensive assistance covering company registration, land due diligence and agreement execution, localisation of employment contracts, and ongoing legal advisory support.

(3) Dispute resolution. The authors have collaborated closely with Chengdu International Commercial Court, leveraging its professional expertise and international reach to help enterprises resolve cross-border disputes. When a Chengdu based smart device maker faced a patent infringement claim from a European client, the case was resolved through a mediation mechanism jointly operated by the commercial court and an EU mediation body, achieving settlement and avoiding high litigation costs.

Legal risk early warning

“Prevention before remediation” is a core principle for companies going global. Legal service teams can collaborate with government departments to build a corporate legal risk shield through two key measures:

• When conducting training in international legal practice, the authors draw on real cases to brief corporate executives on practical aspects of cross-border investment, international trade and compliance management. After training more than 1,000 participants in 2025, many companies noted that in subsequent overseas partnerships they became better able to identify “trap clauses” in contracts and demonstrated significantly stronger compliance awareness.
• To establish a joint government enterprise mechanism against infringement and counterfeiting, the authors have assisted enterprises in developing overseas intellectual property strategies covering patent applications, trademark registrations, and trade secret protection. For one eyewear lens manufacturer expanding abroad, advance trademark registration of its logo was secured in the target market, preventing potential infringement. A beverage company was also supported in handling small scale trademark infringement cases, helping protect its brand image.

Takeaways

Chengdu’s policy framework, service network and risk prevention mechanisms provide a solid foundation for global growth and create a broad stage for legal professionals to apply and extend their expertise.

Beyond offering legal support, this also feeds back into enhancing and refining this broader system through continual practical experience. From assisting enterprises in achieving compliant international operations to resolving cross-border disputes, every case deepens understanding that the rule of law is the most reliable “passport” for Chinese companies going global.

As legislation for emerging industries advances and international legal co-operation deepens, the authors will continue to leverage their professional strengths to explore new service models integrating law, industry and finance. With the rule of law as a safeguard, Chengdu’s manufacturing sector is poised to seize more opportunities in the global market, while lawyers will accompany enterprises on their path to sustainable growth through ever more professional service.

Gan Jianming is a partner at Tahota Law Firm. He can be reached by phone at +86 028 8662 5656 and by email at [email protected]
Zheng Wenwen is a partner at Tahota Law Firm. She can be reached by phone at +86 023 6788 7666 and by email at [email protected]