The China 45 Are Growing Rapidly—and Not Just the Elites

Hong Kong. Credit: ESB Professional/Shutterstock.com

As China juggled a trade war with the Trump administration and a slipping domestic economy, the country's largest law firms still managed to deliver significant financial growth last year across the board. And while the behemoths continue expanding, the country's smaller firms are quickly catching up.

Together, the 45 highest-grossing Chinese law firms reported $8.7 billion in global revenue in 2018, up a staggering 17.1% from 2017. The top five firms on the list, Dentons, King & Wood Mallesons, Yingke Law Firm, Zhong Lun Law Firm and AllBright Law Offices, each took a spot on this year's Global 100 as well. AllBright, with $484 million in total revenue, debuted at No. 96 on that list, while Yingke, with $624 million in revenue, rose 19 places to 78th and Zhong Lun, with $527 million in revenue, jumped 13 spots to 85th.

On this year's China 45, the largest firms actually dragged down the rest of the list. Dentons ($2.42 billion) and King & Wood Mallesons ($1.13 billion), the two top-grossing Chinese firms, reported a combined $3.55 billion in revenue, up 3.5% from 2017's $3.43 billion. Meanwhile, the remaining 43 firms grew by 28.8% from $4 billion to $5.15 billion.