Public Utilities
JunHe’s lawyers have accumulated over 20 years of legal experience in public utilities in China, resulting in their leading position amongst their Chinese peers. Recently, JunHe expanded its services to overseas projects.
Our legal practice in public utilities covers areas such as investment, financing, construction and operations in connection with urban gas, heating, water supply, sewage treatment, wastewater reclamation, domestic waste disposal, roads, bridges, rail transit, public parking lots and utility tunnels. The applicable laws that need to be observed include Land Administration Law, Urban and Rural Planning Law, Construction Law, Company Law, Civil Code, Administrative Law, Bid Invitation and Bidding Law, Government Procurement Law, Highway Law and Environment Protection Law, alongside the laws, regulations and regulatory documents governing the relevant industries. Our legal services involve practices regarding the allocation and utilization of natural resources, urban and rural planning and design, procedures for infrastructure construction, urban management, concession of municipal infrastructure and public utilities, environmental protection, labor, taxation and safety.
This area of practice is an active business scope for JunHe’s Infrastructure and Project Finance team, and they have worked on many landmark projects. With the further marketization of this area, the promotion of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) approach, the standardized implementation of new mechanisms and the development of the Real Estate Investment Trust (REITS) business in China, JunHe’s Banking and Finance, Capital Market, M&A and Dispute Resolution teams have all expanded their practice in this area. JunHe plays an active role in and contributes to the marketization of this area and the promotion of PPPs by participating in domestic legislation, formulating agreement templates and undertaking theoretical research.
JunHe’s legal services in urban public utilities projects include:
The design of overall legal structures of projects as well as the legal structure for its investment and finance;
The application of BOT/TOT/BT/BOO within the Chinese legal system, especially after the promotion of PPP;
Whole-process legal services (including the provision of legal advice and the preparation, review and negotiation of legal documents) for bid invitation and the bidding, competitive negotiation and government procurement procedures for the selection of investors, contractors and operators;
Drafting, reviewing, negotiating and assisting in the closing of project financing documents;
Comprehensive legal consultancy for the construction and operational phases of projects, including reviewing and advising on engineering contracts, construction contracts, procurement contracts, EPC contracts, construction agency contracts, entrusted operation contracts, operation service contracts and other legal documents;
Legal services for project assets securitization (including ABS, REITS);
Dispute resolution including consulting on and acting as the agent in administrative litigation, civil litigation and arbitration.
Recent Representative Cases
Beijing No.10 Water Plant A Project (2000-2018)
JunHe’s lawyers acted as the PRC legal counsel to the Commission of Bid Invitation for International Investors regarding the concession of a project on behalf of Beijing Municipal Government, and afterwards advised Beijing Public Utility Bureau, Beijing Municipal Administration Commission (now Beijing Municipal Commission of City Management) and Beijing Water Authority in the international bid invitation and the bidding, restructuring, financing and revision of the agreements for the project.
The Acquisition of a large Swedish Environment Water Company by the Beijing Drainage Group Company and a Subordinate Fund of a State Development and Investment Company, Jointly Establishing a Company and a Fund (2013-2015)
JunHe advised on behalf of the founders of the Fund and, at the later stage, the Fund and led the legal team (comprising inter alia Swedish and Luxemburg lawyers), in examining, reviewing and revising all of the English legal documents, conducting legal due diligence, and participating in the negotiations of the major acquisition documents during the entire process. They further advised on the establishment and acquisition of a shell company, and the establishment of an SPV for the purpose of closing, as well as the financing and guaranteeing of the target company and its restructuring.
Beijing Nangong Domestic Waste Incineration Power Plant Concession Project (2005-2017)
This was a financial cooperation within the Sino-German Financial Operation Framework. Since March 2005, the government and its entrusted construction agent have engaged JunHe’s lawyers to advise on the international invitation for bid, the performance of the contracts and dispute resolution regarding the project, up to the signature and execution of the project concession agreement.
Xiamen Olympic Sports Center (2023)
JunHe advised CR Culture Sports on the transaction documents, the contract negotiations and communications. The Xiamen Olympic Sports Center takes up an area of 666,400 square meters, with a total construction area of 533,000 square meters and includes a stadium, two gymnasiums and supporting facilities.
Shenzhen Bay Culture Square Zone BC Cultural Facility Franchise (2024-2025)
JunHe acted on behalf of a government advisory body and provided legal services for the project, which was the first project in China's large-scale cultural facility sector to adopt a franchise model under the new PPP mechanism.
