Xin Liu

About Xin Liu

Xin Liu is a partner in the Asia dispute resolution group, splitting his time between our Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong offices. He specialises in international arbitration, cross-border litigation, investigation and compliance matters.

Xin has 15 years of practice experience acting in a wide range of cross-border disputes involving multinational corporations, state-owned enterprises and governments. These matters have included litigation in various jurisdictions and arbitration before ICSID, ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, CIETAC, LCIA, and SHIAC, as well as ad hoc arbitrations under UNCITRAL rules.

Xin has extensive experience in complex regulatory investigation, internal investigation, and crisis management in both the US and China, including with respect to alleged bribery / FCPA violations, money laundering, fraud, and sanctions violations. Leveraging his involvement in high-profile investigations by the US DOJ, SEC, OFAC, BIS, FCC, and Congress, as well as various Chinese and European regulators, Xin is known for his deep expertise in helping multinational companies manage investigations in Asia, especially those with a China nexus. He also helps clients deal with investigations and sanctions by multilateral development banks such as the World Bank.

In addition, Xin is experienced with data protection and cybersecurity issues and understands how they are best handled in cross-border disputes, investigations and compliance, having advised a number of multinational clients operating in the technology and fintech spaces.

Xin has been recognised as one of the most accomplished lawyers in Asia by ALB's Asia 40 under 40 and a leading arbitration practitioner by the Legal 500's Private Practice Powerlist 2023 - Hong Kong.

Xin was seconded to our New York office for a year, and prior to joining Freshfields, Xin worked for four years with a leading Chinese law firm in Beijing and the World Bank in Washington D.C.

Recent work

Xin's recent arbitration and litigation experience includes:

• representing a Fortune 500 company in a US$2bn shareholder control dispute before Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and a few ancillary proceedings in the US and Cayman Islands;
• representing a Chinese energy company in a Singapore-seated UNCITRAL arbitration involving over US$600m, arising from an energy infrastructure project with a foreign listed company;
• representing a leading global electronics manufacturer in a joint venture dispute with a Taiwanese partner regarding an investment in China before the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC);
• representing a leading beverage and brewing company in a dispute arising from the sale and purchase of shares and land in the PRC before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC);
• representing a Chinese state-owned enterprise in an investment arbitration against a Middle-Eastern country before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID);
• representing a German state-owned bank in ICC arbitration proceedings regarding alleged breach of inter-linked-finance documents as well as in the subsequent settlement negotiations and enforcement proceedings in multiple jurisdictions;
• representing a world leading IT company against its channel distributors or business partners in several arbitrations before China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC);
• advising a large Chinese state-owned enterprise in a series of potential litigations and arbitrations in three European and Middle-east jurisdictions arising from one of the largest outbound investments for Chinese companies;
• representing a Hong Kong-listed company in a corporate control dispute before a Hong Kong court and an insolvency proceeding before a British Virgin Islands court arising from the misappropriation of funds by a former senior executive;
• representing a well-known fashion company in New York court proceedings against its founder in a dispute relating to a non-compete agreement;
• advising a global fast food and beverage chain in a high-stake anti-trust litigation before Chinese courts; and
• representing a German-based photovoltaic investor in an arbitration before the Shanghai International Arbitration Center (SHIAC) concerning alleged payment claims brought by its Chinese supplier.

His recent investigations and compliance experience includes:

• advising a multinational pharmaceutical company in a major DOJ and SEC FCPA investigation in connection with its business in China and defending related investigations in the PRC brought by local regulators;
• advising the US DOJ-appointed monitor for a financial institution with more than 350,000 agents across 200 countries on anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, and OFAC compliance;
• advising a US-headquartered global chemicals distributor in the internal investigation of bribery and tax fraud allegations in China and the subsequent external investigation by Chinese authorities;
• a Chinese SOE on a World Bank investigation and sanctions for allegedly repeat bribery and compliance violations in African construction projects;
• a major Chinese contractor on an Asia Development Bank investigation for alleged fraudulent bidding practices in various South Asian construction projects;
• advising a European company under investigations by various Chinese authorities regarding its product distribution practice prompted by a public health scandal;
• advising a Japanese trading company in its internal investigation for possible sanctions violations and self-report to OFAC;
• advising a US private equity fund on managing anti-corruption and sanctions risks in relation to its various investments in China and Singapore;
• advising a leading international brewer on designing and implementing a compliance program for a few newly-acquired subsidiaries operating in China; and
• assisting a number of international companies (including SOEs and private-owned companies headquartered in China) in developing their anti-bribery, sanctions and export control compliance programmes.