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The development of competition law in Hong Kong has at times seemed a bit like that proverbial football kick between Charlie Brown and Lucy-firms keep preparing for the imminent introduction of Hong Kong's competition law, only to have its drafting and implementation delayed again and again. However, that long-awaited day seems to be nearly here, with the law's review committee expected to conclude their work in summer 2012.

This increasingly real spectre of the competition law has meant that clients are starting to invest in competition/antitrust consultation at an increasing rate, and have an interest in developing training and advisory programmes for their employees so that they are prepared when the law comes to pass.

Hong Kong is currently a bit of an outlier among Asia jurisdictions, having been one of the last to develop an anti-monopoly law. Places like Indonesia, Korea, Japan and China have gotten increasingly aggressive in enforcing their regimes and imposing fines on corporations who are not compliant. Together these movements represent a collective shift towards increasing regulation in the region.

After several recent high-profile failures-including Coca Cola's unsuccessful attempt to acquire HuiYuan juice producers because it was prohibited by Mofcom-clients from top firms seem to be investing more in antirust matters when it comes to investments and proposed M&As into China. This is also a boon to Greater China teams based in Hong Kong. Companies have taken a more preventative approach to compliance and ensuring that their proposals are successful with the Chinese government. Mofcom has increasingly resorted to Phase II investigations, which encourages firms to provide high-level advice to clients in the post-Coca Cola era.

Baker & McKenzie is known in the Hong Kong and Greater China markets for its genuine Chinese language capabilities and strong knowledge of the China market. This is certainly an advantage to Baker's international clients seeking to invest in China, as well as Chinese clients seeking outbound targets and acquisitions in new markets. The capability of Baker's Hong Kong qualified partners to advise clients at the highest levels also means that the firm also has an impressive client list of government statutory institutions and multinationals with deep Hong Kong connections.

Clients seem quite pleased with the firm's knowledge of Mofcom anti-monopoly law and pending Hong Kong developments in combination with the international calibre of advice and investors. "I've dealt with a lot of competition lawyers," one client says, "and many come with European and American contexts but they don't have the background to fit into the Chinese environment. They don't fit the concept and don't fit in China. Baker's team is a nice cut in between, western-educated and yet sensitive enough to steer me away as a client and not totally out of sync at to what it is that I need. The team at Bakers is a good fit and legal and commercially savvy."

One client we spoke to also had special praise for Shanghai partner Danian Zhang. "He listens to where the questions are for the us," says one client, "he listens intently to us, and then applies the law to my case. He explains the nitty-gritty details."

"Emma Davies is a rising star for corporate law on the competition front," says one client.

Clifford Chance's China antitrust practice is led by Beijing-based partner Ninette Dodoo, who brings substantial antitrust experience to Clifford Chance's Asia practice. Shanghai-based corporate partner Emma Davies also brings over 15 years of advising on China corporate transactions to the regional competition/antitrust team.

Clients seem to appreciate the professionalism and commitment the firm and its partners bring to antitrust issues, with one client telling us that, "Emma Davies is a rising star in the competition/antitrust front."

Clifford Chance has played a substantial role in the China market since Mofcom's anti-monopoly legislation was first introduced, having handled approximately 15% or notifications since the law was enacted. The team has a strong record of acting for clients by clearing cases without conditions, in Phase 1.

Recenty, Dodoo led Clifford Chance's team in advising the Aluminium Corporation of China (Chinalco) on its acquisition of a 47% interest in Rio Tinto's 95% interest in Guinea's Simandou iron ore project. The deal involved creating an iron ore sector joint venture, and took place amidst the Chinese Government's concerts about iron ore sector global price increases. Mofcom scrutinised the product and geographic market definitions for iron ore, and also asked all parties to provide a detailed market analysis as to why the proposed acquisition did not restrict or wipe out competition in China's market.

DLA Piper's Greater China competition and antitrust team is led in Hong Kong by partner David Cox, who has 37 years of experience in practising competition/antitrust law across the globe, and has advised on Chinese anti-monopoly law since its introduction in 2008. DLA Piper's competition practice was also augmented this year by the addition of Jingwen Zhu in July 2010. Zhu is qualified in China and brings a European and Chinese education to her experience in competition law advising. 2010 also brought the addition of Lucas Niedolistek to the firm's Hong-Kong based Asia Competition Group. Niedolistek has experience working as a lawyer in the European Commission's Competition Directorate as well as Europe and China private practice experience.

DLA Piper differentiates itself by its dedicated competition/antitrust team and the team also benefits from the firm's large antitrust teams over jurisdictions across the globe.

The competition team recently advised Cathay Pacific on a joint venture with Air China Cargo valued at over Rmb1.67 billion ($244 million). The joint venture creation meant that Cathay Pacific was aiming to obtain a 49% interest in Air China Cargo as part of an effort to create a strong Chinese player amidst the competitive international air cargo market. DLA Piper's teams coordinated multi-jurisdictional global merger filings for the carrier in China, South Korea and the EU.

Partner Nicholas French leads Freshfields Asian competition/antitrust practice from Beijing, and is responsible for restructuring teams in Hong Kong, China, Vietnam and Japan. Beijing-based partner Michael Han has deep experience with China's regulatory regime, having worked at the predecessor government body to the Ministry of Commerce (the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation) before joining Freshfields.

Clients seem to appreciate the genuine familiarity that Freshfields team has with Chinese regulators and authorities. "Freshfields has a good, specialised group of lawyers, says one client. "Michael Han is very strong since he has a good relationship with Mofcom."

Freshfields global network of top partners with multi-jurisdictional expertise means that the firm is well-equipped to advise clients on competition/antitrust issues that affect even the most complex businesses. The Beijing and Greater China competition/antitrust team represents clients in merger and joint venture efforts across a number of sectors. The Beijing team has special expertise in advising on issues in the manufacturing, construction, infrastructure, private equity and healthcare fields.

Herbert Smith's competition/antitrust team has built a strong practice in acting for leading multinationals in Mofcom merger filings. The firm's strong energy and project finance practice leads to some of these leading mandates, but the team also advises a wide range manufacturers in navigating Mofcom issues. Partner Karen Ip leads the firm's Greater China practice from Beijing.

One recent example of Ip's work was in advising China Gas as to whether its HK$408 ($52 million) acquisition of Zhongyu (Zhongyu) Gas was subject to Mofcom merger control filings. Zhongyu Gas' primary business is owning and operating gas supply concessions in a number of Chinese provinces, and the parties in the transaction were in dispute as to whether or not local governments had granted Zhongyu Gas the exclusive right to supply and distribute gas in the various provinces. China gas was able to gain approval in July 2010.

Linklaters' Greater China antitrust team is led by Beijing counsel Yuan Cheng and Shanghai-based corporate practice partner Simon Poh. Cheng specialises in competition and anti-monopoly law and also participates in non-public consultations with Mofcom, NDRC and SAIC on drafting new regulations, which gives Linklaters' clients key insights into the latest antitrust developments in China.

One client describes Cheng's work by saying: "He has very good knowledge in terms of antitrust legislation. Especially since the PRC (Peoples' Republic of China) introduced a lot of European legislation and he's worked in Europe before. He has a lot of US knowledge too. He learns very fast and is quite open to opinions."

This past year, the Linklaters team advised major international corporations (including state-owned entities) on international joint ventures across a range of industries from energy to the life sciences.

Norton Rose's top competition/antitrust team serves Greater China and Asia from the firm's Hong Kong office hub. The practice is led by well-regarded partner Marc Waha, who receives high praise from his peers. "It's just indisputable that he knows his stuff," says a partner at a rival firm. "He's intense, really works with his clients, and seems to know just about everything."

The competition/antitrust practice includes lawyers with European and Chinese educational backgrounds who are often dual-qualified. Offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai bring regional work specifically mandates from leading Japanese clients.

Clients have high praise for the team's capabilities. "We rate their technical skills in competition law and listings rules issues highly," one client tells us. "They're competent and have relevant expertise. We feel valued as a client. They have provided value added-service like giving tailored made seminars to our staff as part of the client management."

In 2011, the team advised ABP, Axa, Cargill, HSBC, Mitsui, NEC and P&O, among others, in relation to multi-jurisdictional merger filings in China and across the Asia Pacific region. Norton Rose's practice also continues to act as counsel for Cathay Pacific in advising the carrier on aspects of competition law related to its alliance with Air China, in addition to other competition-related matters.

The firm also continues to advise leading Hong Kong corporations on preparation in connection with the possible adoption of Hong Kong's anti-monopoly law.