Andrew Zhang

Andrew (Xinyang) Zhang is the Managing Partner of Commerce & Finance Law Offices, one of China's leading independent law firms, based in Beijing. A prominent adviser on the legal questions raised by artificial intelligence, big data and the wider digital economy, he has been named AI & Big Data Lawyer of the Year in China at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2025, an award that reflects his standing at the frontier of technology law in China.

Zhang has been with the firm since 2007, becoming a partner in 2012 and rising to lead it as managing partner. His practice covers technology, media and telecommunications and the internet sector, together with private equity, mergers and acquisitions and the capital markets. This combination of technology focus and transactional depth means he advises clients not only on the novel regulatory issues thrown up by emerging technologies but also on the investment, financing and corporate structures through which those technologies are built and brought to market.

His expertise is notably broad within the new economy. He has extensive experience across artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing, the internet of things, the sharing economy, internet healthcare, new retail, cultural and entertainment ventures, intelligent hardware and the knowledge economy. Few practitioners can claim such wide exposure to the sectors defining China's digital transformation, and it allows him to advise clients ranging from early-stage innovators to established groups on the legal frameworks, data governance and commercial arrangements that underpin technology-driven businesses.

Zhang is recognised as a leading Chinese lawyer in the new economy, having been involved in a number of landmark transactions that have influenced the development of the relevant markets. Work of this kind requires the ability to apply established principles of corporate, capital-markets and regulatory law to business models for which precedent is often limited, and to help clients manage the legal uncertainty that accompanies rapid technological change. That capacity to combine commercial pragmatism with an understanding of fast-moving regulation is central to his reputation. The law governing artificial intelligence and big data is among the fastest-evolving areas of practice anywhere, spanning data protection, cybersecurity, intellectual property, competition and sector-specific regulation, and clients building data-driven businesses increasingly need advisers who can anticipate where the rules are heading rather than merely react to them as they stand.

Commerce & Finance Law Offices, the firm he leads, was established in 1992 and has grown into a large full-service practice with a substantial complement of legal professionals across offices in China and beyond, including dedicated capabilities in cybersecurity, data protection and the new economy. Within this platform, Andrew Zhang offers clients advice tuned to the intersection of technology, data and finance. His recognition as AI & Big Data Lawyer of the Year in China at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2025 affirms his position as one of the country's foremost advisers on the law of the digital age.