Tianhang Li

Tianhang Li is a senior partner at Hui Ye Law Firm, one of China's large full-service legal practices. Headquartered in Shanghai and operating from offices across China and beyond, Hui Ye advises clients on a comprehensive range of corporate, financial, dispute and regulatory matters, including criminal defence and compliance. Tianhang Li's expertise in criminal defence underpins his recognition as Criminal Defence Law Expert of the Year in China at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026.

A large, full-service Chinese firm

Hui Ye Law Firm (汇业律师事务所) is a substantial Chinese practice with an extensive office network — described on the firm's own materials as spanning dozens of locations globally. Its domestic footprint includes Shanghai, where the firm is headquartered, together with Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Chengdu, Xi'an, Ningbo, Wuhan and other major cities, alongside a presence in Hong Kong and internationally. This breadth allows the firm to serve clients across China's principal economic centres and to support matters that cross regional and national boundaries.

As a full-service firm, Hui Ye covers a wide spread of practice areas, including corporate and M&A, cross-border investment, capital markets, financial services, intellectual property, antitrust, labour, real estate, international trade and dispute resolution, as well as criminal defence and compliance. This range means that criminal-defence work sits within a broader commercial and regulatory practice, an increasingly important combination as enforcement and compliance risks have grown for businesses and individuals alike.

Criminal defence and compliance

Criminal defence is the field in which Tianhang Li has been recognised. In the business context, criminal-defence and compliance work has become steadily more significant as regulatory scrutiny has intensified. Matters in this area can involve allegations touching on economic and business conduct, and they demand advisers who understand both the criminal-procedure framework and the commercial realities facing companies and their personnel. Effective defence work requires careful case preparation, a command of the applicable law and procedure, and the ability to protect a client's interests through what can be a high-stakes process.

The pairing of criminal defence with compliance within the same firm is particularly valuable. Strong compliance advice helps businesses prevent problems before they arise, while experienced criminal-defence capability is essential when investigations or proceedings do occur. A firm that offers both can support clients across the full spectrum — from building preventive compliance frameworks to defending matters that reach the criminal sphere.

• Criminal defence in business-related matters
• Corporate compliance advice and risk management
• Support drawing on the firm's wider corporate and regulatory practice
• A nationwide office network centred on Shanghai

Recognised criminal-defence expertise in China

Recognition as Criminal Defence Law Expert of the Year in China highlights Tianhang Li's standing in a specialised and demanding field. Criminal-defence practice rewards lawyers who combine technical mastery of criminal law and procedure with sound judgement and the capacity to act decisively under pressure. As a senior partner in a large full-service firm, he can bring both dedicated criminal-defence experience and the wider resources of the firm's corporate and compliance practices to bear on his clients' matters.

For companies and individuals in China facing criminal-defence and compliance challenges, Tianhang Li and Hui Ye Law Firm offer experienced representation backed by a broad national platform. His recognition as Criminal Defence Law Expert of the Year in China at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 underlines his reputation as a leading criminal-defence practitioner.

As a senior partner, Tianhang Li is able to draw on both dedicated criminal-defence experience and the wider corporate, regulatory and compliance resources of a large full-service firm. For companies and individuals in China facing the growing risks of enforcement and investigation, that combination — preventive compliance advice on one hand and robust criminal-defence capability on the other — provides comprehensive protection, and it is his standing in the defence field that the award recognises.