Lorenzo Riccardi

Lorenzo Riccardi is managing partner of RsA Asia, a tax and corporate advisory firm operating between Asia and the wider world, and is based in Shanghai. A certified public accountant specialising in international taxation, he was named International Tax Adviser of the Year in China at the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2024, recognition of a career spent advising foreign investment into East Asia and building bridges between Asian and Western markets.

Riccardi leads RsA Asia alongside Giorgio Riccardi. The firm describes its work as advisory, tax and accounting between Asia and the world, and maintains offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore and Milan. Its taxation practice covers value-added tax and indirect taxation, corporate tax assistance, transfer pricing, mergers-and-acquisitions taxation and customs duties, complemented by advisory services in market entry, company valuation, joint ventures and foreign direct investment, and by accounting and audit services including statutory audits and interim chief financial officer support. This positions the firm as a single point of contact for companies structuring cross-border operations across the Far East.

International tax advice of the kind Riccardi provides is central to the decisions that foreign investors make when entering China and the wider region. Questions of corporate structure, transfer pricing, treaty relief, indirect taxation and repatriation of profits shape the viability of an investment, and errors can be costly and difficult to unwind. The firm's presence in both Asian financial centres and Milan reflects the reality that much of this work sits at the meeting point of European and Asian tax systems, requiring advisers who understand both and who can coordinate the accounting, audit and advisory strands that a cross-border project demands.

Riccardi's standing extends well beyond his firm. He has been appointed an arbitrator of the Shanghai International Arbitration Centre, a role that reflects his authority in international commercial and tax matters. He is also a prolific academic and author. He holds an adjunct associate professorship at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, and has taught taxation at Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Tongji University and Hult Business School, having earned a master's degree in economics from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing.

As a writer, Riccardi has published extensively on business and tax law and on foreign investment in Asia. His books include "Chinese Tax Law and International Treaties", "China Tax Code: Selected Tax Regulations and Treaties", "China Accounting Standards" and "China Tax: Quick Facts on the PRC Fiscal System". He is a columnist for a range of Italian and Asian business publications, including Corriere Asia, Fiscalità Estera, Il Sole 24 Ore and China Law and Practice, and is widely cited on the practical application of China's fiscal system to international investors. From his Shanghai base, the combination of advisory practice, arbitral appointment, academic teaching and published scholarship gives his counsel unusual depth, and the 2024 Corporate INTL award affirms his position as one of the most respected international tax advisers working in China.