Official inauguration of Garrigues office in Shanghai
Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Ángel Moratinos presided over the ceremony, held to mark the third Spain-China Forum
As part of the third Spain-China Forum, Garrigues has officially inaugurated its Shanghai office. More than 250 people were present at the ceremony, presided over by the minister of foreign affairs, and included local authorities, law firms, and representatives from the Spanish business sector with interests in China.
Miguel Ángel Moratinos stressed “the real interest that Asia in general and China in particular have for Spanish companies,” and highlighted “the role played by Garrigues in aiding the internationalization of Spanish business.”
Also present at the presiding table were, among others, Pedro Mejía, the secretary of state for commerce; Antonio Garrigues, president of Garrigues; Miguel Gordillo, managing partner of the firm; and Albert Collado, the partner in charge of internationalization. The ceremony was hosted by Francisco Soler, manager of the Shanghai office.
According to Antonio Garrigues, “Spain has to play a more prominent role in China. Although significant changes have taken place in this respect, Spanish companies need to be more active abroad.”
Garrigues will also sign three agreements with various Chinese institutions on Thursday. The first of these will be signed by Garrigues, the Spain-China Forum, and the China Law Society, with the aim of creating a permanent legal committee within the forum in order to deal with legal problems affecting economic relations among companies from the two countries. The other two cooperation agreements are related to the world of academia. The Garrigues Chair in Global Law will sign two agreements with the All China Lawyers Association and Fudan University, respectively. Both agreements aim to promote student exchanges by setting up lawyer and law student training programs involving both Chinese and Spanish students.
Garrigues is the only large Spanish law firm with its own office in China. It set up operations in Shanghai in September 2005 and, having obtained all necessary licenses, now provides advisory services to Spanish companies with interests in China, as well as to multinationals and clients with business in Europe and Latin America through Affinitas, the Latin American alliance of lawyers promoted by Garrigues.