In hospitality, he has advised leading international luxury hotel groups on their hotel and branded-residence portfolios across mainland China, and counselled major Chinese hotel groups on master-franchise and management-licence agreements with international brands — arrangements covering hundreds of properties over multi-decade terms. He also acts regularly for hotel owners on the negotiation and ongoing management of HMAs with international operators.
On the FDI and M&A side, the practice covers both directions of cross-border capital. Inbound, he advises international investors entering China through wholly foreign-owned enterprises, joint ventures, and platform vehicles — across advanced manufacturing, medical devices, renewable energy, and consumer brands — and the platform exits that follow, typically through the sale of offshore holding companies in Hong Kong, Singapore, or the BVI. Outbound, he counsels PRC institutional investors on real-estate and operating-business investments across Asia, North America and other markets, structured around ODI clearance, tax efficiency, and the unwind that arrives a decade later.
In energy & infrastructure, he has advised foreign sponsors and domestic operators on the development and financing of energy and industrial assets in and outside China — including the structuring of a 1,000-megawatt solar-power platform combining international technology with a state-owned partner. The work runs from PPA negotiation, financing documents and EPC contracting through grid-interconnection regimes to the cross-border project-finance layer beneath each asset. More recent matters have extended into transport and logistics infrastructure — territory where his real-estate experience meets the regulated-utility discipline of energy work.
Hai Yong's practice is also distinguished by continuous innovation in the design and delivery of legal services. He has designed tailored tools to support the management of complex legal and project matters, using technology to enhance structure, visibility and workflow discipline. In large-scale projects involving multiple obligations, deadlines, approvals and workstreams, as well as long-term hotel arrangements and multi-project portfolios, these tools help clients organize information, track obligations and action items, monitor risks, preserve key records and make decisions with a clearer understanding of commercial and legal consequences.
Hai Yong has been named Next Generation Partner for Real Estate and Construction by The Legal 500 multiple times and has also been recognized by LegalBand for tourism and hospitality multiple times.
Hai Yong lectures at several universities and regularly speaks on cross-border investment and hospitality-related topics.
