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Expert legal advice for Chinese and Swiss enterprises

With significant trade between China and Switzerland, many clients need expert advice to navigate the challenges of vastly different legal frameworks, whilst working with different cultures and languages.

Our China Desk team, consisting of Chinese speaking Swiss and Chinese lawyers, provides you with the legal bridge you need to effectively complete investment and trade deals, and manage disputes. Our advisors respond to your business needs, identify legal risks considering your business models, present options, and give you recommendations in clear language so that you have a solid basis to take your decisions.

Supporting Sino-Swiss investment and trade in both directions

As a Swiss client investing in China’s emerging consumer and luxury goods economy, life sciences, digital industries, or manufacturing capacity, we can act as your legal partner from entry to ongoing development. We are familiar with the needs and challenges our Swiss clients are facing when doing business in China, which allows us to swiftly grasp the problem and to give you pragmatic and smart legal advice that is directly applicable in China. Over the last 15 years, we have established a network of solution-oriented Chinese lawyers, which allows us to request their dedicated support also at short notice.

As a Chinese client looking to do business in Switzerland, we can help with establishing your regional headquarters, sales centers, R&D facilities and other enterprises in Switzerland. Acting as a one-stop legal service provider to you, our expert teams work seamlessly together and ensure that your Swiss enterprises are ready to operate when and how you want. When investing into or acquiring a Swiss company, we provide to you the legal, IP and tax due diligence on the target company as requested: getting to the point quickly and identifying deal breakers and major legal risks. We draft clear M&A transaction documents and negotiate effectively. We make it easy to deal with us not only by communicating effectively in Chinese, but also by acting proactively and responsively.

Our Switzerland – China related services include:

Corporate / M&A
Trade / Commercial Transactions
  • Agency
  • Distribution
  • Selective distribution systems
  • Wholesale
  • Retail
  • Contract manufacturing
  • Purchase and sale
  • E-commerce (cross-border and domestic)
  • E-payment solutions
  • After sales services agreements
  • Brand ambassador agreements
  • Lease agreements
  • Procurement agreements
  • Service agreements
  • Software license agreements
  • Supply framework agreements
Intellectual property
  • Technology transfer
  • License agreements (trademarks, patents, copyright, know-how)
  • Trademark registrations
  • IP right assignments
  • IP right enforcements
Dispute resolution
  • International arbitration proceedings (i.e. ICC, CIETAC, Shanghai Arbitration Commission, Shanghai International Arbitration Center, Swiss Chambers' Arbitration Institution)
  • Civil proceedings in Switzerland and China
  • Enforcement of arbitral awards and court decisions in Switzerland and China
  • Debt collection in Switzerland and China
Employment
  • Staff deployments abroad
  • Immigration (work and residence permits)
  • Dismissal of executive management
  • Data protection
Taxation
  • Tax planning
  • Profit repatriation
  • Corporate and individual income tax
  • Withholding tax
  • VAT
  • Stamp duty
Services focused on Sino-Swiss Life Sciences
  • Legal services to life sciences companies and investors from China and Switzerland
Swiss Real Estate
  • Acquisition of residential real estate
  • Acquisition of commercial real estate
  • Real estate due diligence
  • Construction projects
  • Real estate lease matters
  • Real estate disputes
Swiss accounting, payroll, VAT and tax compliance
  • Accounting according to Swiss statutory accounting rules
  • Registration of employees with social security agencies
  • Recurring payroll accounting and salary payment orders
  • VAT registration
  • Annual tax declaration

"The VISCHER China Desk has helped us with practical legal advice during our market entry into the Chinese consumer business. We have profited from their in-depth knowledge of Chinese business law, problem solving mindset, and well-proven network of Chinese legal service providers." 

Andrea Moser, General Counsel, Migros-Genossenschafts-Bund

Team Members

Lukas Züst

Lukas Züst

Team Leader

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Rolf Auf der Maur

Rolf Auf der Maur

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Robert Bernet

Robert Bernet

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Adrian Briner

Adrian Briner

Swiss Certified Public Accountant, Swiss Certified Tax Expert

  • Counsel
Adrian Dörig

Adrian Dörig

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Felix W. Egli

Felix W. Egli

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Ria Gurtner

Ria Gurtner

Attorney at Law

  • Associate
David Jenny

David Jenny

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Stefan Kohler

Stefan Kohler

Attorney at Law

  • Partner
Peter Kühn

Peter Kühn

Attorney at Law

  • Counsel