Lehman and Carone Address Assolombarda

On December 14, 2005, Mr. Edward Lehman, managing partner of the Chinese law firm “Lehman, Lee & Xu” and Mr. Marco Carone, managing partner of the Italian law firm “Carone & Partners” have delivered their speech at the workshop held at Assolombarda (the largest Italian industrial association) Headquarters in Milan.

The workshop, organised by Assolombarda and Carone & Partners, was aimed at explaining to the Italian companies how to do market research in China, how to invest in that Country and how to avoid the most frequent mistakes made by foreign investors. Edward Lehman said that, in order to succeed in China, you must be a “local player”, that is, you need to “think the Chinese way”. Edward Lehman explained that, when entering the Chinese market, one must “hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” He also said that it is also necessary to take an offensive stance and register all intellectual property on China entry.

Drawing on his long-term experience in China, Mr. Lehman also shared with the attending entrepreneurs several stories of foreign companies (including Italian ones) assisted by his law firm in entering the Chinese market over the years.

Mr. Marco Carone, who entered into an alliance with Edward Lehman in 2004, provided a brief analysis of several Italian tax, business and contractual law issues which should be dealt with when dealing with China.

Mr. John Black, head of compliance and legal services of “Edexcel” (a “Pearson Education” company) described his experience in China, where he relied on the assistance of the lawyers of “Lehman, Lee & Xu”.