In June 2024, Beijing Guozun Law Firm’s Kazakhstan Office officially completed its registration and was established in one of Kazakhstan’s core commercial cities. This marks an important step in Guozun’s response to the Belt and Road Initiative and in strengthening its cross-border legal service network across the Eurasian continent. The office is designed to provide professional, compliant, and localized full-chain legal services for market entities in China, Kazakhstan, and the broader Central Asian region.
I. Basic Overview of the Office
Service Network Layout
The office network covers Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, and Almaty, the country’s largest commercial city, enabling full legal service coverage across Kazakhstan’s core commercial areas. Relying on Guozun Law Firm’s global legal service network, the office deeply integrates high-quality local practice resources and judicial experience in Kazakhstan, and has built an integrated service system of “professional coordination by the China headquarters + local team implementation + specialized support from industry experts.” This structure is designed to address the core pain points faced by Chinese-invested entities going abroad, including differences in legal systems, language barriers, difficulties in adapting to regulatory policies, and challenges in the local enforcement of judgments and awards.
Qualifications of the Legal Team
The core service team is composed of senior lawyers proficient in Chinese, Russian, and Kazakh, combining Chinese foreign-related legal practice experience with local legal qualifications in Kazakhstan. All core members have more than 10 years of experience in relevant legal service fields, possess a deep understanding of Kazakhstan’s civil law system, commercial environment, and administrative regulatory logic, and have accumulated substantial practical experience in responding to the core demands and risk prevention needs of Chinese enterprises making cross-border investments.
Service Assurance Capabilities
The office has established a policy tracking system covering Kazakhstan’s core regulatory authorities and is able to follow legislative and regulatory developments in real time. It also has full-process capabilities in diversified dispute resolution and enforcement of judgments and awards, and is able to coordinate with official local mediation mechanisms to provide clients with a full life-cycle legal service loop from compliance structuring to dispute resolution. A standardized response mechanism has been established, enabling response to clients’ core needs within one hour and completion of policy interpretation and implementation of response plans within 48 hours.
II. Core Scope of Practice
Energy and Natural Resources Legal Services
Full-process compliance services for project development, exploration, and extraction in the fields of oil and gas, mining, and renewable energy;
Drafting, negotiation, and compliance review of subsoil use contracts and production sharing agreements (PSAs);
Specialized legal support for the acquisition, transfer, renewal, protection, and strategic investment in mining rights and strategic mineral resources;
Full-process services for the development, financing, acquisition, and construction of renewable energy projects such as photovoltaic and wind power projects;
Specialized services relating to tax planning, concessions, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, and regulatory compliance in the energy sector.
Cross-Border Investment and M&A Legal Services
Design of two-way cross-border investment structures between China and Kazakhstan, tax optimization, and compliance planning;
Full-process assistance and compliance guidance for outbound direct investment (ODI) filings by Chinese enterprises;
Full-process legal due diligence, transaction structure design, drafting, negotiation, and implementation support for cross-border M&A projects;
Full-process legal services for the establishment, branch setup, restructuring, and liquidation of market entities in Kazakhstan;
Coordinated services and risk prevention for cross-border investment projects involving multiple jurisdictions.
Corporate and Commercial Comprehensive Legal Services
Optimization of corporate governance structures, customized articles of association and shareholder agreements, and compliance guidance for business operations;
Drafting, review, and revision of day-to-day business contracts and compliance analysis of commercial cooperation models;
Ongoing legal consultation and rapid response services, together with the establishment of enterprise internal control systems and trade secret protection systems;
Corporate compliance system development, internal compliance training, and full-process identification of business operation risks.
Antitrust and Competition Compliance Legal Services
Full-process preparation, filing, and follow-up for merger control notifications;
Compliance management relating to market dominance, and risk identification and response for monopolistic conduct;
Compliance review and dispute handling involving bid rigging, concerted restrictions of competition, and similar conduct;
Response to antitrust regulatory investigations, establishment of competition compliance systems, and specialized training.
Construction Engineering and Real Estate Legal Services
Structure design, compliance review, and negotiation support for PPP projects in infrastructure, municipal works, and related sectors;
Contract management, risk control, and dispute handling for EPC projects;
Full-process legal services for real estate development, acquisition of land use rights, construction, and operation;
Full-process representation in construction disputes involving project payments, delays, and quality issues.
Tax and Customs Legal Services
Design and optimization of corporate tax structures, and compliance management and planning across all major tax categories;
Transfer pricing compliance management, preparation of contemporaneous documentation, and specialized services concerning the application of international tax treaties;
Negotiation and implementation of tax stability agreements and tax clauses related to resource development;
Tax due diligence, issuance of independent tax opinions, and full-process representation in tax disputes and litigation;
Customs compliance management, tariff planning, import-export compliance review, response to customs supervision, and dispute handling.
Labor and Employment Legal Services
Compliant drafting and revision of enterprise labor regulations and employee handbooks;
Drafting and review of labor contracts, confidentiality agreements, and non-compete agreements;
Specialized services for cross-border employment, work permits for foreign employees, and social insurance compliance;
Design of compliant plans for compensation systems, dismissals, and layoffs;
Full-process representation in labor dispute mediation, arbitration, and litigation, as well as employment compliance training.
Dispute Resolution and Crisis Management Legal Services
Full-process representation in civil and commercial litigation involving commercial contracts, corporate matters, energy and mining, construction projects, and related disputes;
Representation and strategy development for international commercial arbitration and investor-state dispute settlement matters;
Diversified dispute resolution services including pre-litigation mediation and settlement negotiations in commercial disputes;
Full-process follow-up and implementation support for the local enforcement of favorable judgments and awards;
Internal investigations into corporate misconduct, emergency response to regulatory investigations, and formulation of crisis response plans.
Intellectual Property and Data Compliance Legal Services
Registration, application, renewal, licensing, and transfer services for trademarks, patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and other intellectual property rights;
Full-process representation in IP infringement monitoring, rights enforcement litigation, and administrative complaints;
Establishment of corporate data compliance systems and personal information protection compliance management;
Specialized services for compliance review of cross-border data flows and emergency response to data security incidents.
International Trade and Cross-Border Compliance Legal Services
Drafting, review, and full-process risk control of international trade contracts;
Handling of legal matters related to international trade settlement, letters of credit, and cross-border guarantees;
Compliance services relating to import-export quotas, licenses, inspection and quarantine, and customs supervision;
Specialized services for building cross-border supply chain compliance systems and responding to trade sanctions and trade barriers;
Compliance guidance and risk prevention relating to foreign exchange controls and cross-border capital flows.
III. Service Standards and Compliance Commitments
Strict Practice Standards: The office strictly complies with the lawyer practice rules and relevant laws and regulations of both China and Kazakhstan. All services are handled throughout by lawyers with the corresponding practice qualifications, ensuring full-process compliance.
Full-Process Confidentiality Obligations: The office has established strict client information confidentiality rules and a data security management system. It fulfills full-process confidentiality obligations with respect to clients’ trade secrets, case information, and other core materials obtained during service delivery, in compliance with the data security and privacy protection laws of both China and Kazakhstan.
Standardized Quality Control: Relying on Guozun Law Firm’s globally unified legal service quality control standards, the office has established a full-process management mechanism including collective case discussion, control of procedural milestones, and service quality follow-up, ensuring the standardization and consistency of service quality.
Standardized Conflict of Interest Review: The office has established a comprehensive conflict of interest review system, conducts a full review before accepting any engagement, strictly complies with the relevant rules governing lawyers’ conflicts of interest, and fully safeguards clients’ lawful rights and interests.
Guozun’s Kazakhstan Office is an important component of Guozun Law Firm’s global legal service network, with its core positioning as a professional legal support platform for China-Kazakhstan cross-border economic and trade cooperation. In the future, the office will continue to deepen its localized practice capabilities, rely on Guozun Law Firm’s global service resources, continuously improve its service system, provide professional, efficient, and compliant cross-border legal services for market entities in both China and Kazakhstan, and help enterprises prevent cross-border business risks while participating deeply in the high-quality development of China-Kazakhstan economic and trade cooperation.