Slaughter and May's 'best friends' network of premier European firms has sent a senior delegation to China as part of a major push that includes launching a secondment programme with three local firms.

The group spent a week in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing last month meeting senior local lawyers and leading Chinese companies. The delegation was part of a concerted bid to bolster its links in the coveted Asian legal market.

Senior representatives from the elite European network included partners George Goulding (Slaughters), Hendrik Haag and Thomas Mueller (Hengeler Mueller), Umberto Nicodano (Bonelli Erede Pappalardo), Charles Coward (Uria & Menendez) and Sebastien Prat (Bredin Prat).

Firms contacted include local representatives Jun He, Haiwen & Partners and King & Wood, which Slaughters has used as informal referral partners after deciding not to apply for a stand-alone office in 2004.

In a related move, the five firms have also agreed to set up a co-ordinated secondment programme with the three Chinese practices.

One idea that has been floated, although it has yet to reach the serious discussion stage, is that the five firms should pool their resources and open a joint representative office in Beijing.

One partner told Legal Week: "This is going well, but we need more coverage to handle Chinese work. One idea is to open a joint office sometime in the future, similar to how we operate in Brussels. But it is not on the table yet."

The China push, which mirrors a similar initiative in Central and Eastern Europe, comes as the informal alliance looks at giving its long-standing referral relationship more prominence.

"It is a priority and a major topic. We are far from a decision, but we need to build awareness [of the network], which includes issues like whether to have an official common brand," the partner also commented.