Winston & Strawn has boosted its Asia presence with two new offices in Beijing and Shanghai, reports The Am Law Daily.

The firm has recruited Xiangyang Ge from Baker & McKenzie to lead the Shanghai base. Ge, who was head of Bakers' China regulatory team, focuses on foreign investment work as well as cross-border M&A.

He will also lead Winston's Beijing office but is expected to work frequently in the Shanghai office.

The launches come after the firm received approval from the Chinese Government for the offices this October. Winston had announced its plans to expand into Asia a year ago, recruiting a group of lawyers from the now-defunct Heller Ehrman.

The Chicago-based firm opened a Hong Kong office late last year led by former Heller partners Simon Luk, David Hall-Jones and Michael Phillips.

Winston, which has 900 lawyers worldwide, says it has further growth plans for all of its China offices.

Managing partner Thomas Fitzgerald said: "We expect to continue our strategic expansion on a global basis – and in regions widely viewed as having the greatest growth opportunities for the firm as well as its corporate clientele. As the world market continues to rebound from last year's downturn, we see Asia, and China particularly, continuing to play an increasingly important role."

This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on americanlawyer.com.