Pinsent Masons has become one of the first leading UK law firms to enter into an exclusive joint venture in China, tying up with newly-created boutique Beijing Hesen Law Firm.

The national law firm will formally expand its presence in China next week through the alliance with Beijing Hesen, a spin-off from Qingdao's DeHeng law firm.

The agreement will strengthen Pinsents' projects and construction offering in China, as Beijing Hesen is led by construction specialists Ye Wanhe and Elvis Zhou – partners at 120-lawyer DeHeng until shortly before Christmas.

It will see the two firms referring contentious and non-contentious projects and construction work exclusively to each other, with Wanhe and Zhou working with Pinsents' construction partners John Bishop and Hew Kian Heong, who lead the Beijing and Shanghai offices respectively. The alliance comes as part of a broader effort by Pinsents to strengthen its China and Asia-Pacific offering.

Pinsents senior partner Chris Mullen said: "It's an important development for our presence in the region and our projects and construction offering in particular. We are focusing hard on developing in China and the Asia-Pacific region and see this as a great opportunity to attract major domestic Chinese clients who not only need support and assistance with big infrastructure projects and related issues but are looking to expand internationally."

Pinsents opened in Beijing in 2007, Shanghai in 2002 and Hong Kong in 1983. It also has a joint venture in Singapore. The Chinese joint venture is unrelated to Pinsents' referral alliance with Salans, which was first formed in 2009.