DLA Piper has bulked up its Beijing corporate and M&A practice with a double partner hire from Australia's Mallesons Stephen Jacques.

Mallesons Beijing corporate partner and office head John Shi is set to join DLA in the near future along with local M&A partner Nicolas Groffman, taking the total number of partners in the office to seven.

Shi, a US-qualified lawyer and native Mandarin speaker, advises on all aspects of foreign direct investment as well as corporate structures and operational issues in China.

Before joining Mallesons in 2004, Shi was Denton Wilde Sapte's chief representative in Beijing. His clients come from a variety of sectors including financial services, oil and gas, publishing and media, mining, manufacturing, aviation, chemicals and pharmaceuticals.

Groffman has a broad-based corporate and M&A practice with a focus on China foreign direct investment, corporate and commercial and corporate regulatory compliance. He has particular expertise in the telecommunications and media, real estate, climate change and clean energy sectors.

DLA Asia-Pacific managing director Alistair Da Costa commented: "One of the strategic priorities for the firm, and for Asia Pacific in particular, is the continual development and growth of our Greater China offering, especially our corporate practice."

Joint-CEO Nigel Knowles added: "As the Chinese government continues to encourage Chinese entities to invest overseas we anticipate a growing emphasis on outbound work. As a global firm with strong US and EMEA offerings, DLA is well placed to support this trend."

The news comes after Mallesons' partners approved plans to merge with Chinese giant King & Wood last week (23 November). The approval paves the way for the firms to combine as King & Wood Mallesons early next year.