Salans is set to close its five-person Beijing office, leaving the firm with a single base in mainland China in Shanghai.

Partners voted to close the office late last month, nearly four years after the office opened in July 2008.

Managing counsel Aiping Bao, the only full-time member of staff in Salans' Beijing base, is expected to relocate to Shanghai, taking total headcount in the office to 38. Salans is still in discussions with the four remaining support staff working in Beijing.

There is no set timeframe for the firm's withdrawal from Beijing but Salans has started the process of deregistering the office.

A spokesperson for the firm said: "Beijing was something we thought we'd try to see if it would be useful to our clients. The idea was to give clients access when it was necessary to interact with the seat of government in Beijing. Now the government is emphasising Shanghai as a global financial centre and the majority of our business is on the corporate and financial side, it seems clear that Shanghai should be Salans' central hub."

Salans will have 16 fee-earners in Shanghai including Bao and the firm also has two partners and around eight lawyers in Hong Kong. The spokesperson said there were no immediate plans to look at the future of the Hong Kong office, which opened in 2009.

Salans announced it had received its licence to open in Beijing in July 2008, with Matthias Mueller named managing partner. Mueller joined Beiten Burkhardt in Shanghai as a partner last year. At the time the office opened Salans said the Beijing base would allow easier access to central government authorities and provide a base for developing its M&A business in Northeast China.

News of the office closure comes after Salans and UK firm Pinsent Masons ended their alliance last year, paving the way for Pinsents to set out plans for launches in Paris and Germany. The alliance was announced in June 2009 and the pair chose not to extend it.