Clyde & Co has become the first international law firm to launch an office in south west China after receiving approval from the Chinese authorities to form an association with local law firm West Link Partnership, based in Chongqing.

The UK outfit, which currently has two offices in the mainland located in Beijing and Shanghai, has formed a joint law venture with the boutique firm which will be co-branded as Clyde & Co West Link.

West Link is a sole-proprietary firm founded by partner Chen Yixin, who will eventually be joined in Chongqing by a Clyde & Co lawyer.

The UK firm is yet to appoint a representative for the base, but in the interim will be fielding two key Shanghai partners, corporate lawyer Michael Cripps and office chief representative Ik Wei Chong, to travel back and forth to the office.

As well as co-marketing, the two firms will also share profits and revenues in the city, and are permitted to second lawyers to work in each other's branch offices.

However, all PRC law advice is to be provided by the Chinese firm, with Clyde & Co lawyers still not permitted to practise locally.

"We see this as a boutique offering for both dispute resolution and corporate work, within our key industry sectors – insurance, transport, energy, trade and commodities and infrastructure and real estate," said Cripps.

"I would think that within one to two years we'd be aiming for around three partners there and 10 or so associates, with it divided broadly fifty-fifty between corporate and dispute work."

Clyde & Co is among just a handful of international law firms which has been granted approval to launch an association with a PRC outfit.

Existing regulations don't currently allow foreign firms the option to tie up with a local player, but some have managed to launch a JLV in the country via their Hong Kong branch under China and Hong Kong's Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA).

The agreement, which was signed in 2003, says Hong Kong law firms can join forces with mainland firms subject to a number of rules.

In 2009, Bird & Bird also entered into an association with local Chinese law firm, Lawjay Partners, with a view to offering litigation in Chinese Courts on contenscious IP matters.

Cripps said the rules allow for up to three JLVs in total, as long as partner firms are headquartered in the relevant city of interest. He said Clydes would be interested in repeating this business model to allow for offices in other cities, the next of which could be Dalian.

"If we're allowed a maximum of three [JLVs] then we have certainly started turning our minds to where the other two might be.

"[Choosing new cities] starts with our five key sector areas. If a particular location doesn't tick at least two of those boxes pretty strongly then we're not going to go there.

"The second measure is existing business or immediately identifiable prospective business, and we need to have some of that there. And the third box of course is making sure we find the right local outfit."

The firm currently has a mix of Chinese and international clients in Chongqing including a US healthcare company.

Clyde & Co has this year been ramping up its Asia presence, with other office launches including Beijing and Indonesia.

In Indonesia the firm formed an association with local outfit Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo (LGS) in September, appointing Singapore-based projects and resources partner Michael Horn to head up and focus on Indonesian clients growing domestically and abroad.

In May it was granted approval to open in Beijing, where it has since launched with corporate partner Lynia Lau appointed lead partner.

The new base is expected to complement its 2006-opened Shanghai office, whilst allowing the firm to tap the outbound investment market driven by state-owned enterprises.

Other recent endeavours by the firm including formalising the tie up with its exclusive alliance firm in Singapore known as Clasis, enabling it to offer local law advice in the city-state.

Related: Clydes gets go-ahead to launch in Beijing as global growth continues