Chinese law firm Jun He has established a five-partner government procurement practice to deal with a wave of new legal work expected to come from China's central government.

The Beijing headquartered outfit, which last year saw a revenue increase of 15%, has launched the new group to focus exclusively on tendering, research and business development associated with upcoming government mandates.

"Now the Chinese government at a central level will procure legal services; use and pay external lawyers," managing partner of the firm David Liu told Legal Week.

"In China the government has only just started to do this. Before their legal department helped them but they didn't have their penal firm database and didn't spend much money on legal services."

"So we think it is useful to study, follow up and do marketing. All the main departments in the central government are starting to look into this or will look into this, we believe."

An example of the Chinese government starting to procure legal services was the move by the Ministry of Commerce (Mofcom) in October last year to establish its first legal panel of external law firms.

It selected 20 international outfit and 16 local firms as its preferred legal service providers, appointing one group to advise on economic and trade agreements, negotiations related to investment and international investment dispute cases, and a separate group to provide counsel on WTO and regional trade agreements, and on cross border dispute resolution.

Jun He was among the domestic firms which won spots on both sub-panels.

Liu said a dedicated procurement group – made up of existing Jun He partners who understand the relevant challenges and specific ways of government working – was key in order to successfully liaise with the client.

"It's not only a matter of legal expertise but also a cultural issue. They need the skills to deal with the government. They need to know the government processes.

"This is not a traditional practice group – it is a combination of business development, research and practice. They will focus more on this, and when necessary they will work together with other corporate partners or litigation partners or whatever required by the government."

He added: "Now it is just a small group of five partners. It's hard to say how many partners we will need. This has only just started, so we're trying it."

Jun He currently has nine offices, three of which are international, in addition to more than 350 lawyers – with approximately 150 partners or counsels.

In addition to the government group, the firm launched a further seven new practices last year, including pharmaceuticals, bankruptcy and restructuring, environment, compliance, private equity, Chinese outbound investment, and entertainment media and sport.

The firm has so far made clear its intention to remain independent and among the smaller of the Chinese firms, focusing on high end work in major Chinese cities and on international work in collaboration with its network of 'best friend' firms around the world.

However, Liu said he was keen to focus on building up talent in the coming year, with a focus on areas such as IP, outbound investment and anti-trust, as well as international capability.

Related: China's Ministry of Commerce selects 20 firms for two legal panels.