City boutique Memery Crystal has entered a strategic partnership with Yingke Law Firm, one of China's largest law firms.

Yingke has 16 overseas offices alongside its 19 in mainland china and is headquartered in Beijing.

Memery Crystal chief executive, Lesley Gregory said clients were "central to this exciting partnership".

She added: "In a rapidly evolving international market in which Memery Crystal is increasingly active, we are determined to offer inbound and outbound access to our clients and this delivers exactly that."

The strategic partnership deal is the London firm's first move into Asia.

Nick Davis, head of international at Memery Crystal, said: "We took the view that our route into China was through a Chinese law firm rather than trying to compete with them.

"It's not just a one way thing – we have lots of clients looking to open in China, and when Yingke's clients are looking to invest in London, our presence benefits them."

Linda Yang, global partner for Yingke's international network said the agreement would be "an asset in the promotion of trade with and investment in the UK by Chinese corporations and high net worth investors".

Alongside the agreement, Yingke also plans to establish a London centre focused on corporate work to promote trade and investment with the city from Chinese clients.

China is recognised as a difficult market for foreign firms aiming to grow referral work. Firms have approached growing in China in different ways Dentons recently completed a merger with Chinese firm Dacheng, while other firms have launched their own offices in the key jurisdictions of Beijing and Shanghai.