London-based intellectual property firm Rouse has opened an office in the Chinese technology hub of Shenzhen – the latest global firm to do so since firms began launching outposts in the southern China city in 2017.

The office provides consultancy services for Chinese companies looking to expand abroad and foreign companies seeking to enter the Shenzhen market. Linda Chang, Rouse's Shanghai-based China general manager, is the sole IP lawyer in the Shenzhen office, according to its website.

Shenzhen is Rouse's fifth office in China, after Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. Elsewhere in Asia, Rouse has offices in Bangkok; Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Jakarta, Indonesia; Manila, Philippines; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and Yangon, Myanmar.

"With the central and local governments announcing ambitious plans to support this innovation strategy long term, it seems a no-brainer for the leading IP firm in China to be here," Luke Minford, the London-based chief executive of Rouse, said in a statement. In August, the Chinese government issued a policy paper outlining a plan to make Shenzhen a leading global metropolis by the middle of the 21st century.

Shenzhen is a 30-minute train ride from Hong Kong, which has experienced protests and demonstrations for months as its residents try to ensure that China keeps its promise of recognising Hong Kong as part of "one country, two systems" – a policy established when Hong Kong was handed over by the British in 1997.

Some of China's biggest technology companies, including Tencent, Huawei and ZTE, are headquartered in Shenzhen. IP specialist firms Brinks Gilson & Lione and Fish & Richardson were the first two global firms to open an office in Shenzhen – Brinks in 2017 and Fish & Richardson in January this year. Hybrid virtual law firm Rimon Law and U.K. firm Simmons & Simmons have opened Shenzhen offices, while the Chinese member law firm of Big Four accounting firm EY merged with Shenzhen-based Guangdong Allied Law Firm earlier this year.

In August, Herbert Smith Freehills formed a joint operation with Chinese firm Kewei Law Firm under a Shanghai Free Trade Zone programme, giving the Anglo-Australian firm access to a Chinese law practice. Linklaters, Ashurst, Hogan Lovells, Holman Fenwick Willan and Baker McKenzie have also formed similar joint operations since 2015.

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