Translator：Zhang Xiaotong

On April 11, 2023, Lawyer Li Xuwei from the Shanghai Landing Construction and Real Estate Department conducted a specialized exchange on "Real Estate and Construction Engineering Legal Services" in the Equality Meeting Room. The event was hosted by Liu Zhaofu, Senior Partner and Director of the Construction and Real Estate Department at Shanghai Landing Law Offices. Li Xuwei, Partner Lawyer at Shanghai Landing Law Offices, served as the main speaker. The event was conducted in both an online Tencent Meeting live stream format and an offline participation format.

At the beginning of the event, Lawyer Liu Zhaofu gave a brief introduction, providing attendees with a better understanding of the theme of the event.

Next, Lawyer Li Xuwei covered three main aspects: First, the importance of specialization and how to choose one's own direction. Second, his own journey of specialization. Third, the three major areas of real estate and construction engineering legal services.

Firstly, when explaining the importance of specialization and how to choose one's own direction, Lawyer Li Xuwei emphasized the significance of specialization for every legal practitioner. He advised young lawyers to identify their professional direction based on their personal circumstances and interests as they enter the legal industry.

Subsequently, Lawyer Li Xuwei shared his own journey of specialization, hoping to inspire lawyers in choosing their own paths of specialization through his own experiences and insights.

Furthermore, Lawyer Li Xuwei focused on introducing the three major areas of real estate and construction engineering legal services: real estate, construction engineering, and international engineering. He went on to provide detailed explanations of these three areas:

The first area—real estate—was divided into several aspects: the entire process of real estate development, real estate acquisition and mergers, real estate sales and pre-sales, commercial leasing in real estate, resale of second-hand real estate, and foreign investment in real estate. Lawyer Li Xuwei particularly highlighted the full process of real estate development, providing a detailed account of establishing real estate development companies, project initiation and approval, as well as land acquisition for real estate projects. He advised that a good grasp of planning, engineering legal practice, and financial knowledge is necessary to effectively showcase one's professional expertise.

The second area—construction engineering—was primarily introduced from the perspectives of study methods, non-litigation and litigation, major contracting models (general contracting, construction management contracting, EPC/turnkey projects, PPP), and major dispute types (disputes over project price, project duration, project quality). Lawyer Li Xuwei recommended integrating litigation and non-litigation approaches in engineering cases, emphasizing their equal significance.

The third area—international engineering—was introduced by Lawyer Li Xuwei from the angles of major standard contracts (FIDIC, ENAA, NEC, AIA, and others), main dispute resolution methods, and key obstacles/challenges.

The event lasted for over three hours. Finally, Lawyer Liu Zhaofu summarized the event, emphasizing that the path of specialization is a lengthy one. He advised young lawyers to diligently learn specialized knowledge and invest time in researching their interested fields. The event concluded successfully.