Fay Zhou

Fay leads our award winning China competition practice and is widely recognised as one of China’s leading competition lawyers. She advises multinational and Chinese clients on the full range of competition law issues as well as other regulatory questions.

Fay regularly acts for clients from around the world in relation to merger control investigations, leading the MOFCOM process. She also coordinates global merger control clearances in China led deals.  In addition to her strong merger control practice, Fay advises clients in relation to cartel, antitrust and abuse of dominance investigations as well as compliance and anti-corruption risks.  She advises on China’s Fair Competition Review, guiding clients in developing policies that are consistent with the rules. She advised on the first private action involving resale price maintenance in China.

Fay’s knowledge spans many sectors, most recently mining, healthcare and automotive. She co-leads the firm’s China healthcare sector.

Fay previously served in the Chinese Ministry of Commerce for eight years and has a thorough understanding of the dynamic regulatory environment in China.

Work highlights

Recent highlights of Fay’s client work include advising:

• Takeda Pharmaceutical Company on the MOFCOM notification in relation to its £46bn recommended offer for Shire plc

• Linde on the MOFCOM notification in relation to its US$74bn merger with Praxair

• Reckitt Benckiser on MOFCOM clearance in relation to its US$16.6bn acquisition of Mead Johnson

• SABMiller on MOFCOM clearance in relation to its £71bn acquisition by AB InBev, the fourth largest takeover ever as well as being the most significant transaction in the beer sector

• Novartis on MOFCOM clearance concerning its transformational restructuring, which involved three strategic deals with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

• China Merchants Group and Sinotrans & CSC Holdings Co. on global merger filings in relation to the merger between them, including MOFCOM clearance

• a number of clients in the healthcare, transportation, automotive and TMT sectors in relation to NDRC and SAIC’s investigations on monopoly agreements and abuse of dominance

Fay is ranked in Band 1 by all of the leading directories and in 2017 she was named Competition Lawyer of the Year at the China Law & Practice Awards.  In 2015 she was selected by Global Competition Review (GCR) for the prestigious 40 under 40 publication and in 2016 for their 100 Women in Antitrust. She is ranked as a leading Competition practitioner by Who’s Who Legal.

Under Fay’s direction the Linklaters’ competition practice in China leads the market: ranked in Band 1 by the leading directories and awarded Competition Firm of the Year five years in a row (2013 to 2017).

Fay plays an active and important role in China’s antimonopoly law developments.  She is regularly invited to deliver training to Chinese competition enforcement officials and to provide counsel on legislative initiatives, including, for example the recent NDRC antitrust guidelines.

Fay often speaks at conferences, including the ABA conferences in China and in Washington DC.

Fay’s recent articles include:

“Monopoly Agreements in China”, Practical Law Practice Note, Thomson Reuters, 2017, with Qiuying Zheng and Arthur Peng

“China: Cartels”, Asia-Pacific Antitrust Review, 2017, with John Eichlin and Xi Liao

“Abuse of Market Dominance in China”, Practical Law Practice Note, Thomson Reuters, 2017, with Xi Liao

“Standards of Procedural Fairness and Transparency in Chinese Investigations”, Competition Policy International, February 2015, with John Eichlin and Xi Liao

Fay studied accountancy at the University of International Business and Economics Business School, Beijing, and holds a master’s in law from Harvard Law School and a master’s in law from the University of International Business and Economics Law School.

She speaks English and Mandarin.