The Chilean firm Carey has hired a native Mandarin speaker to join its China desk in Santiago—a move that highlights the South American country’s strong links to China.
Juan Pablo Qin has joined Carey’s China desk as a project adviser, with the aim of strengthening the firm’s ability to advise Chinese companies on their operations in Latin America while also assisting companies from Latin America with their investments in China.
Qin has a law degree from China’s Tsinghua University and is a candidate for a master’s degree in law from the Catholic University of Chile. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin at a native level.
“In countries like Chile, it’s difficult to find people like Juan Pablo who dominate both languages and cultures and who have a legal background. We are very happy to incorporate him into our team,” managing partner Jaime Carey told Law.com International via email.
The other members of Carey’s China desk are senior associate Patricio Laporta, who is based in Shanghai, and Santiago-based partners Jaime Carey, Diego Peralta and Alberto Cardemil.
Carey said it’s the only full-service Chilean law firm to maintain a physical presence in China. The firm established that office, in Shanghai, as a business consultancy in 2016.
“We decided to open offices there in response to the dynamism of the strategic trade relationship between Chile and China, the growing investment of companies from the Asian giant in Latin America, and the need to have a team familiar with the particularities of the Chinese business culture and language,” Carey said.
China is by far Chile’s top trade partner, representing more than 30% of the mineral-rich South American country’s bilateral trade. Copper accounts for the bulk of Chile’s exports to China, followed by pitted fruits. China is also the biggest trade partner for South America as a whole.
Carey’s China desk has significant experience advising companies in areas such as financial services, infrastructure, mining, agribusiness, forestry, technology, intellectual property, energy and the manufacturing of home goods.
Qin brings to the team a high level of knowledge of the Chinese market, legal system and customs, the firm said.
Before joining Carey, Qin worked as an assistant at the Center for Asian Studies at Chile’s Catholic University, and as a commercial assistant at the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chilean Embassy in Beijing, which is called ProChile.
Qin was previously an intern at Carey, from October to December 2021.
