Fay Zhou

Fay leads our award-winning China antitrust & foreign investment 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 handles the most complex matters globally and helps clients from around the world to navigate antitrust risks in a fast-developing enforcement environment, in relation to merger control, litigation and behavioural advice/investigations. She advises clients on Chinese merger filings and investigations and coordinates multijurisdictional filings for high-profile China-led deals. 

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

Fay is recognised a top-tier competition lawyer in China for consecutive years by both Chambers and Legal 500 in 2018-2024. Fay’s excellent reputation in the market is demonstrated by the long list of individual awards she has received in China, Asia and globally, which include: “Antitrust & Competition Lawyer of the Year” in 2018, 2020 and 2021 by Euromoney Asia Women in Business Law awards; “Competition Lawyer of the Year” by China Law and Practice 2017; “40 under 40” by Global Competition Review in 2016; “100 Women in Antitrust” by Global Competition Review in 2015 and “Top Chinese 15 Female Lawyers” by Asian Law Business. 

Fay plays an active and important role in China’s antimonopoly law developments, being deeply involved in the legislative initiatives.

Fay’s knowledge spans many sectors and notably in energy and natural resources, healthcare and technology. Her regular clients include a substantial percentage of the global top energy, healthcare and tech companies. 

Fay has built up and leads the award-winning antitrust & foreign investment practice in the PRC, which has risen to the top ranking and been constantly recognised as a top-tier leading practice by renowned directories. 

Work highlights

Recent highlights of Fay’s client work include advising:

• Intel on the Chinese merger control aspects of its US$9bn sale of its memory and storage business to SK Hynix and its proposed US$5.4bn acquisition of Tower Semiconductors.
• Microsoft on the Chinese merger control aspects of its proposed US$70bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
• QIAGEN on the China merger control aspects of its US$11.5bn transformational acquisition by Thermo Fisher.
• Takeda Pharmaceutical 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 at the time 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 often publishes and speaks at conferences, including the ABA conferences in China and in Washington DC. Her recent articles include: 

• The Private Competition Enforcement Review Edition 16 – China Chapter, The Law Reviews, 2023, with Bowen Wang.
• “The year of the meta-universe, Chinese technology and antitrust in 2021”, Competition Law Insight, 2022, with Arthur Peng and Bowen Wang.
• “Non-Structural Remedies in China”, Merger Remedies Guide – Fourth Edition, Global Competition Review, 2021, with Arthur Peng and John Eichlin.
• “Chinese Antitrust Guidelines on Leniency and Commitments Offer Companies a ‘Way Out’”, China Law & Practice, 2020, with Xi Liao. Shortlisted for GCR’s Antitrust Writing Awards 2021: Business, Asian Antitrust.
• “Heralding a New Era of Antitrust Enforcement in China: New Provisions on Monopolistic Agreements and Abuse of Dominance”, China Law & Practice, 2019, with Xi Liao. Awarded GCR’s Antitrust Writing Awards 2020: Business, Asian Antitrust.

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.