Wang Junfeng does not come across as an empire builder. Chatting in an office strewn with Chinese antiques in Beijing’s Guomao skyscraper district, the 48-year-old chairman of Chinese law firm King & Wood sounds modest about where his firm stands relative to the big names from Britain and America.

“The legal society here really admires the U.S. and U.K. profession,” says Wang. “They have such a long history. And in the last 20 to 30 years, the foreign law firms here have really given a lot of support.”