King & Wood Head of Tax joins DLA Piper in Beijing

 In DLA Piper, King & Wood

DLA Piper has announced the appointment of Stephen Nelson as a partner in its Asia tax team. Stephen is a leading tax practitioner with a depth of more than 25 years’ experience in China practice covering foreign investments, mergers and acquisitions and other broad corporate matters. Stephen will be based in Hong Kong and expects to spend a major portion of his time in DLA Piper’s Beijing office. Stephen joined DLA Piper from a major mainland China law firm where he was Head of Tax and Co-Head of the Corporate Group.

Stephen’s practice over the past several years focused on advising multi-national clients on the tax-effective establishment and restructuring of operations in China. As a well-respected PRC tax practitioner, Stephen specialises in tax planning from both PRC and home country tax perspectives. He also has significant experience in foreign investment and M&A in China, with an industry focus in the TMT sector.

“Our global base of US clients with operations in China has increased significantly over the past couple of years as our tax practice has expanded. Stephen’s unique US tax experience in the PRC will enable us to build strong ties with our firm’s US practice and will add significant strength and profile to our service offerings for multi-national corporations,” said Daniel Chan, Partner and Head of Taxation, Asia of DLA Piper. “I have known Stephen for many years and I am delighted to have him on our team. He will play a significant role in growing the practice for DLA Piper in the region.”

Alastair Da Costa, Asia Managing Director of DLA Piper, said: “Stephen’s joining is an important step to take our China tax practice to the next level and continue to develop our already strong China and FDI capabilities as well as capture opportunities from multi-national corporations on a global basis.”

Stephen Nelson said: “DLA Piper is one of the largest law firms in the world with strong US and European operations, as well as a growing China practice. I am attracted to the firm’s truly integrated global platform and believe that it will be the ideal place to leverage my expertise and experience. I look forward to helping to grow the firm’s regional presence and assisting our clients in their global strategies.”

Stephen is admitted to practice in California (1986) and Hong Kong (2009). He is fluent in English, Mandarin and French.

DLA Piper is the winner of “Asia M&A Tax Team of the Year 2010” at the International Tax Review Asia Awards. The firm’s tax practice in PRC is one of the most prominent legal practices in the region. The team currently consists of 26 lawyers across three offices in China. The practice provides integrated China tax advisory services and supports multi-national companies in connection with inbound investment in China and the business operations of those activities. Service areas cover supply chain management, joint ventures with China enterprises, and the establishment of foreign owned and controlled retail operations in PRC.

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