Ellen Zhang

Ellen is one of the leading lawyers in the Chinese PPP and outbound investment market, advising Chinese companies on complex project development, investment and financing overseas, particularly in the power and infrastructure sectors.  She has advised on investment, development and financing of projects in Mainland China, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Africa, Middle East, Australia and the UK.

Ellen regularly lectures at Chinese universities and to industrial organisations on power and infrastructure projects and the PPPs.

Ellen's experience includes advising:

• the PPP Centre of China's Ministry of Finance to produce a PPP Contract Guide to be circulated to Chinese local government authorities
• various Chinese banks on project refinancing , where the borrowers were offshore subsidiary of Chinese SOEs investing in the water, wind and infrastructure sectors in Europe and Asia
• Chinese SOEs on the investment, construction and finance of  the power projects in Africa using China's EMIX bank's concessional loan
• various Chinese SOEs on their investment and financing for coal-fired IPP project in Indonesia, Pakistan, Mozambique, Bangladesh and Dubai, oil and gas fired IPPs in Iran,  Iraq and Kenya, as well as renewables in Laos, Mozambique, Indonesia Romania
• various Chinese SOE on roads, railways and special economic zones in Pakistan, Kenya, Ecuador and Romania including the design of the investment structure, the review of bid documents and finance

Publications

• Legal Terminology  in Project Finance Deals, CHINCA Magazine, December 2018 (Co-author: Sunday Wang, Senior Associate, Beijing)

• Impact of Legal System of the Host Country on the Cross Border Investment in PPP Projects, CHINCA Magazine, November 2018 (Co-author: Futang Dong, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel of China Road and Bridge Corporation.; Andrew Lin, Associate, Shanghai)

• Contractor or Lender?  Exploration of Ways to Protect the Contractor in the Vendor Financing Construction Project, CHINCA Magazine, October 2018 (Co-author: Shengjie Sun, General Counsel, CCCC First Harboar Consultants Co Ltd; Xiaohua Wei, Legal Manager, CCCC First Harboar Consultants Co Ltd)

• Key Issues in PPP Projects with Host Country Government as a Shareholder, CHINCA Magazine, September 2018 (Co-author: Jun Yuan, General Manager, Norinco International Cooperation Co.,Ltd.; Sunday Wang, Senior Associate, Beijing)

• Making Use of BITs/MITs in Outbound Investment and Projects, CHINCA Magazine, August 2018 (Co-author: Duan Xiangwei, General Counsel, China Machinery and Equipment Corp.; Andrew Lin, Associate, Shanghai)

• Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Outbound PPP Contracts, CHINCA Magazine, July 2018 (Co-author: Hew Kian Heong, Partner, Shanghai; Dan Cheng, Chief Economist, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co.,Ltd.)

• Choice of Governing Law in PPP Contracts Portfolio, CHINCA Magazine, June 2018 (Co-author: Huailiang Liu, General Counsel, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Co.,Ltd.; Michelle Li, Partner, Hong Kong)

• Project Financing Structure Adapted to Accommodate Host Country Legal Environment, CHINCA Magazine, May 2018 (Co-author: Liang Hong, Deputy General Manager, Investment Department, China Road and Bridge Corporation)

• Obtaining sustainable development rights in cross border PPP projects by Chinese companies, CHINCA Magazine, April 2018 (Co-author: Futang Dong, Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel of China Road and Bridge Corporation)