Co-Effort: The Overseas Office Came Seven Years Before the First Domestic Branch / 协力（Co-Effort）：境外办公室，比第一家分所早七年

On October 20, 2026, Co-Effort’s Indonesian representative office opened on the 11th floor of the MidPlaza tower in Central Jakarta. After the ribbon-cutting, the office signed strategic cooperation agreements with two Guizhou companies and an energy company registered in Hong Kong, China, and unveiled an overseas intellectual property work station for Gulou District, Fuzhou. The establishment approval had been obtained the previous summer; the firm calls this day the moment the office moved from “being established” to “operating in substance.”

2026 年 10 月 20 日，雅加达中区 MidPlaza 大厦 11 层，协力印尼代表处挂牌。剪彩之后，代表处与两家贵州企业、一家注册于中国香港的能源公司签下战略合作协议，又为福州市鼓楼区的海外知识产权工作站揭牌。设立批复是今年夏天拿到的，该所把这一天称作代表处从”设立挂牌”走向”实质运营”的标志。

The opening only shows that the firm now has an address in Jakarta; it does not explain how it got there. What matters is the order: the earliest office was opened overseas, and the first domestic branch came seven years later. That runs against the usual sequence. The story starts on Pingwu Road in Shanghai.

挂牌只说明这家所在雅加达有了一个地址，说不清它是怎么走到这里的。要看的是顺序：最早的办公室开在境外，境内第一家分所晚了七年。这与常见的走法相反。这个顺序，从上海平武路开始。

Pingwu Road and Osaka

平武路与大阪

Co-Effort was founded in December 1998 on Pingwu Road in Shanghai. Three partners started it, and Yao Chonghua was one of them. He holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in law from Kyoto University; the firm’s initial business centered on Japan, and it began with four practicing lawyers. In the same year it was founded, the Osaka office opened; according to a 2016 retrospective article in the publication Quanguo Lushi (《全国律师》), that office then conducted business in Japan “in the name of Co-Effort Consulting.”

协力 1998 年 12 月在上海平武路成立。发起的是三位合伙人，姚重华是其中之一。他先后取得日本京都大学的法学硕士与博士学位，事务所最初的业务也主要落在日本，起步时全所四名执业律师。成立当年，大阪的办事处就开了；按 2016 年《全国律师》一篇回顾文章的说法，那一处当时”以协力咨询公司的名义”在日本开展业务。

The firm’s name was chosen by Yao. He explained in a public interview: “Co-Effort means mutual assistance — assisting and helping the parties we serve externally, and doing the same for one another internally.”

所名是姚重华取的。他在公开访谈里解释过：”协力，就是互相协助与帮助，对外协助和帮助当事人，对内我们也同样是相互协助与帮助。”

In 1999 the headquarters moved to the 27th floor of the Jinsui Tower in Lujiazui, and in 2006 to the 31st floor of the Huaneng Tower.

1999 年，总部搬到陆家嘴金穗大厦 27 楼，2006 年又迁至华能大厦 31 楼。

In 2001, lawyers including You Minjian, Yan Xizhong, Li Ping and Lu Jingbo joined. From that year, over a bit more than two years, the firm reworked its institutional design and internal rules: revising the partnership charter, abolishing lifetime tenure for the director, and capping the director’s term at two years, renewable once. In those same two years the firm set out four practice areas: intellectual property, tax, labor law, and Japan-related legal services.

2001 年，游闽键、严锡忠、李平、陆敬波等几位律师加入。同一年起，协力花两年多时间做制度设计与内部规范，修订合伙人章程，废掉主任终身制，把主任任期改为两年一届、两届为限。也是那两年，所里划出四个专业方向：知识产权、财税、劳动法、日本法律服务。

Two of the four areas carry today’s Co-Effort. The Japan practice gave it its first overseas foothold; intellectual property gives it its current rankings position. The Beijing branch was not established until 2005.

四个方向里有两个撑起了今天的协力。日本业务给了它最早的境外落点，知识产权给了它今天的榜单位置。北京分所 2005 年才设。

Splitting by Specialty, Splitting by Entity

分专业，分主体

The 2011 restructuring is, in the firm’s own account, a dividing line. By its description, it was the first special general partnership law firm in Shanghai; in governance terms, it meant an adjusted decision-making mechanism and the beginning of professional committees being “incubated” one by one. In 2015, this committee-based management model was rolled out firm-wide.

2011 年的改制，在该所自己的叙述里是一条分界线。按它的表述，那是上海首家特殊的普通合伙制律师事务所；落到治理上，是决策机制的调整，以及专业委员会开始一个个”孵化”。2015 年，这套专业委员会管理模式在全所推行。

In 2012 it merged with Shanghai Haoying Law Firm, adding maritime, international trade and anti-dumping practices.

2012 年，它与上海市浩英律师事务所合并，把海商海事、国际贸易、反倾销三块业务补了进来。

The IP line today looks less like a law firm department. Co-Effort splits it into four: the Shanghai IP Research Institute founded in 2005, Jinsheng Co-Effort IP Agency Co., Ltd. founded in October 2007, the in-house IP professional committee, and the IP mediation model-worker innovator studio named after You Minjian in November 2017.

知识产权这条线，今天的形态不太像一个律所的部门。协力把它拆成四样：2005 年成立的上海知识产权研究所、2007 年 10 月成立的金盛协力知识产权代理有限公司、所内的知识产权专委会，以及 2017 年 11 月以游闽键命名的知识产权调解劳模创新工作室。

The split is not a choice; it is dictated by qualifications: litigation sits under the law firm; patent application agency work requires an agency holding patent agency qualification; research needs an independent institute; mediation needs a separate studio. A single law-firm entity cannot hold all four. The price is more sets of books and more compliance steps; in exchange, a client moving from litigation to filing, searching and mediation finds a matching entity at every step.

分开挂不是选择，是资质定的：诉讼在律所名下；专利申请代理要有专利代理资质的代理机构；研究要一个独立的研究所；调解另立一个工作室。一个律所主体设不了这四样。代价是多几套账、多几道合规；换来的是客户从打官司走到申请、检索、调解，每一步都有对应的主体能接。

Its rankings position is not high, but steady. In the Chambers Greater China Region Guide 2026, under “Intellectual Property: Litigation (China Firms)”, Co-Effort sits in Band 5; the page notes it has stayed on that table for 13 consecutive years. Two of its lawyers appear on the same page: You Minjian as a “Senior Statesman” and Zhang Lingna as an “Up and Coming” lawyer. The highlights column cites its first- and second-instance representation of Shanda Games in the MapleStory copyright infringement case, winning and obtaining damages.

榜单上的位置不算高，但稳。Chambers《大中华区法律指南 2026》”知识产权：诉讼（中国所）”一栏，协力列第五档；该页标注它已连续 13 年留在这张表上。同页两位律师，游闽键列”业界元老”，张玲娜列”后起之秀”。工作亮点一栏写的是代表盛趣游戏打《冒险岛》著作权侵权的一审与二审，胜诉并获赔。

The earlier landmark case was Dianping v. Baidu. The Pudong New Area People’s Court of first instance held that Baidu’s wholesale reproduction of Dianping’s review content in Baidu Maps and Baidu Zhidao substantially substituted for the plaintiff’s service, constituted unfair competition, and awarded RMB 3 million in economic damages plus RMB 230,000 in reasonable costs. Baidu appealed; on August 30, 2017, the Shanghai Intellectual Property Court rejected the appeal and upheld the judgment. Co-Effort senior partners Fu Gang and You Minjian participated in both instances as counsel for Dianping.

更早的名案是大众点评诉百度。浦东新区人民法院一审认定，百度在百度地图、百度知道中大量全文使用大众点评的点评信息，实质性替代了原告的服务，构成不正当竞争，判赔经济损失 300 万元及合理费用 23 万元；百度上诉，上海知识产权法院 2017 年 8 月 30 日二审驳回上诉、维持原判。协力高级合伙人傅钢、游闽键作为大众点评一方的代理人参与了两审。

Nine Overseas Offices, None Called a Branch

九处，没有一处叫分所

Of the three things laid out in the Jakarta office on opening day, none was local: the two signing companies came from Guizhou; the work station was established by Gulou District, Fuzhou; and the two officials on the dais, Yang Yonggang and Chen Jing, came from Co-Effort’s Guiyang and Chongqing offices. The firm calls this arrangement the various offices coordinating with the Indonesian representative office; on that account, the clients, government relations and manpower all come from its 26 domestic offices.

代表处开张那天，摆在雅加达这间办公室里的三样东西，没有一样是本地的：签约的两家企业来自贵州，揭牌的工作站由福州市鼓楼区设立，站台的两位负责人杨永刚与陈静分别来自协力贵阳所与重庆所。该所把这套做法称为各办公室联动印尼代表处；照这个说法，客户、政府关系与人手，都出自它在境内的 26 地办公室。

Overseas there are nine. Japan accounts for three: after Osaka, offices were opened in Tokyo and Fukuoka one after another. According to Yao Chonghua’s public statements, five of the firm’s lawyers have qualified as registered foreign-law attorneys in Japan (Gaikokuho Jimu Bengoshi) and practice registered with the Japan Federation of Bar Associations. The rest are spread across Europe and Southeast Asia: Milan, Paris, Berlin, Geneva, and Singapore. The newest of the nine is Jakarta this year. The firm has also signed the “Legal Services Cooperation Framework Agreement for Jointly Building the Belt and Road Initiative” with 16 law firms in countries including Indonesia, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Iran, Turkey, the UAE and Kazakhstan.

境外则是九处，日本占三处：大阪之后，东京、福冈也陆续设了办事处。按姚重华的公开说法，所内有五位律师取得日本国外国法事务律师资格，在日本律师联合会注册执业。其余分布在欧洲与东南亚：米兰、巴黎、柏林、日内瓦，加上新加坡。九处里最新的一处，是今年的雅加达。此外，该所还与印度尼西亚、俄罗斯、乌克兰、保加利亚、伊朗、土耳其、阿联酋、哈萨克斯坦等国 16 家律所签署了《共建”一带一路”倡议法律服务合作框架协议》。

All nine are called a “cooperation network” on the firm’s website. Jakarta is the exception in wording: an August 2026 article on the Ministry of Justice website wrote that “Co-Effort Law Firm has been approved to establish an Indonesian representative office, the firm’s ninth overseas office in its ASEAN footprint”; the article quotes the firm’s director Zhu Xiaoqing saying that Pudong New Area’s new overseas posting subsidy came at just the right time, as “overseas operating costs are considerable.”

这九处在官网上一律叫”合作网络”。雅加达这一处的口径不一样：司法部官网 2026 年 8 月的一篇文章写，”上海市协力律师事务所获批设立印尼代表处，这是该所在东盟布局的第 9 家海外办公室”；文中引了该所主任祝筱青一句话：浦东新区新政增设的海外派驻补贴来得正是时候，”海外运营成本不菲”。

One place, two names. As Chinese law firms go out, the words “office”, “representative office”, “branch” and “cooperation network” are often used loosely in promotional materials; what separates them is the approval document, the registered entity, and whether anyone actually sits there.

同一个地方，两种叫法。中国律所走出去，”办公室””办事处””代表处””合作网络”这几个词在宣传材料里常被混着用；能把它们分开的，是批文、注册主体，以及有没有人坐在那里。

None of the three is decided by the firm once it goes overseas: first, what form the local jurisdiction allows a foreign law firm to practice in; second, whether the domestic approval grants a representative office or an office. That is why none of the nine is called a branch, and why they predate the firm’s first domestic branch by seven years: part of that seven-year gap comes down to status — an office or representative office need not be a branch, and establishing a branch follows a separate procedure.

这三样，到了境外都不由该所决定：先看当地允许外国律所以什么形式执业，再看国内批复给的是代表处还是办事处。九处因此没有一处叫分所，而它们比境内第一家分所早了七年：早七年这个差，一部分就出在身份上——办事处与代表处不必是分所，分所的设立另有一套程序。

Three Hurdles

三道关口

Back to Jakarta. Between the opening and actually taking on matters stand three hurdles; fail them, and it is only an address on the website.

回到雅加达。从挂牌到真正接单，中间要过三道关口，过不去就只是挂在官网上的一处地址。

The first hurdle is the two documents signed that day. Both are strategic cooperation agreements, not engagement contracts: the two Guizhou companies do cultural content and brand planning, and the Hong Kong, China-registered Chunqing Smart Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (香港醇氢智慧能源科技有限公司) does green energy; what the representative office offers is a string of services, from project due diligence to contract structure to local compliance. Strategic agreements generate no legal fees; to become paid legal work, the projects must land.

第一道关口是那天签下的两份文件。两份都是战略合作协议，不是委托合同：贵州两家企业做文化内容与品牌策划，注册于中国香港的香港醇氢智慧能源科技有限公司做绿色能源，代表处给出的是一串服务，从项目考察、合同架构到本地合规。战略协议不产生律师费，要变成收费的法律事务，得等项目落地。

The office’s chief representative Hu Yuekun says he wants to build “project lists, client lists and partner lists”, turning the signings into “executable, deliverable, reusable” results. The statement is both a promise and an admission that on opening day, all three lists were still empty.

代表处首席代表胡月琨说要建”项目清单、客户清单和合作伙伴清单”，把签约转成”可执行、可交付、可复用”的成果。这话既是承诺，也说明挂牌那天，三张清单还是空的。

The second hurdle is the office’s status: it is not an Indonesian law firm, and what it may do is bounded by local rules on foreign law firms; under those rules, Indonesian legal matters must be handled by local firms. Representatives of three Indonesian firms — BEP, ASNP and Corra — were therefore invited to speak at the ceremony, and it is these three that take on the local work. The arrangement is safe, and slow for the same reason: what the client recognizes is the party that can actually sign locally.

第二道关口是代表处的身份：它不是印尼的律所，能做哪些事，由当地对外国律所的规定划定；按这套规定，印尼本地的法律事务要交给本地律所办理。BEP、ASNP、Corra 三家印尼所的代表因此被请到现场致辞，承接本地事务的就是这三家。这样安排稳当，慢也慢在这儿：客户认的是能在当地签字的那一方。

The third hurdle is money and people. Discussing the Pudong subsidy, Zhu Xiaoqing has said overseas operating costs are “considerable”; the subsidy can cover part, not all. Setting up points abroad is also being pushed by the government: what Shenzhen unveiled in Jakarta in August this year was its fourth overseas IP protection work station, the first three being in Germany, Singapore and Brazil; Gulou District in Fuzhou, for its part, housed its work station inside Co-Effort’s Jakarta office. But the station belongs to the government and the client still belongs to the law firm; the salaries of resident lawyers and local compliance costs remain the firm’s to pay.

第三道关口是钱与人。祝筱青谈浦东补贴时说过，海外运营成本”不菲”；补贴能抵一部分，抵不了全部。往外设点这件事，政府也在推：深圳今年 8 月在雅加达揭牌的是它第 4 家海外知识产权保护工作站，前三处在德国、新加坡、巴西；福州鼓楼区则把工作站挂进了协力雅加达的办公室。但站是政府的站，客户还是律所的客户；常驻律师的工资与当地合规成本，仍要律所自己出。

So whether this step works should not be judged by the addition of another “office”, but by three things: whether anyone is resident, whether the resident people can take cases independently, and whether the cases they take can be completed locally. If public answers emerge within the next couple of years, this office will have held; if there are only ribbon-cutting and signing photos, it is merely a new point in the “cooperation network” on the website.

所以判断这一步成不成，看的不是又添了几处”办公室”，而是三件事：有没有人常驻，常驻的人能不能独立接案，接来的案子能不能在当地做完。若这两年有公开答案，这间办公室就算站住了；若只有剪彩与签约的照片，它不过是官网上”合作网络”里新增的一个点。