Lawyer Chen Zhongtao has built his long-term practice around dispute resolution, with extensive experience in civil and commercial litigation, arbitration, enforcement, retrial proceedings and enforcement supervision. He has represented clients before the Supreme People’s Court, including in a bankruptcy set-off dispute that was accepted for retrial and ultimately decided in his client’s favor.

He also handles matrimonial and family affairs, inheritance, private wealth planning, and cross-border family and asset disputes. His work includes divorce litigation, child custody and visitation, division of marital property, premarital and marital property agreements, wills and inheritance, real estate title confirmation, family asset arrangements, and matters involving the coordination of identity, property and legal procedures for parties connected with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas jurisdictions.

Lawyer Chen also handles disputes involving real estate, construction projects, companies, commercial transactions, creditor rights and debts. He provides integrated dispute resolution strategies covering contract performance, evidence organization, litigation tactics and enforcement recovery.

He follows emerging legal issues involving new forms of property and frontier technologies, including crypto-assets and AI-generated content. He is one of the speakers in Longan’s “Digital Economy” lecture series and operates the professional website and public account “Langji Fahai”, where he writes about cross-border disputes, crypto-asset division and AI-related legal practice.

Education and Professional Experience

Education

South China Normal University, Bachelor of Laws

Professional Training

Peking University Advanced Program on Judicial Practice and Cutting-Edge Legal Affairs, first cohort (September 2020–August 2021, completed)
Basic Program for Foreign-Related Lawyer Talent Development, Guangdong Lawyers Association (2024)
“New Three” Overseas Compliance Program, Foreign-Related Lawyer Talent Development Program, Guangdong Lawyers Association (2025)
Full-Process Practice Training in International Commercial Arbitration, Guangdong Lawyers Association and the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) (December 2024)
International Commercial Arbitration Theory and Practice Training Series, Shenzhen Lawyers Association (2025)

Work Experience

December 2016–July 2019: Guangdong Kanghao Law Firm — Legal Assistant and Lawyer
August 2019–July 2021: Guangdong Guojiang Law Firm — Lawyer
August 2021–Present: Beijing Longan (Guangzhou) Law Firm — Lawyer

Professional Qualifications

PRC Lawyer Practice Qualification

Practice Areas

Commercial litigation, arbitration, retrial and enforcement supervision
Matrimonial and family affairs, inheritance and wealth succession
Cross-border and foreign-related dispute resolution
Real estate and construction

Member of the Guangdong Foreign-Related Lawyer Talent Pool, Guangdong Lawyers Association (2024)
Annual Outstanding Lawyer, Beijing Longan (Guangzhou) Law Firm
Research Fellow, Longan Greater Bay Area ASEAN Legal Research Center
Member of the Youth Working Committee, Beijing Longan (Guangzhou) Law Firm
Director, South China Normal University Law School Alumni Association
Vice President, South China Normal University Alumni Wushu Club

Representative Matters

The following matters have been anonymized and are provided only to illustrate areas of practice and experience. They do not constitute a promise regarding the outcome of any individual case.

Retrial, Enforcement Supervision and Complex Civil and Commercial Litigation

Represented an agricultural enterprise in Huizhou in a bankruptcy set-off dispute before the Supreme People’s Court; the Court ordered a retrial and ultimately entered a favorable decision.
Represented an individual from Dongguan in a retrial application concerning restitution of property before the Guangdong High People’s Court; the court ordered a retrial and suspended enforcement of the original judgment.
Represented a Shenzhen property company in an enforcement supervision application before the Guangdong High People’s Court; the original enforcement objection ruling, reconsideration ruling and enforcement notice were revoked in accordance with the law.
Represented the respondent in a retrial review before the Guangdong High People’s Court and successfully opposed a retrial application arising from a construction subcontract dispute.
Participated in or assisted with retrial, remand and appellate proceedings before the Guangdong High People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Court involving lease contracts, construction contracts and commercial housing pre-sale contracts.

Matrimonial and Family Affairs, Inheritance and Private Wealth

Handled complex divorce and family disputes involving company equity valued at more than RMB 100 million, multiple properties, child custody and visitation arrangements.
Drafted premarital property agreements, marital property agreements and divorce agreements involving equity, real estate, cross-border assets and arrangements for children.
Handled disputes involving divorce, post-divorce property, inheritance, real estate title confirmation, will validity, appointment of estate administrators and guardianship.
Handled matters involving marriage, inheritance, parent-child identity, cross-border visitation and inheritance of domestic real estate for parties connected with Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas jurisdictions.

Represented a Chinese national with Australian citizenship in a bankruptcy liquidation dispute before a mainland Chinese court.
Represented a company in Qingyuan in a commercial housing sales contract dispute with a resident of Hong Kong.
Handled labor, matrimonial, contract validity and shareholder agreement arbitration matters involving parties from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and the United States.

Real Estate, Construction and Commercial Disputes

Advised multiple real estate, construction and commercial property companies on construction contracts, project payment settlements, supplier payment disputes and related creditor-rights and debt disputes.
Represented a large Guangzhou real estate company in a construction contract dispute; the second-instance judgment was revised and the contractor’s entire RMB 15 million claim was dismissed.
Represented a construction group in a supplier payment dispute, reducing the amount in dispute by more than RMB 10 million in total.
Represented a borrower in a Dongguan bank loan dispute involving approximately RMB 50 million and assisted the company in reducing penalty interest; also represented an individual in successfully recovering more than RMB 20 million in loans.
Handled multiple private lending, financial loan, sales payment and procurement contract disputes, with amounts in dispute ranging from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of yuan.

Chen Zhongtao