Benjamin Qiu partner at Elliott Qwok Levine & Jaroslaw

Benjamin Qiu

Partner

+ 1 (646) 347-6517   |   bqiu@ekljnlaw.com

Vcard

Education

Santa Clara University School of Law, J.D.

Webster University, B.A.

Admissions

State of California

Benjamin Qiu specializes in cross-border disputes and transactions, based on his nearly two decades of practice in the U.S., China, and Hong Kong. He counsels entrepreneurs, corporate boards, investors, and multinational companies on securities, intellectual property, employment, digital privacy, human rights issues, and China-related legal and political risks.

Before joining EKLJ, Benjamin was a partner of Loeb & Loeb LLP based in Beijing and Hong Kong, and prior to that he helped established the Shanghai office of Cooley LLP.  He also founded the in-house legal team and formed a number of onshore and offshore investment funds of Innovation Works, an incubator and private equity investor based in Beijing, before serving as its Senior Counsel.

Benjamin has nearly two decades of experience working in China and was previously based in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. His practice is focused on U.S. and China-related venture capital financings, fund raising and management, corporate governance, and intellectual property portfolio building, licensing, and protection. He has represented emerging growth enterprises and established organizations in their business dealings with Chinese partners.

Benjamin has advised multinational companies from the U.S., Europe, and Japan on IP asset development, and licensing and enforcement in China. He has represented Chinese companies in patent, copyright and commercial litigation in the U.S. He is a registered arbitrator of the High-Tech and Intellectual Property Arbitration Center of the South China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission. He has advised U.S. and Chinese companies on more than one hundred international financing transactions.

Benjamin has been active in the community of ideas, previously serving on the board of Shanghai Foreign Correspondents Club, and in 2016 winning the debate on the topic “This house believes that China will win the fintech revolution” during the “Finance Disrupted” conference organized by The Economist in New York City. He has published articles in Financial Times and Nikkei Asia, and has been quoted by The Economist and the New York Times. Benjamin is a native Mandarin speaker.

He regularly lectured at the Ignite program of Stanford Graduate School of Business on capital markets and intellectual property, and most recently spoke before the Japan Federation of Bar Associations and the Asian American Bar Association of New York on business and emerging risks in China and Hong Kong.

Representative Matters

Represented Hearst Ventures, GSR Ventures, Cathay Capital, and other leading investors in equity and debt investments in various high-growth companies.

Represented U.S. and Asia-based entrepreneurs in over one hundred successful fundraise, merger, and trade sale transactions.

Acted for companies, investors, and board members on shareholder disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, intellectual property infringement actions, and licensing negotiations.

Advised multinational companies regarding risks and compliance in Greater China with respect to privacy, data security, and civil rights.

Advised clients in the U.S. and China regarding CFIUS and outbound investments (i.e., “reverse CFIUS”).

Publications

“Now is the time for Japan to make play for startups,” Nikkei Asia, April 2023

“China’s anti-corruption agency has financial sector in its sights,” Nikkei Asia, March 2023

“A look ahead at operating in Hong Kong and China in Times of Uncertainty,” Lexology, October 2020

“Hollywood and the ‘Chinese money’,” Financial Times (Chinese edition), January 2016