BEIJING – While leading red circle law firm Lehman, Lee & Xu has been assisting multinational corporations and high net worth individuals for almost two decades with issues related to Chinese law, the firm also has significant experience in the field of educational consultancy. “Education is often unfairly discounted as an investment sector in China” states Edward Lehman, Managing Director of the firm.
Education in China has become a multibillion dollar business in the country with some of the biggest names in education worldwide establishing programs throughout the country. “From Princeton and Harvard to Oxford and Cambridge virtually every leading institution in the world is showing an interest in China,” relays Lehman.
Negotiating China’s complex set of laws, policies and regulations can be troublesome though. “There’s no published guide to the Chinese education business” states Lehman. “Instead, it’s a case of learn by experience. We’ve been helping some of the world’s biggest establish in China for years, either solely or in conjunction with Chinese universities”
Education though has traditionally been a restricted area of foreign investment in China and the field is still not fully open to foreign investment. “This is what leads to partnership program such as the Renmin University/University of Minnesota summer law program or the London School of Economics/Fudan university global media program” says Lehman.
The process for getting approval for such programs is onerous and approvals from numerous authorities must be sought. “I’ve been involved in this field for almost two decades” relays Lehman, who also sits on the board of Shanghai Jiao Tong School of Law. “I’ve seen programs succeed and programs fail. In my experience it’s important to have focus and realistic goals”.
Lehman, who in some cases commands in excess of $2,000 per hour for educational consultancy in China is keen to stress that while he counts a number of international institutions as clients, the firm also assists education projects on a pro bono basis. “We’ve helped set up a number of schools in Western China. These are schools where donors in developed countries came to us with ideas for how to help out some of China’s poorest regions. We played a role in making their dreams a reality and there is no doubt that that is the most satisfying work of all”.
