King & Wood Mallesons has harnessed the strengths of its international platform to advise Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) on its landmark agreement with German exchange operator Deutsche Börse AG and China Financial Futures Exchange, to jointly establish the China Europe International Exchange (CEINEX).

As the first dedicated trading platform for authorised renminbi-denominated trading outside Mainland China, the establishment of CEINEX represents an important milestone in the opening of China’s capital markets and further internationalisation of the renminbi. The new platform will distribute the first cash market products denominated in RMB from 18 November 2015.

As one of the world’s largest exchanges, Shanghai Stock Exchange provides financial market participants with access to global capital markets. With increasing economic interaction between China and Germany, SSE’s new joint venture will not only strengthen financial links between the two countries and but also play an important role in renmnbi internationalization.

The outcome, which was a result of high-level financial market dialogue between China and Germany over several months, was facilitated by King & Wood Mallesons’ unparalleled expertise in advising on both the PRC and German legal aspects of the agreement.

Christian Cornett, Frankfurt Corporate partner at King & Wood Mallesons, said: “The China-Europe stock market deal opens significant new opportunities for investment in China, which is a trend that we in Germany have seen rapidly evolve over recent years. King & Wood Mallesons has been at the forefront of advising German businesses on investment opportunities in Asia as they seek to establish stronger commercial ties with China. This new platform will help to develop key offshore RMB products, which is crucial to further capital flows between the two countries."

Xu Ping, Beijing Corporate partner at King & Wood Mallesons, said: “We are very proud to have supported Shanghai Stock Exchange in bringing about this transformational agreement, to not only further China and Germany’s special relationship but also the internationalisation of the RMB. Our extensive expertise in helping to establish the infrastructure necessary to facilitate cross-border trade and investment demonstrates our unique Asia intelligence, as the only firm in the world able to practise Chinese, German, English, US, Hong Kong, Australian, and a significant range of other European and Middle Eastern laws under the one legal brand”.

The multi-jurisdictional King & Wood Mallesons team was led by German-based partner Christian Cornett and China-based partner Xu Ping. The agreement was formally signed on Thursday 29 October 2015 in the presence of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the Chinese-German government consultation in Beijing.