On September 30, 2009, China’s Wahaha Group signed a global settlement agreement with France’s Danone, ending a two year, 1.5 billion euro dispute.

The dispute was litigated in more than eight jurisdictions including Mainland China, Sweden, France, Italy, Hong Kong, the USA, the British Virgin Islands and Samoa. It was the largest and most complex sino-foreign joint venture dispute in the PRC’s 60 year history.

As the firm responsible for leading Wahaha’s global defense team, we would like to warmly congratulate both Wahaha and Danone on reaching an amicable settlement. King & Wood played a vital role in the global resolution of the dispute and we, (Ariel Ye, Liu Yuwu, Ge Yan, Liu Xiangwen and James Rowland) are proud of this successful outcome and wish the parties the very best in their future endeavours.

Please click the following links for more information on King & Wood’s Cross-Border Dispute Resolution team and China Outbound Litigation Strategies.