Liangjun YinCHINA-QUALIFIED LAWYER中文
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Liangjun Yin is a China-qualified lawyer whose practice covers criminal defense, representation of crime victims, criminal–civil disputes, corporate criminal risk and foreign-related legal matters. His clients include people facing criminal allegations and their families, companies and individuals who have suffered losses through crime, businesses managing criminal-law risk, and foreign companies and individuals dealing with Chinese legal issues.

Whichever side you are on and whatever stage the matter has reached, you can start by describing the situation. Mr. Yin will look at the facts and evidence and advise where to begin and which options are realistic.

Criminal Defense in China

When someone is detained in China, family members and employers, especially those abroad, often do not know where the person is held, what the allegation is or what will happen next. Each stage of a Chinese criminal case, from criminal detention and arrest review to prosecution review and trial, offers its own opportunities, and some cannot be recovered once missed.

How he approaches a defense

  • Knowing how the case is built. Mr. Yin examines how the investigators gathered their evidence and formed the allegation, whether the chain of evidence holds together and whether the legal characterization is sound.
  • Getting the numbers right. In business and financial cases, he works through contracts, accounts and fund flows, separates commercial disputes from criminal conduct and corporate actions from individual responsibility, and checks the amounts alleged transaction by transaction.
  • Understanding the other side. Because he also represents crime victims, he can assess realistically whether a guilty plea, restitution or a settlement with the victim would help, and when.
  • Protecting liberty and property together. Alongside the defense, he pays attention to assets that have been seized or frozen and seeks the release of those that should not be held.

Questions families often ask

Can we see him or her? During the investigation and prosecution review stages, family members generally cannot visit a detained person, but they can appoint a defense lawyer on the detainee's behalf. In Chinese criminal proceedings, the defense lawyer must be licensed in China; foreign lawyers cannot act as defense counsel. After being appointed, Mr. Yin meets the client as soon as possible, explains his or her rights and, within the scope the client permits, updates the family in English.

Can he or she be released? Up to 37 days can pass between criminal detention and the procuratorate's decision on whether to approve arrest. This is the key window for seeking release. Mr. Yin applies for bail and argues against approval of arrest; after arrest, he can request a review of the necessity of continued detention.

Can prosecution be avoided? Once the case is transferred for prosecution review, the defense can read the full case file. Mr. Yin reviews the evidence item by item and asks the procuratorate not to prosecute where the facts are unclear, the evidence is insufficient or the circumstances are minor.

What sentence is likely, and is a suspended sentence possible? The amount involved, the client's role and factors such as surrender, confession, restitution and forgiveness from the victim all affect the sentence. Mr. Yin works to reduce the amount found, clarify individual responsibility and present every mitigating factor.

Should he or she plead guilty or make restitution? Chinese law allows leniency for guilty pleas, restitution and settlements with victims, but whether and when to take these steps can change the outcome. Mr. Yin explains the options and their consequences so that the client and family can decide.

What if a judgment is already final? A final judgment that is wrong can be challenged through a petition and retrial. Mr. Yin re-examines the whole record and looks for grounds and new evidence that could change the result.

Results in past matters have included refusals to approve arrest, release on bail, decisions not to prosecute, suspended sentences for clients who had already been arrested, a fraud amount reduced from nearly RMB 4 million to RMB 350,000, and a ten-year sentence reduced below the statutory minimum on retrial with the approval of the Supreme People's Court.

Foreign companies and individuals often face a Chinese legal problem from a distance: the proceedings are in Chinese, the procedure is unfamiliar, and decisions have to be explained to management, family or lawyers at home.

Typical situations

  • A foreign national, or an employee of a foreign company, is under investigation or detained in China.
  • A foreign company's subsidiary or managers in China are caught up in a criminal case, or company assets in China have been frozen.
  • A foreign business has been defrauded by a Chinese counterparty and wants to pursue a criminal complaint or recover its losses.
  • A dispute requires court proceedings in China against, or on behalf of, a party living abroad.
  • Overseas counsel need a Chinese lawyer to handle the Chinese side of a matter.

What the work involves

  • Acting in the Chinese proceedings as a China-licensed lawyer;
  • Reviewing Chinese-language case materials and explaining the facts, procedure and options in English;
  • Keeping clients, families, in-house teams and overseas counsel informed as the case develops;
  • Where another jurisdiction is involved, coordinating with counsel qualified there. Advice on foreign law and representation in foreign proceedings are provided by those lawyers, and the scope of coordination, including oversight of their work, is agreed for each matter.

Selected matter: acting for a Beijing company against a foreign national living abroad, Mr. Yin resolved the difficulty of serving court documents, and the court confirmed termination of the contract and granted the company's principal refund claims.

Representing Victims of Fraud and Other Crimes

Typical situations

  • A company or individual has suffered contract fraud, loan fraud, embezzlement or similar harm and wants the wrongdoer held criminally liable.
  • A report has been made to the police, but progress is unclear, or the victim wants to be heard at the prosecution or trial stage.
  • The victim wants to recover losses through the criminal case and needs to know whether civil proceedings are also necessary.

What the work involves

Organizing the contracts, payment records and communications; assessing whether the conduct amounts to a crime; preparing the complaint and asset leads; representing the victim at the prosecution review and trial stages on the facts, characterization, losses and restitution; and coordinating the criminal case with civil litigation and enforcement.

Selected matters: in a contract fraud case, Mr. Yin represented the victim company at prosecution review and trial, and the defendant was convicted of contract fraud. In a loan fraud case, he filed the complaint for the victim company; the suspect was placed in criminal detention and the company recovered the funds.

Criminal–Civil Disputes

In business dealings, a single set of facts can call for both criminal liability and civil recovery. Which route to take first, whether both can run at the same time and who is ultimately responsible often determine whether losses can be recovered.

A judicial interpretation issued by the Supreme People's Court, in force from 22 September 2026, confirms that criminal proceedings do not automatically take priority. Where a civil dispute and a criminal case do not arise from the same facts, the civil case can generally proceed.

Typical situations

  • A counterparty in a contract or loan dispute may have committed fraud, and it is unclear whether to report to the police or sue first, or a civil case has been suspended or dismissed after a police report.
  • An employee, legal representative or other person signed a contract, loan or guarantee in a company's name, including with a forged company seal, and the question is whether the company is still liable.
  • A borrower is suspected of a crime, and the lender wants to recover from guarantors or co-debtors, or a guarantor wants to challenge or limit its liability.
  • Assets belonging to a third party have been seized or frozen in a criminal case.
  • The police declined to open a case, or the prosecutors declined to prosecute, and the victim needs to pursue civil remedies instead.
  • A final civil judgment conflicts with facts established in a criminal case or is otherwise wrong, and needs to be corrected through retrial or prosecutorial supervision.

Selected matters: the contract fraud and loan fraud cases above, in which criminal proceedings were coordinated with the victim companies' civil remedies; and a bank guarantee dispute in which the client company had lost on final appeal and its application for retrial had been rejected. Mr. Yin persuaded the procuratorate to recommend a retrial, and the court overturned the judgment and dismissed the claims against his client company.

Corporate Criminal Risk

Typical situations

  • A company or its executives are under investigation, and accounts or assets have been frozen.
  • Internal use of funds, approval authority or the business model may raise criminal-law risk.
  • An employee is suspected of embezzlement or misappropriation, and the company must decide how to respond.

What the work involves

Helping companies and their management identify risks, organize the facts and evidence, examine decision-making authority and fund flows, and weigh possible responses. The scope of work is agreed according to each matter.

Selected matters: the defense of a technology executive at a subsidiary of a well-known internet company, which ended without prosecution and with company and personal assets unfrozen; and an alleged embezzlement and misappropriation case in which the line between a corporate funding dispute and individual criminal liability was drawn, and the client was not prosecuted.

Discussing a Matter

More examples are on the Matters page.

Contact Mr. Yin with a brief outline of the matter, its current stage and any upcoming deadline.

This page describes the general scope of services. It is not legal advice and does not promise any particular outcome.