The Santiago-based law firm has become a partner of one of the largest firms in Asia.

Chilean lawyer Matías Apparcel does not hide — from China — that he has just made the deal of his life. A few days ago, his firm, Apparcel Uriarte Abogados, signed a groundbreaking strategic alliance with China’s leading law firm, Yingke Law Firm, headquartered in Beijing with a team of 16,000 legal professionals.

Apparcel and his partner, Benjamín Uriarte, who also operate an office in Portugal, had spent months working to partner with their Chinese counterparts — aiming not only to be a legal bridge for Chile, but also for much of Latin America.

“We built a very good relationship with the second-in-command at the Beijing office. A mutual Chinese friend introduced us. He told her we were Chilean lawyers with an office in Santiago and, for the past four years, in Portugal. She liked us. I told her I was a partner and that I planned to live in China — which is very rare,” the lawyer recounts.

There was then a trial period to test how a potential partnership would work, the attorney recalls: “They sent us clients in Chile, and many clients from here also came to China. Then they proposed an alliance.”

“Chilean executives in Shanghai, for example, are overrepresented. There are more Chilean corporate managers than Argentine ones, even though Argentina has three times the population. You have companies like Codelco, SQM, Concha y Toro, Agrosuper… That’s very attractive. The Chinese look at companies more than individuals — they see a strong Chilean business presence here, and many Chinese companies wanting to enter the Chilean market,” he analyzes.

The Pontificia Universidad Católica–educated lawyer adds that if the alliance solidifies, it’s likely his firm will become a branch of Yingke in Chile, with the Chinese holding 51% ownership and bringing in professionals from China to work locally.

Is this the biggest contract for Apparcel Uriarte Abogados?

“It’s sort of the dream contract, because this has never happened before. When they introduced us to this firm, I thought they already had an office in Chile — since they’re in 50 countries — and we realized they didn’t.”

He describes it as a major challenge, since Yingke is “the largest law firm in the world by number of lawyers.”

Apparcel explains that the Chinese are particularly interested in supporting Chinese companies in sectors such as large battery projects for non-renewable energy (where there are many public tenders), Chilean mining and exploration, and general real estate investment in the country.

He highlights that their team includes Jaime Kou, a Chilean lawyer with Taiwanese parents who speaks fluent Mandarin. This, he says, made all the negotiations much easier. “He was crucial and decisive in this alliance because there aren’t many Chilean lawyers who speak Mandarin as a first language,” he emphasizes.

The lawyer says he remains in China with an APEC card, which facilitates business between Chileans and Asia-Pacific member countries, meaning he doesn’t need a visa to enter. “All businesspeople have it. It’s called the ABTVC (APEC Business Travel Virtual Card), and it allows me to stay for 60 days without a visa, renewable for another 60 by traveling to Hong Kong — it’s kind of like a Visa Waiver,” he explains.

Print Press, Las Últimas Noticias, May 24, 2025.

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