Originally from the Netherlands, Maarten moved to China in 1999 and worked for 8 years at Wang Jing & Co., building its corporate practice first in Guangzhou and then in Shanghai. He joined R&P when it was established, in 2010.
In more than 20 years in China, Maarten has built a profound understanding of the Chinese legal and business environments. Maarten advises and represents European, North American and Australian companies with business interests in China, focusing mainly on investment projects and corporate activities, commercial transactions, intellectual property rights protection and dispute resolution. He has worked on numerous complex M&A deals, corporate (re-)structuring and company liquidations, and compliance investigations, and frequently represents foreign clients in negotiations with Chinese business partners and government officials.
Maarten’s clients include companies listed in Europe, Hong Kong or the United States; large privately-owned enterprises; as well as small- to medium-sized family businesses. They operate across a broad range of industries, including retail, manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture & horticulture, entertainment, trading and services.
Maarten has authored numerous articles on a broad range of topics relating to Chinese law and the legal challenges that foreign companies face when doing business in China. He has also authored two books: Chinese Commercial Law: A Practical Guide (Kluwer Law International, 2010) and Corporate Acquisitions and Mergers – China (Kluwer Law International, 2020; co-authored with Rogier van Bijnen).
Maarten is on the supervisory board of 30+ subsidiaries of multinationals in China, and he is an arbitrator of the Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (Shanghai Arbitration Center / SHIAC) specializing in disputes on foreign investment, joint ventures and international cooperation, corporate law and contract law.
He was educated at Leiden University, Guangzhou’s Sun Yat-sen University and the Hong Kong Open University and completed the Harvard executive education course “Leaders for Lawyers (2018)”. He is fluent in English, Dutch and Chinese (Mandarin).