APREA Connect China – 2026 Market Outlook

Professional Experience
Zheyuan Jin is a partner at Merits & Tree. Prior to joining Merits & Tree, Mr. Jin worked in DS Avocats Paris and Shanghai City Development Law Firm.

Mr. Jin has extensive experience in the development, construction, investment and financing of projects. Mr. Jin has served many giant contractors and investors and participated in legal consultations for dozens of projects or housing, manufacturing plants and infrastructures, handling dispute resolution and risk prevention during the whole process of projects development. Mr. Jin represents the project owners including local governments, real estate developers, manufacturing enterprises and projects financier to provides litigation and non-litigation legal services for construction projects. Mr. Jin assists many well-known real estate developers in various stages of projects such as greenfield development, co-enterprise and joint venture, financing, sales, mergers and acquisitions and project exit.

Mr. Jin was a member of the consulting experts in the field of construction and engineering in the World Bank's "Doing Business" report from 2018 to 2020; he has also participated in the drafting of the "General Contracting Contract Model Text for Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development" and the review of the 2020 revision of the Construction Law.

Honor & Awards
Mr. Jin was selected as recommended lawyer in construction field by Legal500 from 2022 to 2025 and was one of the winners of LegalBand "Chinese Legal 30 Under 30" in 2020
Mr. Jin is the member of “Real Estate Expert Council” of Shanghai Bar Association
Mr. Jin was elected in 2025 as the “Top Ten Uprising Lawyers” in Changning District, Shanghai

Education
Master in Economic Laws, SciencesPo Paris
LL.B., Tsinghua University

执业领域：不动产与基础设施、争议解决、银行与金融

工作经历：

金哲远律师是植德律师事务所合伙人。金哲远律师在不动产与基础设施的 开发、建设、投资、融资领域经验丰富。金哲远律师协助多家知名地产开发商 与投资方进行房地产开发、销售、收并购项目，项目类型涉及住宅、商业地产 、仓储物流、长租公寓、产业园区与城市更新，也曾协助各种类型的项目融资
方对地产项目完成投融资、收并购、退出以及争议解决事项。金哲远律师服务 过多家大型承包商、地方政府、地产开发商、制造业企业在内的项目业主方进 行建设工程诉讼与非诉法律服务。

教育背景：法国巴黎政治学院，经济法硕士

清华大学，法学学士

Having worked in China, the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, Mr. Chen has vast and diverse experiences in real estate investment and financing, REITs, PERE fund management and asset management, real estate development, planning & design, and international business operations.

Mr. Chen is the Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of F.O.G. Capital & Asset Management Corp. (Fields of Gold Corp. - a real estate focused investment & asset management firm headquartered in Shanghai, China, and a Harvard China Fund partner for over 10 years) and the independent director of Yuexiu REITs (the World's first publicly listed REITs in Hong Kong in 2005 investing mainly in mainland properties). He also has been serving as the Development Head of China for a Top-10 Globally ranked real estate investment fund and as senior executive of one of the largest listed blue-chip real estate development groups in Hong Kong. He has also worked as senior architect in an international architectural firm in Boston, MA. USA.

Mr. Chen is a visiting professor at one of the top business schools in China- Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). He was also a mentor for China Ren Min University’s MBA program. He teaches Real Estate and Capital Market related courses in Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Tongji University. While living in the US, Mr. Chen was a Guest Lecturer at the BAC (Boston Architecture Center), where he taught architectural design and planning studios.