The Honorable William Zarit advises western multinationals working in the Chinese commercial market and helps Chinese companies navigate the U.S. business environment. A Senior Counselor with The Cohen Group, he is also Chairman Emeritus of the American Chamber of Commerce in China.

Until May 2014 Mr. Zarit was Minister for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, in charge of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s trade promotion and trade policy activities in its operations in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. He retired with the diplomatic rank of Career Minister.

Prior to that Beijing posting, Mr. Zarit oversaw Commercial Sections in U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide as Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Operations, for the U.S. Foreign Commercial Service (FCS), which is the Federal Government’s front line trade agency, promoting both U.S. exports and foreign investment into the U.S., and protecting U.S. commercial interests overseas. Before that he served as the FCS Regional Director for East Asia/Pacific. Prior positions included Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Deputy Senior Commercial Officer both at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and at the American Institute in Taiwan.

Before to joining the U.S. Commercial Service Mr. Zarit was Economic and Commercial Program Officer for the New York-based National Committee on U.S.-China Relations, preceded by his work as Marketing Manager/China for Pacific Bell’s international operations. He had earlier as Project Manager for the first IBM PC dealer in China, China Business Associates. Mr. Zarit also served as a Mandarin Chinese Interpreter for the U.S. State Department Language Services.

He earned an M.B.A. with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

With nearly 30 years of legal experience, Mr. Zhou concentrates his practice on foreign direct investment, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions, as well as regulatory compliance and data security matters. He regularly advises multinational corporations (from Fortune 500 to SMEs) and non-governmental organizations across diverse industries—including technology, automotive, aviation, media and entertainment, semiconductors, healthcare and life sciences, banking and financial services, publishing, manufacturing, consumer products, and professional services—on their strategic expansion, investments, and business operations throughout China and Asia.
Mr. Zhou also advises leading Chinese companies on outbound investments, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, and strategic alliances across global markets including the United States, Europe, and other key jurisdictions. He is also familiar with regulatory matters impacting international trade and investment, including CFIUS reviews, export controls, and economic sanctions.

Prior to joining JunHe, Mr. Zhou was a partner in the transactional and regulatory group at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP. Earlier in his career, he practiced corporate law at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, working in its New York, Hong Kong and China offices.