Mr. Xiping Zhu is a partner at Merits & Tree Law Offices. Prior to joining Merits & Tree, he worked at a basic-level people's court and the higher people's court of a municipality directly under the Central Government for 16 years. During this period, he served as Presiding Judge of the Second Criminal Division and Head of the Steering Group at the higher people's court, focusing long-term on adjudicating economic crimes and duty-related crimes, as well as supervising and researching relevant cases across all courts in the municipality.

 

Mr. Zhu specializes in criminal dispute resolution and criminal compliance. With over a decade of experience in criminal adjudication, he participated in handling and providing guidance on more than 2,000 major, difficult, and complex cases, accumulating extensive practical experience in judicial trials. These cases include the "e-Zubao" illegal fundraising case, which was recognized as one of the Top Ten Criminal Cases of 2017 by China's courts. He has also handled multiple economic crime cases where he upheld judicial principles under significant pressure, resulting in acquittals that exemplify the protection of property rights and legitimate interests of private entrepreneurs. He representative acquittal cases, including the official embezzlement case of Yu and the contract fraud case of Zhang, serve as landmark examples of judicial protection for property rights and the lawful rights of private business owners.

 

Mr. ZHU has participated in multiple key research projects and reports for criminal trial work conferences of the higher people's court of a municipality directly under the Central Government. He also participated in the drafting of the Supreme People's Court’s Unified Evidence Provisions (Draft Judicial Interpretation) and the pilot project on sentencing procedure reform led by the Law School of Peking University. Additionally, he independently completed the drafting and revision of sentencing guidelines for 23 common criminal offenses for the higher people's court.