Mr. Naidong (Michael) MA is currently a Senior Partner at Dacheng Shanghai Office. He is a Fellow member of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), a TEP member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), an Advisor to Family Development Research Centre of Fudan University, a part-time mentor for postgraduate students at the Law School of Shanghai International Studies University, and an estate management expert at Shanghai Zhangjiang Notary Office.
Since 2022, Mr. Ma has been continuously listed in the rankings of internationally authoritative legal rating agencies such as Chambers and Legal 500, and has been consistently ranked as a “Band 1 Lawyer in Matrimonial and Family Law: High Net Worth” and a “Leading Partner in Private Wealth Management” in the Legal 500 list of Private wealth for multiple consecutive years.
Mr. Ma Naidong specializes in dispute resolution involving major domestic and cross-border crises for high-net-worth families and family-owned enterprises. His practice encompasses civil disputes arising among controlling shareholders, significant stakeholders, and their family members of listed companies and large-to-medium-sized private enterprises — including matters relating to divorce, inheritance, partnership investments, and corporate governance — as well as the commercial, administrative, and criminal disputes that may stem therefrom. In addition, Mr. Ma is dedicated to providing clients with comprehensive legal services in wealth protection and estate planning within a global context. His practice places particular emphasis on:
•Cross-border parallel litigation in family disputes
•Resolution of family disputes involving intersecting civil, commercial, and criminal proceedings
•Pre-marital background investigations for controlling shareholders and heirs’ spouses in prominent family enterprises
•Tiered testamentary planning from a cross-border perspective
•Pre-marital asset planning from a cross-border perspective
Representative matters handled by Mr. Ma for high-net-worth families and family enterprises include:
(1) In the field of family law disputes, Mr. Ma is well-versed in domestic adjudication rules and familiar with foreign legal practice. He works closely with colleagues across Dacheng offices as well as senior lawyers from major jurisdictions including the United Kingdom, Germany, Canada, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong, and has successfully represented multiple complex or high-value (up to tens of billions of RMB) divorce and inheritance disputes. Legal issues handled by Mr. Ma in family law disputes include but are not limited to:
-Global matrimonial asset due diligence. Providing comprehensive and in-depth due diligence, valuation, and legal analysis of company equity, business, and assets held directly or indirectly through nominees by a Chinese entrepreneur (who resides overseas for extended periods), both within and outside China, on behalf of the entrepreneur’s spouse.
-Procedural disputes:
Forum shopping, parallel litigation, and other international/inter-regional private law conflict arising from divergent adjudication rules across different jurisdictions.
Jurisdiction dispute in Chinese courts involving Chinese nationals who have acquired foreign nationality.
Dispute over Chinese court jurisdiction in shareholder damage claims arising from offshore companies after divorce.
Jurisdiction disputes in equity inheritance and divorce proceedings.
Disputes over recognition and enforcement of foreign court judgments in Chinese courts.
-Substantive disputes:
The validity (both domestically and abroad) of marriage contracted in China by naturalized foreign national who falsely assumed a Chinese identity.
Dispute over the recognition of nominee holding arrangements across different jurisdictions.
Disputes over the validity of pre-nuptial/post-nuptial agreements across different jurisdictions.
Dispute over whether a gift of pre-marital property agreed upon between a spouse during marriage may be revoked.
Dispute over the revocation of divorce agreements obtained by fraud.
Dispute over the validity of transfers of assets by one spouse to close relatives or third parties during a period of marital discord.
Dispute over the method of dividing equity in limited liability companies in divorce proceedings
Dispute over the eligibility of heirs
Dispute over the scope of heirs
Dispute over the authenticity and validity of wills
Dispute over the timing of heirs’ acquisition of shareholder status in equity inheritance proceedings
Disputes over the applicable law in cross-border inheritance disputes
-Expert opinions
Providing expert opinions on Chinese law to foreign family courts
Appearing as expert witness before foreign family courts
As a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL), Mr. Ma collaborates with IAFL members from other jurisdictions to provide the best dispute resolution solutions for ultra-high-net-worth Chinese clients in family law matters.
(2) In the field of corporate law, Mr. Ma has handled multiple series of commercial disputes arising from the sudden death of the actual controller, including disputes over corporate control among family members and between family members and other shareholders. Legal issues handled by Mr. Ma in corporate law disputes include but are not limited to (some of which have been heard and decided by the Supreme People’s Court):
-Dispute over the custody of corporate licenses, financial records, and company seals following the death of the company’s legal representative.
-Dispute over the representation of the company’s will following the death of the company’s legal representative.
-Dispute over the validity of shareholders’ meeting resolutions and board meeting resolutions following the death of the president.
-Dispute over harm to the company’s/shareholders’ interests following the death of the major shareholder or the actual controller.
-Dispute over corporate control among shareholders of offshore holding companies of domestic operating entities.
(3) In the field of administrative and criminal law, Mr. Ma has been involved in handling multiple administrative and criminal legal disputes arising from family conflicts, specifically as follows:
-Administrative legal disputes
Tax evasion
Administrative violations in the securities sector
Illegal foreign exchange trading
-Criminal legal disputes
Bigamy
Embezzlement by taking advantage of office
Misappropriation of funds
False issuance of invoices
False issuance of special invoices for value-added tax
Concealing or intentionally destroying accounting vouchers, account books or financial and accounting statements
Illegal business operations
(4) In the field of private wealth protection and inheritance planning, drawing on years of extensive experience in dispute resolution for high-net-worth families and family businesses both domestically and internationally, Mr. Ma is keenly aware of the significant legal risks—including nominee arrangements, tax, foreign exchange, and securities compliance—faced by Chinese families and family businesses that have undergone over 40 years of “wild growth” against the backdrop of the current macro environment. Beyond after-the-fact remediation, proactive prevention is paramount. Mr. Ma leads domestic and international professionals and institutions to provide clients with comprehensive, precise, and personalized wealth protection and succession services, including:
-Pre-nuptial and post-nuptial property planning from a cross-border and succession perspective
-Will planning
Selection of applicable law for wills from a cross-border perspective
Will drafting
Serving as executor of a will
-Equity succession arrangement planning
Corporate restructuring
Drafting of articles of association
Corporate operational compliance governance
-Providing legal advice on family trusts from a wealth succession and protection perspective
-Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) arrangements from a cross-border perspective
As a TEP member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), Mr. Ma collaborates with TEP members of STEP from other countries and jurisdictions to assist more Chinese families and family businesses in achieving intergenerational succession and long-term prosperity.
Mr. Ma’s team provides private wealth management legal services for ultra-high-net-worth clients of leading domestic and international institutions including, but not limited to: [AIA Insurance, Forbes Global Alliance, and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

Controlling Shareholder and Chairman of a Hong Kong Listed Company: In 2025, represented the controlling shareholder and chairman of a Hong Kong-listed company in a divorce case in which the parties respectively initiated parallel proceedings in Mainland China and Hong Kong, with contentious debates over judicial service, jurisdictional disputes, and the applicability of the Arrangement on Reciprocal Recognition and Enforcement of Civil Judgments in Matrimonial and Family Cases by the Courts of the Mainland and of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Major Shareholder of a Hong Kong-Listed Company: In 2025, represented the major shareholder of a Hong Kong-listed company (H-shares) in a cross-border divorce dispute involving parallel proceedings in Germany and Mainland China, as well as the criminal issue of bigamy.

Largest Individual Shareholder and Chairman of a Large Mainland Financial Institution: In 2025, represented the largest individual shareholder and chairman of a large Mainland financial institution in a divorce dispute, which involved the practical handling of the dissolution of a marriage with a potentially incapacitated person.

Actual Controller of a Listed Group: In 2024, represented the actual controller of a company listed on both domestic and overseas exchanges in a divorce dispute. A comprehensive range of mature legal instruments was employed to assist the actual controller in maintaining control over the listed company after the divorce, while simultaneously achieving intergenerational wealth succession and safeguarding the actual controller’s legitimate property rights in the event of incapacity.

Estate Planning for the Founder of a Domestic Family Group: In 2024, collaborated with a Hong Kong-based TEP lawyer well-versed in Canadian tax law to tailor a comprehensive estate plan for a client whose estate covered Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Canada. Considering that the intended beneficiary is currently a Canadian tax resident, a phased approach was adopted for the testamentary arrangements. The plan also gave full consideration to the beneficiary’s concerns regarding the protection of pre-marital property. In addition, the client’s nominee holding issues were identified during th

Major Shareholder of a Domestic Listed Company: In 2023, Mr. Ma led lawyers from Singapore and Hong Kong to jointly provide the client with a family trust structure design and wealth succession plan. The case involved the interface between domestic and overseas trust structures and wealth succession arrangements; the rules for recognizing the validity of family trusts and wills across different jurisdictions; the choice of governing law applicable to cross-border inheritance and matrimonial property relationships; the impact of matrimonial property regimes across different jurisdictions on the

Major Shareholder of an Overseas-Listed Chinese Concept Stock: In 2021, Mr. Ma represented the major shareholder of an overseas-listed Chinese concept stock shortly before the shareholder’s marriage. Based on the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China and relevant governing law including local case law, a comprehensive and meticulous marital agreement arrangement was made in respect of the listed company shares held by the shareholder through a family trust.