Adelaide degree wins high recognition

Graduations

Chinese lawyer Zhenyu Liu will use his newly acquired Master of Laws from the University of Adelaide to help his company smoothly negotiate changes in domestic law reform.

Mr Liu, who works for the law firm Andao Yonghua in southern China, said his year-long study program at the University of Adelaide in 2006 had updated his knowledge in the areas of insolvency, company and competition law - all crucial to his firm's success.

"Andao Yonghua is a rapidly growing law firm in Guangzhou and the partners give high recognition for overseas study and the development of company law from an international perspective," Mr Liu said.

The 25-year-old began working for Andao Yonghua in 2005 after graduating with a law degree from the South China Normal University in the Guangdong Province.

"My father worked for a big, government-owned company and his job involved handling legal cases, so he was probably my biggest influence. My dream of becoming a lawyer, and eventually a judge, goes back to my high school days."

Mr Liu chose the University of Adelaide for two reasons: the Masters program offered company law subjects directly related to this work, and the lifestyle appealed.

"My hometown Guangzhou is a crowded metropolis of 12 million people and I was looking for something different - a beautiful, small city in which to live and study.

"Adelaide and my study experiences at the University have given me the most wonderful memories of my life so far. I wouldn't hesitate to go back there to further my skills," he said.

Mr Liu graduated with 38 other students at the Hotel Intercontinental in Hong Kong on 17 April.

Story by Candy Gibson