James M. Zimmerman is a Beijing-based lawyer and author who has lived and worked in China for more than twenty-seven years. He raised three daughters in China who attended their entire schooling years at the Western Academy of Beijing.
James is among China’s leading foreign lawyers and represents companies and individuals confronted with the political and legal complexities of doing business in Mainland China. As a seasoned lawyer and partner with the law firm of Loeb & Loeb LLP Beijing Representative Office, he advises foreign companies on corporate, transactional, regulatory, litigation and white-collar criminal defense matters. James has extensive experience assisting individuals detained and prosecuted under China’s national security and state secrecy laws and regulations, including several high-profile and politically sensitive cases. He represents foreign media—including print, broadcast and social media—in addressing challenges related to security, press freedoms and general operations in China.
James was elected by the membership and served as chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China for four terms (2007, 2008, 2015, 2016), and as a vice chairman for two terms (2005, 2006).
He is also the author of the acclaimed non-fiction book The Peking Express: The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China, a New York Times Editors Choice and listed as a best non-fiction book by Fortune Magazine and China Books Review. The Peking Express is a true story of China’s great train robbery of 1923 and is currently in production as a feature film to be co-produced in China and the United States. A Chinese version of his book is forthcoming by the end of this year.