Clifford Chance Asia-Pacific managing partner Peter Charlton sets out the firm’s regional strategy to Elizabeth Broomhall

Talking about the importance of Asia, Peter Charlton, Clifford Chance’s (CC) Hong Kong-based regional managing partner, points across Victoria Harbour in the direction of mainland China. “We are on the edge of the soon-to-be largest economy in the world,” he says, turning in his seat to look across the water. “I can’t imagine Asia-Pacific not becoming more important, and not becoming a larger proportion of Clifford Chance, in this century.”