He Xian, Ph.D.

Expertise He Advises Experience Highlights Career History

Partner

Corporate and Immigration

Expertise

Dr. Xian’s concentrated experience involves US workforce, international business and trade. Dr. Xian has facilitated numerous expansions and dispute resolutions in China for US-based companies. He has also facilitated a sister city relationship between Hohhot, China and Lansing, Michigan. He maintains amicable relationships with governmental partners in China and the US.

Before Dr. Xian joined the firm, he was serving as the Chair of the China Practice at one of the largest Michigan-based law firm. During the course of his legal career, some of his work has been recognized and reported in The New York Times, China Daily, China News Service, and China Auto News. Dr. Xian is admitted to practice in Michigan and Georgia. Notably, he has been recognized several years in a row by leading Michigan and national legal publications for his experience in the areas of Business, Immigration, and Corporate Law.

Dr. Xian earned his juris doctor from Michigan State University College of Law and his Ph.D. in Information and Media from Michigan State University College of Communication. Dr. Xian also taught at Michigan State University, where his academic study focused on the sociology of stratification, perception, and related policy issues. Dr. Xian has published his works in peer-reviewed journals such as Research in Stratification and Social Mobility, Socius, and The Sociological Quarterly. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Georgia and a certificate in Chinese Legal System from Peking University in Beijing, China.

He Advises

International companies in industries including automotive, clean energy, artificial intelligence, agriculture, food processing and packaging, infrastructure, IT and engineering services.
Start-up companies and founders for issues related to corporate ownership structures.
U.S. inbound investments for issues related to governmental relationships.

Experience Highlights

Served as outside general counsel for a large state-owned enterprise’s U.S. operation.
Supported a major clean energy manufacturers’ U.S. workforce establishment.
Secured multiple intracompany transferees for a major AI firm under L-1A and L-1B program.
Advised and prosecuted industrial workers/installers visa for numerous equipment manufacturers for their projects in the U.S.
Led litigation resulted in $2 million judgment awarded to a group of foreign investors.
Facilitated a sister city relationship between Hohhot, China and Lansing, Michigan.

Career History

Previous Law firms

Butzel Long, PC, China Practice Chair and Senior Attorney, 2016 to 2024

Memberships

State Bar of Michigan
State Bar of Georgia

Education

Michigan State University College of Law, J.D.
Michigan State University College of Communication, Ph.D.
Peking University School of Law
University of Georgia, B.A.

Other – Academic Publications

Perceptions of meritocracy in the land of opportunity, Research in Social Stratification and Mobility 36, 121-137 2014
Bootstraps, buddies, and bribes: Perceived meritocracy in the United States and China, The Sociological Quarterly 58 (4), 622-647 2017
Not by bread alone: Mobility experiences, religion, and optimism about future mobility Socius 5, 2378023119849807 2019

The Narrative Imitated Union of Belief and Experience (NIUBE) Model: Exploring the Influence of Cultivation Effect and Retrospective Imagination Involvement in Shaping …Michigan State University 2024