A robust Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) is the bedrock for a successful long term partnership, more so if complex financing arrangements are involved. In recent years, we advised two complex JV situations involving Chinese companies, Yunnan Chihong and Selwyn on the Selwyn zinc lead project in Yukon; and MCC and Highlands Pacific on Ramu nickel project in PNG. In both cases, we were involved when the partnership was on the brink of breakdown. A key source of dispute had arisen from JVA flaws, both because the JVA had been too complex, especially when the Chinese companies lacked JV experiences, and because each partner’s rights and obligations were not well defined.