During that time, the securities attorney witnessed firsthand how communications advances were supercharging global business. He had an epiphany.

“I just saw the world getting smaller,” he said, “and I thought international (business) might be the place to be.”

Leung, who emigrated from Hong Kong to the United States when he was 7 and speaks Mandarin and Cantonese, played to his strength. He joined a small law firm in Westwood to start its Asian Practice Group, which specializes in taking small Chinese companies public in the United States. Not only is his group one of the very few that does that kind of work, he has helped fuel a growing trend.

In just five years, Leung has grown the practice, turning it into one of the most lucrative divisions of Richardson & Patel LLP. Over the last year and a half, in particular, the group has grown from a pair of attorneys to 10 – and Leung is still hiring.

Rather than handle large initial public offerings, Leung focuses on small companies, taking them public through nontraditional moves such as reverse mergers. He also handles secondary offerings and other corporate financings.

Most recently, Leung helped China Jo-Jo Drugstores Inc. go public in September. To date, the group has represented more than 30 Chinese companies with a combined market capitalization of $1 billion.

“The practice today is very robust,” Leung said. “There is a tremendous amount of interest among U.S. investors in Chinese companies.”

Indeed, as investors increasingly diversify their portfolios and invest in emerging markets, China is one of the biggest beneficiaries of that trend. Despite the global recession, China has one of the fastest growing economies. It expanded nearly 9 percent in the third quarter.

“With the big stimulus effort they’ve got going on, that’s created a lot of business opportunities,” said Nick Einhorn, an analyst for Renaissance Capital, a Greenwich, Conn.-based IPO tracking firm.

As a result, many small Chinese businesses are seeking growth capital. With relatively young and immature stock markets in China, scores of companies are looking to the United States.

According to data from Renaissance Capital, more than 70 percent of the foreign IPOs in the United States this year were from China or Hong Kong.

“The U.S. markets are viewed as a little more investor-friendly and they’re a little more established,” said Einhorn, adding, “You get a reputation boost by listing in the U.S.”