I just flew MUC-PVG-KIX last week on LH connecting to NH. Despite being *A partners, LH was not able to issue the NH boarding passes or check the bags through.

It turns out there is no sterile transit at PVG, so I had to get a 24-hour transit visa, retrieve my bags, and check in again with NH. I had 3 hours to connect, which was fortunate since the transit visa line took over 90 minutes despite there only being about 15 people ahead of me. People who had missed or were going to miss their connections kept getting brought to the front of the queue. The whole experience was quite chaotic.

If you're going to connect in China, make sure you leave lots of time for the process. The lines for regular immigration also stretched for miles.