China Business Briefing

Bridging the East and the West

Combining real-life business experiences with academic insights

About

China Business Briefing is a series of panel discussion held at LSE and it is open to the public.  It explores the overarching question facing businesses today:  What are the opportunities and challenges for businesses in China in view of current political, economical and social changes globally?

Our briefings are marked by its excellence in providing a platform for the East and the West to meet.  Speakers come from diverse backgrounds and a range of companies, such as China-Britain Business Council, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Far East Facade, and many more.  They are highly successful leaders and are generous in sharing what they have learnt from real-life experiences. We also provide catered reception following the briefings so that participants can maximise the opportunity to network with others.

Guest speakers

2022

Dunca

Duncan Lethbridge

Duncan is Grant Thornton UK LLP’s lead on trade with China. He has advised a variety of clients on their strategy for internationalising their operations and expanding overseas, and is also responsible for running a major Department for International Trade business support programme for companies expanding in China. 

2021

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Jerry Wu 

He is the Head of Investment at TusPark Holdings UK.

He is an innovator,investor and a scientist. Jerry is always enthusiastic to drive the innovation, and foster the collaborative network among stakeholders.

 

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Colin Tan

He is the Director of Operations for TusPark Newcastle, the first international TusPark fully-owned by TUS Holdings.

He works with TUS’s partners in the UK to help businesses, universities and governments to enter and scale-up in the Chinese market. 

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Prof. Zhu Xufeng

Professor and Executive Associate Dean at the School of Public Policy and Management (SPPM) and Executive Director of the Institute for Sustainable Development Goals at Tsinghua University.

His research focuses on public policy theories, Science & Technology policy, environment and climate policy, and public governance in transitional China. 

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René Carayol

Renowned Executive Coach, leadership speaker and inclusion expert.

René is one of the world’s leading executive coaches, working with some of the Fortune 500’s and FTSE 100’s top Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and their executive teams.

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Lin Yue

Executive Director at Goldman Sachs Asset Management in London. Lin Yue is responsible for growing and managing key relationships across UK institutional investors.

She is a thought leader on Diversity & Inclusion, workplace culture, and decoding differences between China and the West.

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Professor Richard Leaver FRSACEO

Non-executive director with perspective and insight into creating and sustaining value in technology-rich growth businesses

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Dr.Zhe Fu 

President of the UK Hainan Association, Research Associate at the University of Cambridge and Technology Insight Expert at Huawei Cambridge R&D Centre

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Tim Bo Jiao

Founding Executive Chair of UK Shaanxi Economy and Culture Association in the UK, to promote business communication and cooperation between Shaanxi and UK. 

Successfully invited City of London and Croydon mayoral and business delegations visited Xi’an for the first time in 2019, also organised Shaanxi and Xi’an business delegations visited London and UK. Also helped city of Liverpool to establish a sister city friendship with Xi’an. 

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Danny Dolan

Managing Director of China Post Global UK

Danny heads China Post Global’s European business since 2016.

Danny was Managing Director of RBS’ structured funds team from 2010 to 2016, and prior to that worked at Nomura and Merrill Lynch in fund management and structuring roles.

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Robert Wesson

Founder & CEO of Axiom International Financial Services Ltd

Axiom IFS cuts through the complexity of modern banking to offer a customised and comprehensive treasury and foreign exchange solution to make everyday life easier for businesses of any size looking to expand overseas. 

This personal approach has proved effective for Rob for well over a decade, from early his career when he cut his teeth at various banking and FinTech businesses in Australia and UK, working front and back office roles before launching Axiom IFS (his 2nd Fintech business) last year at the very start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Dr. Ian Zhu

Head of China Outbound Investment, China Britain Services Group

Dr Zhu, with a Doctor degree in Finance, has 20 years of work experience in Mainland China, Hong Kong and UK across various sectors and diversified business functions with in-depth knowledge of UK-China business collaborations.

He, sitting in China Britain Services Group, is the Head of China Investment of Grant Thornton UK, using his skills and expertise to develop all China related opportunities and relations, assist both British and Chinese clients in their cross-border investment and trade activities

2020

Michael Mainelli

Professor Michael Mainelli (梅睿孟)FCCA FCSI(Hon) FBCS

Michael serves as Sheriff (since Sep.2019) and Alderman (since 2013) for the City of London. His main responsibility is for the smooth running of the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey and the provision of facilities for HM Judges to administer justice.

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Jonathan Geldart

Jonathan was appointed Director General of the Institute of Directors in October 2019. Prior to this he spent 30 years working in the professional services sector, most recently at Grant Thornton International Ltd responsible for the organisation’s interest in China and previously as a global board member responsible for the brand. Jonathan has a long-standing connection with the IoD, as Chair of IoD Yorkshire and North East region prior to his appointment as Director General. 

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Alice Fan Yang

Alice is currently the Head of Operations in China Everbright Holdings Company Ltd, a Hong Kong listed company focuses on private equity investment in China.  Before joining China Everbright Holdings Company Ltd, she was the Deputy General Manager of New China Asset Management Ltd. (“NCAMC”) in Beijing. NCAMC is the asset manager of New China Life Insurance, one of the key players in insurance market in China. 

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Paul Dupont 

Paul has helped over 25 Western companies launch their businesses in China during 10 years of living in the region. He speaks fluent Mandarin and has written over 60 articles and reports on politics, technology and innovation in China for MNCs and Western governments including the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. He is presently head of sales for a London-based start-up with significant business in China.


George Lee

George Lee

At Gemini Consulting George drove change in complex companies like Prudential and Tesco. As Executive Vice President International Marketing for T-Mobile, he launched the mobile internet, M-Commerce. 

He is currently the Senior Partner at Chaucer Consulting responsible for the Government Sector but still lecture at various universities including Cambridge in politics, management science, international business, and criminology.


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Mike Wang

Mike is a partner of KWM London office and are responsible for the cross-border deals from China to EU. Mike has been involved in lots of IP cases in China. In the past years, Mike has participated in numerous cross-border cases on behalf of Chinese investors. At the same time, Mike is working for various EU clients in their investments in and business expansion to China. His clients included China, UK and international companies operating in the education, telecoms, healthcare, technology and fintech sectors.


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Dennis Lee

Dennis has extensive experience in contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law, including trade marks, brand protection, copyright, licensing, business IP contracts, digital and technology, research and development, design protection, internet and IT-related disputes, passing-off and trade secrets and know-how. Dennis works closely with businesses to formulate strategies and business models, especially in relation to brand protection, commercial disputes, group intellectual property ownership, and is regularly involved in major corporate M&A transactions that involve IP issues.

 

 

 

2019

Brook Horowitz

Brook Horowitz (IBLF Global, CEO)

Brook is the CEO of IBLF Global, a UK-based NGO which promotes responsible business in emerging and developing markets.

In 2014, Brook set up IBLF Global, a new UK-based NGO which promotes responsible business in emerging and developing markets through collective action. Since then, Brook has led on project design and management of anti-corruption projects in Russia, Turkey, Central Asia and South East Asia. Current projects include enabling SMEs bid for business in the public procurement process of Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan, creation of a Government-Business Integrity Initiative in Vietnam, and has recently supported the UK Department for International Development in developing their Business Integrity Initiative for British exporters.

Steve Xing

Steve Xing (Equity Partner, Deloitte)

Steve works in the Economics, Valuation and Modelling practice within Deloitte Financial Advisory.  And he leads the Modelling & Analytics services for Financial Services clients in the UK.

Born and raised in mainland China, he came to the UK in 2000 for his university study then later starting his professional career in London.  He has since worked in Private Equity and “Big 4”s over a 15-year career so far.  Being one of the few equity partners in a London “Big 4” who grew up in China, he passionately supports a number of young professionals’ and Chinese professionals’ networks in his spare time.

 

2018

Henry

Henry Tillman (DLJ, Merrill Lynch, CSFB, Barclays)

Henry has an international banking career of over 30 years. The initial decade was spent based in New York with major investment banks (including DLJ, Merrill Lynch and CSFB), focussed mostly on advising on US organisations on M&A and capital raising. Since 1992, he has been based in London, including a senior management role at Barclays Group, with a focus on Europe and Southeast Asia and at ABN AMRO, where he was a Wholesale Banking Board Member, managing a global business with a focus on Emerging Markets, in particular Asia. Mr Tillman also previously served as a Non Executive Director of Wells Fargo Securities Europe (2011-2015). He was active in the Credit/Risk functions at all 3 major banks.

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Max Raven (Senior Vice President, CNBC)

Max is responsible for CNBC’s international commercial strategy and operations across EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. Since joining CNBC in July 2015, Max has focussed on reinvigorating the network’s international sales strategy. He launched CNBC Catalyst to ensure it offers a ‘best in class’ client partnerships operation as it expands its multi-platform commercial offering.

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Li Yu, CFA (Senior Global Product Manager and China Specialist, HSBC)

In her current role, Li drives HSBC Global Banking & Market’s strategy of gaining access to both inbound and outbound China investments for institutional clients, and has been a key contributor to the HSBC Group’s renminbi internationalisation initiatives. She is a frequent speaker at industry seminars, roundtable sessions with asset managers and UK HM Treasury, and workshops for Chinese senior regulator delegations.

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Mafalda Borea (Deputy Editor, China Report)

Mafalda is Deputy Editor of China Report magazine. Before this she headed up CNN’s Advertising Sales and Sponsorship division working with clients based in Southern Europe & the CIS region, supporting CNN’s editorial team in creating sponsor worthy content. She also held a senior position at MUBI online cinema and co-funded a media representation agency. 

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Dr Michelle Chen (Partner, Gunnercooke LLP)

Michelle is the president of Cambridge China Business Solutions and a global partner of Gunnercooke LLP. Michelle is a dual China and UK qualified corporate lawyer with over 25 years combine experience in Asia and Europe.

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Mei Xin Wang (Co-Founder, RMB Interest Group)

Mei Xin is an accomplished commodity trader, Non-executive Director and Board Advisor. She combines strategic leadership with a solid understanding of business risk, financial control as well as considerable awareness of cultural sameness and differences between the East and West.

Miranda Carr

Miranda Carr (China Macro Strategist, Haitong)

Miranda joined Haitong Securities, China’s second-largest securities company with a US$25bn market cap, in April 2015 to establish its international China Macro Strategy research, which analyses China’s economic and industrial impact on domestic and international markets. Prior to this, she established a leading China economic and industrial policy investment research product (subsequently sold to Everbright Securities) at the London-based securities company, NSBO, having jointly set up its office in Beijing in 2007. 

Tim Wood

Tim Wood (Managing Director, Head of UK, HSS, HSBC)

Tim joined HSBC in March 2017 as Head of the UK for HSS. In his role he is responsible for the overall management of the UK business, reporting to Rafael Moral Santiago, Head of Europe for HSS.

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Joff Sharpe (COO, British Land)

Joff Sharpe is COO of FTSE 100 Real Estate company British Land Plc, Chairman of Broadgate Estates Ltd and Co-Founder of flexible workspace company Storey.

Previous roles have frequently focused on business transformation, spanning multiple geographies and a range of industries. His early career was spent in the British Army where he served in the Special Forces and this was the inspiration for his book ‘Who dares wins in business’, soon to be published in Chinese edition by Peking University Press.

He has also been a freelance contributor to Newsweek, South China Morning Post, BBC radio and other international media.

James Richards

James Richards (Chairman, Asiability)

James has a long-standing interest in Chinese language and culture.  From 1977-1980 he was the official Chinese interpreter for HM The Queen, Mrs Thatcher and other British leaders.  More recently he has performed “xiangsheng” (traditional Pekingese comic cross-talk) on Chinese TV and stage. 

James is chairman of the China Association.  He has contributed articles on Britain and China to the Financial Times and lectures at LSE Ideas.  His engagement with China ranges across various fields, including music (he is a member of the Advisory Council of the London Symphony Orchestra), education (he is a member of the Advisory Board for Europe of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business) and business (he is chairman of the consultancy Asiability).

 

2017

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Lise Bertelsen (Executive Director, CBBC)

Lise is Executive Director at the China-Britain Business Council.  With some 20 years’ experience in the China market, she has worked with a wide variety of companies, organisations and government departments within a broad range of sectors, both in China and the UK. 

 Lise has management responsibility for CBBC’s commercial activities and services, including initiatives such as Belt and Road.  Lise also leads on Government Affairs.

 Lise graduated from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies with a BA Honours Degree in Chinese.

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Ruixiang Han (CEO, ICBC London plc)

Mr Ruixiang Han is CEO of ICBC (London) plc and General Manager of ICBC London Branch. Their parent - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) - is the largest commercial bank in China.

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John McLean, OBE FCA (Chairman, China Solutions LLP)

John McLean is a seasoned director, both as Chairman and as a Non-Executive (NED) with extensive public and listed experience both in the UK and China and has been involved with China since 1998.

 John is on the board of CBBC (China Britain Business Council) was Chairman of VSO China for 8 years and in 2011 and 2012 John was nominated and shortlisted for AIM (Alternative Investment Market) NED of the year.

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Fergus Hay (CEO, Leagas Delaney)

Fergus is a marketing communications executive with an Executive MBA from Stern NYU, London School of Economics and HEC who is passionate about the power of creativity to drive business performance for global clients. 

Having worked on major global clients such as British Airways, Barclays, Coca Cola, Britvic and SC Johnson, Fergus has deployed this narrative story telling across APAC, Europe, LATAM, Africa and North America specializing in integrated marketing. 

Fergus is also the Writer, Producer and Interviewer in the video series Creativity: Weapon of Mass Disruption where he interviews some of the world's most pioneering creative thinkers who have used the power of a creative idea to disrupt the world around them. The series features Emmanuel Jal, Jackie Chan, John De Mol, Donna Karan and Sir Jackie Stewart. Fergus believes that we have a responsibility to inspire the next generation of the power of a creative idea, and to understand how to nurture and protect it.

ZhuJian

Zhu Jian (Vice Chairman, Far East Facade)

ZHU Jian is a Vice Chairman of Far East Facade (FEF), member of China Overseas Group. FEF is specialist in facade industry, Burj Khalifa was job of Far East Global.

Mr. Zhu is also representative of China State Construction International, holding company of Far East Global, also member of China Station Construction International. They are exploring affordable housing investment opportunity in the UK.Mr. ZHU has worked in Hong Kong for 4 years, 1 year in Macau, 7 years in Mainland China, 6 years in Dubai and 3 years in London.

Simon Shaw

Simon Shaw (Chief Creative Officer + Strategist, Global Center of Creative Strategy, London)

Simon is responsible for the quality of the strategic and creative output of the agency. Together with the CEO, Simon leads the transformation of H+K London into the ‘Global Centre of Creative Strategy’ for our clients and network. Three years after its launch, H+K London was named UK Consultancy of the Year by the Holmes Report.

Simon’s expertise is in delivering strategic + creative counsel for clients, as well as developing multi-channel, content-led campaigns for global brands. In 2016 H+K launched it’s 3P CommunicationsTM offer to more formally create Purpose + Performance led strategies for clients. This has led Simon to focus on fast growing Chinese brands including Huawei, Wanda, Envision and Honor where he spends much of his time.

He is also a well-renowned and respected industry authority; speaking and serving as a judge at the Cannes Lions Festival, serving as the 2017 D&AD PR Jury President and is a top 100 Creative Pool influencer. Simon is also a qualified and awarded architect.

Shawn Luo

Shawn Luo (CFO, Country Garden Holding UK)

Shawn Luo has been appointed as the CFO of Country Garden Holding (UK) Company since earlier 2017. With over 7 years of professional experience in the Financial Services Industry both domestically and internationally, Shawn is more than qualified to lead Country Garden’s accounting, tax and funding team here in the UK. Prior to joining Country Garden, Shawn was Chief Relationship Manager at China Merchants Bank London Branch for two years, where he was entrusted with various range of responsibilities. Before that, he had worked in China Merchants Bank Head Office for a range of roles, from Corporate Banking, Private Banking and ALM.

Shawn holds Msc of Finance degree of University of Hong Kong and Bsc of Financial Engineering degree of Central University of Finance and Economics (China).