SPEAKERS
London Business School China Business Forum has been known to attract high-profile thought leaders from business, academia and politics to address changing dynamics in China.
This year we are bringing you top voices from
Gordon Orr
Board Member
@Lenovo and Swire Pacific
Hear from key opinion leader in Chinese business world
Gordon is a Senior Advisor to McKinsey and a Board Member of Lenovo and Swire Pacific. Gordon is on the Board of the China Britain Business Council, where he provides oversight of their China Outbound initiative. In addition, he counsels the CEOs of a number of China’s globalizing companies and is an advisor to Oxford University and Harvard Business School in Asia.
Gordon opened McKinsey’s office in Beijing in the early 1990s and led McKinsey’s Greater China practice for many years. He led McKinsey Asia from 2009 until 2014. Gordon was on McKinsey’s global board of directors 2003-15 with responsibilities for Asia, Governance and Risk. Gordon has been based in China since 1993 and worked with McKinsey from 1986 until he retired in 2015.
Rongrong Huo
Global Head of China and RMB Business, Capital Financing, Global Banking & Markets@HSBC
Hear from spearhead in Global Banking and China & RMB Internalisation
Ms Huo is accountable for driving Global Banking and Markets' overall China and RMB internationalisation strategy, revenue growth, product innovations and wider strategic client executions across all global regions with the main focus across primary market activities.
In addition, currently she is also helping leading Global infrastructure and Sustainable Financing initiatives across multi product groups for the Group. Prior to this, Ms Huo spent three years in Global Markets leading the RMB initiative across sales and trading in the secondary market for the EMEA region.
Evan Bai
President of the FRCC, @Huawei Global Finance (UK)
Lessons From a Outbound Investment Pioneer
Evan Bai is currently President of the Financial Risk Control Center (FRCC) and General Manager of Huawei Global Finance (UK) Limited. The FRCC helps the Group Finance Mgmt Dept operate smoothly and develop financial
risk control capabilities using scientific risk evaluation methods.
Evan Bai joined Huawei in 1998 as an engineer in the Research Dept. He has held several senior roles within the company, including President of the Treasury Mgmt Dept, Vice President of the Sales Financing and Treasury Mgmt Dept, and Vice Director of Huawei US R&D Center (in charge of Mergers & Acquisitions).
Evan Bai graduated from Xi’an University of Electronic Science and Technology, with a Master’s Degree in Telecommunications.
Huishan Zhang
Fashion Designer, Founder
@Huishan Zhang Ltd.
Chinese designer redefining global fashion business
Born in Qingdao, China. Huishan is a graduate of Central Saint Martins. During his time studying, he worked for a year at Dior, including six months in the haute couture atelier. He founded his label Huishan Zhang upon graduation. His collection are stocked worldwide at stores including Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, Joyce, Harvey Nicoles etc. Huishan was named by BOF 500 as one of the people who are shaping global fashion industry.
Zhaoyu (Jack) Zheng
Partner @ZhenFund
Stories from entrepreneurial frontier
Zhaoyu is a partner at ZhenFund, where he is in charge of both education and O2O (online-to-offline service). Prior to joining ZhenFund, Zhaoyu was the Vice President of the Education International Corporation, one of China's leading providers in overseas study. He also served as the Principal of the Taiyuan New Oriental School.
Zhaoyu received a Masters Degree in Management from Peking University and a PhD in Education from Beijing Normal University.
A joint fund with Sequoia Capital China, ZhenFund is the largest early-stage seed fund in China. Portfolio companies include Jumei.com (NYSE: JMEI), Jiayuan.com (NASDAQ: DATE), Ehang UAV, Deepglint etc.
Yiqing (Pocket) Sun
Founding Partner
@SoGal Ventures
Professor George Yip
Co-director @CEIBS Centre on China Innovation,
Professor @Imperial College
Redefining next generation diverse founders and funders
Professor George Yip previously worked as VP and Director of Research & Innovation, Capgemini Consulting; Dean, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University; faculty at Harvard, UCLA, Cambridge and London business schools. At LBS he was Associate Dean – MBA and Professor of Strategic and International Management.
Published books include Strategic Transformation, Managing Global Customers, Asian Advantage and Total Global Strategy.
BA and MA in economics, Cambridge University; MBA and doctorate, Harvard Business School.
A decade of study on China Innovation
Pocket Sun is founding Partner of SoGal Ventures and is involved in all aspects of venture capital investment and operations. Previously, she founded SoGal, a fast-growing global community of diverse entrepreneurs and investors, and grew it to more than 4,000 members worldwide under a year.
Pocket is the winner of 2016 Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in Venture Capital, LinkedIn 2015 Top Voices in VC & Entrepreneurship, and named by female funders as one of the Top 40 Change Makers.
SoGal is one of the largest network of diversity and entrepreneurship in Southern California.
Michael Winterson joined Equinix in 2007 when the company acquired London AIM listed IXEurope. At Equinix, he held position of VP of Marketing and Sales before his current role. Before IXEurope, Michael was involved in two other technology startups in Europe that were eventually sold to US and Japanese companies.
Michael holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics and French from Northwestern University and a master’s degree in International Economics from the Graduate Institute – Geneva. An itinerant American, Michael fell in love with Europe at an early age and has never looked back.
Michael Winterson
Managing Director @Equinix
World's largest IBX data centre and colocation provider eyes on China growth
Jason Basmajian
Chief Creative Officer
@Cerruti 1881
Jason Basmajian is a native of Boston, Mass. He has lived in New York, Paris, Milan and London. Jason joined Cerruti 1881 as Chief Creative Officer in October 2015. He was nominated at Gieves & Hawkes as Creative Director in January 2013 from Brioni, where he held the post of Artistic Director for over six years.
Previously, Jason was Creative Director of ST Dupont and has held positions at Donna Karan and Calvin Klein.
Hear stories from a world-famous fashion leader
Other Distinguished Panelists
Angus Knowles-Cutler
Vice Chairman and London Senior Partner, Deloitte LLP
Angus is Vice Chairman of Deloitte and also serves as our London office Senior Partner. He has thirty years’ experience in professional services, most recently leading the firm’s Transaction Services practice. He specialises in business integrations and separations. Angus has served on the Mayor of London’s senior advisory group for his London economic plan. He holds an MA from the University of Cambridge.
Biao Ding
General Manager, China Railway Rolling Stock Corporate (UK) Ltd.
Mr. Ding works as General Manager at CRRC UK Limited and is heading CRRC's Europe infrastructure market strategy and regional policy development. Previously he was the Global EPC Head at CSR Corporation Ltd., managing EPC projects over 35 countries. Mr. Ding has 13 years of multinational project management experience.
Bill Tao
General Manager UK & Ireland, China Eastern Airlines Co.,Ltd
Bill Tao joined then CAAC in mid 1980s and has taken up various positions in China Eastern Airlines for 30years now, experience and knowledge procured covering industry wise in operations, management, cooperation while overseas posting in various countries widen the international perspective on the industry.
Yingwen (Sharon) Shen
Managing Director, Phoenix Publishing & Media International (London) Ltd.
Sharon has been engaging in international cultural exchange for 14 years in Nanjing, China.
Since 2015, she has been responsible for the daily operation of PPM International (London) Ltd, the first wholly-owned overseas subsidiary of Phoenix Publishing & Media Group. PPMI operates in publishing, event organization and planning, creative printing and international trade. PPMG is one of the most influential cultural enterprises in China.
John Miu
Chief Operating Officer, Advanced Business Park
John was appointed in 2009 just as ABP began to seek global development opportunities and he was immediately tasked with coordinating ABP London’s submissions and led the team in acquiring the Royal Albert Dock site in 2013. Subsequently, he successfully led the company’s work in extending the project from a 3.2 million sq feet to a 4.7 million square feet development. John has been responsible for building the London delivery team with a focus on site and he is also shaping and leading the strategy for global sales.
Wendy Yu
Founder and CEO, Yu Capital
Wendy Yu is a creative investor and entrepreneur who combines her interest in fashion and technology businesses with positive social impact. She is the CEO and founder of Yu Capital, her investment portfolio includes Didi Kuaidi, ASAP 54 and Bottletop. Wendy serves on the board of Mengtian Group, the largest wooden door manufacturer in Asia with over 1000 retailing stores in mainland China. Wendy is the patron of Design Museum and British Fashion Council , and she also served as vicechair for Amfar Hongk Kong 2016. Wendy was awarded as Young Achiever of 2015 by Mulan Awards.
Yutong (Tony) Gao
Co-founder, Easy Transfer Ltd.
Tony Gao is the co-founder of EasyTransfer Ltd., a buzz-creating startup backed by top notch angel investors including Charles Xue, Taiyou Fund, Zhen Fund and Cyzone. Tony is a current undergraduate student at University of Southern California.
Chengfeng (John) Zai
Founder and CEO, Cocoon Networks
John is the Founder and CEO of Cocoon Networks, the first and largest Chinese-capital backed international start-up ecosystem. In addition, John is also the Founder and Chairman of the British Chinese Young Entrepreneurs Association (BCYEA), the largest Chinese start-up community in Britain. Prior to founding Cocoon Networks, John worked as an Investor Relationship Director at Hanxin Capital.
Lisa Wang
Co-Founder, SheWorx
Lisa Wang is the Co-Founder of SheWorx, a collective of ambitious female entrepreneurs and changemakers redefining leadership. In less than a year, they’ve hosted over 50 dynamic roundtable discussions for female entrepreneurs led by accomplished founders, entrepreneurs, investors. They also launched the preeminent SheWorx100 Series. Currently a community of 1000+ female entrepreneurs in NYC, SheWorx just launched in London, Singapore, Tel Aviv, and will be in 12 international cities by the end of 2016. They’ve been featured in Fortune, Forbes, and Inc. Magazine.
Clarie Lo
Managing Director, KS Sze and Sons Ltd.
Madam Clarie Lo is the Managing Director at KS Sze and Sons Ltd, legendary luxury jeweler based in Hong Kong. K. S. Sze & Sons Ltd was chosen as one of the few select retailers to open a shop in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Clarie was a former Administration Officer of the Hong Kong Government. She graduated from Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
Xiao Wang
Partner of Merger and Acquisition, IDG Capital
Xiao Wang is leading M&A and exit operation at IDG Capital China. He previously worked as deputy general manager at Lufax (one of the largest online finance marketplace in China, an associate of China PingAn Insurance Group) and group executive committee member. He is an adjunct professor at China Central University of Finance and Economics and writes economic columns at Caixin.com. He received Master in Finance degree from London Business School.
Hui Gong
Co-founder, Crescent and Chihuo Tech
Hui Gong is a Ph.D. researcher in University College London (UCL) specialized in algorithmic and high frequency trading. He is also a co-founder of Crescent and Chihuo Tech company which devotes to promoting cross-border security trading with the support of financial tech as well as consumption. He was previously engaged in quantitative finance projects for top Investment Banks & Hedge Funds in the UK including Globe Market Exchange Group, Citigroup, Credit Suisse, and Noster Capital. He played a leader role in the projects of Big Data Trading Behaviour, Delta One Construction, Machine Learning Portfolio Selection and Optimal Execution Service.
Dickie Ke
Founding Partner and CEO, NETADD Technology
Dickie has worked as executive with over twenty years of global management and advisory experience in the Digital Media and Advertising, FinTech, Big Data Analytics, Cloud Computing, Mobile Internet, IoT, and Telecommunications industries, with a focus on innovation. He has held executive-level leadership roles in MICROSOFT, ERICSSON BUSINESS CONSULTING, NOKIA, and HSBC. Business, technology, consulting, and investment expertise. Dickie is a Sloan Fellow of London Business School, with MSc in Leadership and Strategy.
Lingyun Gu
Founder and CEO, IceKredit, Inc
Lingyun Gu is a serial entrepreneur, an Entrepreneur In Residence and investment advisor to IDG-Accel (IDG Capital Partners) in Los Angeles. He has extensive experience in quantitative financial modeling area, with various roles as critical and founding members in risk management functions, quantitative trading as well as decision science and big data analytic teams.
Yang Liu
Associate, Distribution Hacker, 500 Startups
Yang Liu manages operations and community outreach for 500 Startups in London. Prior to relocating to London, she was actively involved with several successful startups in China. She was a founding member of Imlab.cc (the first IoT hardware startup backed by Foxconn "Kick2Real" program), later on, she joined Sugr Electronics as marketing manager. In her spare time, Yang is passionate about bridging the connection between innovative technologies and social entrepreneurship in developing world.
Yuping (Luna) Sun
Founder, Entrepreneurs Global Ltd.
Luna Sun is a serial entrepreneur. She comes from Harbin and graduated with an MBA degree from Liverpool University. She founded Entrepreneurs Global to help young start-up entrepreneurs in the UK to find investment, resources and talents in UK and China. She co-founded LivEco Technology Ltd, which won one of the Top 5 awards at the 2015 China Talent Entrepreneurship & Investment Competition and the 2015 CSSAUK High-Level Entrepreneurship Challenge award.
...and more
Moderators
Raymond Li
Head of Chinese
at BBC
Duncan Innes-Ker
Regional Director, Asia at Economist Intelligence Unit
Preshant Rao
Deputy Europe Business Editor
at New York Times
