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Sara Marchetta lives and works in Beijing, China since 1997, where she practices the legal professions assisting cross-border investments between Italy and China, and became a partner of Chiomenti Law Firm (an Italian Law Firm) in 2011. She was involved in the assistance for the major Chinese investments into Italy and she regularly advises a number of Italian MNCs in their cross-border investments into China. She is also Board member of few Foreign Invested Enterprises in China.

She got university degrees in Italian Law and Chinese language and literature, and is an alumni of Peking University, Law School, where she attended an advanced learning program in Chinese law.

She has been the National Vice-president of the China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (2010-2014) and of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (2014-2017) and she is now the Chair of the Legal and Competition Working Group at the European Chamber. She is also the Cochair of the Cross Border Investment Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association.

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ECO Liz Blanch joined the Bureau of Industry and Security in 2003 assigned to the Office of Export Enforcement’s New York Field Office. In 2012, she relocated to the Washington D.C. area to serve first as Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office, and then as Unit Chief for Administrative Enforcement, OEE Headquarters. During this time, she also concurrently served as Deputy Director-BIS for the Export Enforcement Coordination Center (the E2C2), a multi-agency cooperative effort which serves as the primary forum within the U.S. federal government for executive departments and agencies to coordinate and enhance their export control enforcement efforts. In October 2020, Liz arrived in Beijing, China, to begin her current assignment as BIS’s Regional Export Control Officer (“ECO”) with area of responsibility including Mainland China and South Korea. Based on her prior achievements, ECO Blanch was awarded three U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medal Awards for Distinguished Achievement, and three Bronze Medals for Superior Service. ECO Blanch holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from Rutgers College in New Jersey.

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E. Allan Gabor is president of Merck China, and managing director of Merck Performance Materials China. He is also a permanent member of Merck’s Performance Materials Leadership Team, responsible for China. As president of Merck China, he is responsible for developing and driving growth strategies in this key country and building on the company’s 350-year presence and reputation. China is considered one of the Group’s strategic countries, with all three business sectors of Merck developing rapidly in the market.

Prior to this role, he was the president of Asia Pacific for Biopharma, Merck Group from 2016 to 2018. Before 2016, he was the president and chief executive officer for Merck’s Biopharma business in China, and was instrumental in expanding Merck’s Asian footprint. This was achieved through a series of investments, including establishing Merck’s new EUR170 million world-class pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Nantong, Jiangsu Province, as well as building an extensive network with leading academic and medical institutions for collaborations.

Before joining Merck, Mr Gabor spent 25 years at Pfizer in leadership roles including chair and general manager for China, and regional president for North Asia, Russia, India, Turkey and Eastern Europe. Mr Gabor successfully launched many of Pfizer's innovative medicines in China, and opened the China Regional Investment Centre and a state-of-the-art research and development centre in Shanghai.

In recognition of his tireless contribution towards the economic construction, social development and international exchange and cooperation of Shanghai, Mr Gabor has been awarded the Magnolia (Baiyulan) Award twice by the Shanghai Municipal Government.

Mr Gabor holds a BA in Communications from the College of Wooster and pursued further education at the University of Tennessee and Harvard Business School.