View speaker details

Jens Eskelund was born in 1970 in Aarhus, Denmark. He holds an MA in philosophy and has studied at University of Aarhus and University of Texas at Austin. He has also pursued studies in Chinese at Renmin University in Beijing. Coming to Beijing as a student in 1998, Jens Eskelund began his career in China as Commercial Officer at the Danish Embassy to China before taking on a position in marketing for Maersk Line in Beijing in 2000. He has since held positions as General Manager for Public Affairs for Maersk Line in China and later Director of Public Affairs for North Asia before assuming his present role as Chief Representative for Maersk in the Greater China Area and North-East Asia. Primary focus areas comprise engaging government entities, institutions and trade associations on matters of policy, regulatory environment and business development on behalf of the companies within the Maersk Group.
Jens Eskelund is a former Chairman of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China as well as the Vice President and Chair of Maritime Working Group of the European Chamber. Jens was elected as the President of European Chamber in May 2023.
Jens Eskelund is married and has two sons.

View speaker details

Marjut Hannonen is the Head of the Trade section of the EU Delegation in Beijing. Before taking up this post she was heading the Trade Section in the EU Delegation in Tokyo, where she ensured the smooth entering into force and implementation of the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement. Before coming to Tokyo she the Chief Implementing Officer in the Directorate General for Trade of the European Commission focussing on setting up a strategy for and annual reporting of implementation of EU's free trade agreements, and Adviser on Asia and Latin America. In 2010-2014 she was the Member of the Cabinet of the EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht responsible for EU trade relations with Asian countries, as well as for several sectoral trade issues including Market Access Strategy and relations with the Member States. She has worked in various areas of EU trade policy, including multilateral and bilateral trade negotiations and trade defence instruments.

View speaker details

Dr. Xu joined the IWEP (Institute of World Economics and Politics), at CASS (the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences) in 2008, and became a Senior Fellow in 2017. Now, he is the Head of the Economic Development Division within IWEP. In 2012, he also took up the role of Advisor to the International Collaboration Department of the Chinese Ministry of Finance. Dr. Xu also sits on the work team of CEEM (China’s External Economic Environment) within IWEP. This work team publishes a quarterly report on global macroeconomics, and he is responsible for the research on China’s economy and RMB issues.

Since 2018, Dr. Xu has been one of the two co-chairs of the project “Promoting the establishment of long-term and stable bilateral economic and trade relations between China and the US”, which is financed by Pushan Funding. His interests mainly focus on China’s macro economy and policies, RMB internationalization, China and US trade tension. In late 2019, Dr. Xu joined CF40 (China Finance 40 Forum) and took the part-time position as the Research Director.

He has published 60 academic papers, hundreds of columns in esteemed English newspapers such as the Financial Times, Financial World and leading medias in Chinese. Five books have been published on China’s economy and RMB’s topic. Dr. Xu Qiyuan has been a visiting fellow at CIGI (2014), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (2014), Bruegel (2013), Hitotsubashi University (2009), and the Institute of International Monetary Affairs (IIMA) at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (2011).

View speaker details

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.

View speaker details

Ms Liu Chang is the Chair of European Chamber’s Government Affairs Forum in 2018-2020 tenure. She has 20 years’ experience working in multinational companies both overseas and in China.

With abundant experience and in-depth understanding in policy and regulation analysis and their impacts on the development of foreign-invested enterprises in China,

Ms Liu Chang is also quite capable of cultivating and enhancing interactions with corporate and government stakeholders concerning policy advice and consultation. Ms Liu Chang has a wide network with regulators in different sectors including China’s leading authorities and associations at various levels.

View speaker details

Ms. Li Ye is leading the Merck China Corporate Affairs hub in support to all the three business sectors (healthcare, life science &
performance materials) of Merck in China since January 2018. The China hub is among the 3 regional corporate affairs hubs (Europe, the United States and China) of Merck KGaA global wide. She is the member of the leadership team of Merck global
corporate affairs and sits in the Country Council of Merck in China. In 2021, Li Ye has been certified as a Foreign High-Level Talent of Shunyi District “Wutong Project” in Beijing.

Ms. Li Ye is a veteran in corporate affairs and government relations for international companies with her 20+ years’ working experience. She joined Merck healthcare in Aug. 2013 responsible for the government relations and market access. Prior to that, she had been taking the management roles on government affairs, market access and strategic development in top international companies including Hoechst, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer and AstraZeneca, etc. She went to Singapore as the Regional Market Access Lead in Bayer South East Asia in 2008. Later she became Regional Payer Capabilities Director and Global Pricing
and Market Access Director for Oncology at AstraZeneca’s Asia Pacific Office until she returned to China.

Li Ye graduated from University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, then she went to the Great Britain for further study. She obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Westminster, London. She also holds a Diploma of Economic Evaluation and Assessment in Health from the University of York, UK. In 2016, Li Ye completed her Executive MBA study in Peking University National Development School in Beijing. She is now studying for a doctorate on financial management run by the National Development School of Peking University and Fordham University in the
United States.

As an opinion leader in the industry, Li Ye also holds the positions including：
- Vice Chair of the China Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (CAEFI)
- Vice Chair of the China Pharmaceutical Industry Association (CPIA)
- National Chair of Research and Development Working Group, European Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC)

View speaker details

Jie Li graduated with a master degree from the Beijing University of Foreign Studies in 1985 and obtained his Doctor degree at the University of Tuebingen in Germany in 1991. With an academic record of several years as lecturer and assistant professor at some universities in US and Germany, he successfully finished his professorship qualification (Habilitation) at the University of Saarland in Germany in 2000.

In 1997, Jie Li joined Daimler AG in Stuttgart, Germany and went through different positions and stations. In 2003, he was appointed as the Head of External Affairs & Public Policy at Daimler Greater China Ltd. based in Beijing, China. In 2017 he joined Jaguar Land Rover China Ltd. and is currently responsible for Legal & Government Affairs.

View speaker details

Mr. Mi Zhou is the Deputy Director of the Institute for the Americas and Oceania studies of the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation (AITEC) at the Ministry of Commerce, and postdoctoral Fellow of Fudan University, Visiting Scholar of Stanford University, Visiting Scholar of the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy. He has participated in the U.S. Visiting Scholars Leadership Program.

His areas of study include foreign investment cooperation, trade in services, and international rules and agreements.

As of January 2023, he has published one monograph in the field of trade in services, executively edited one book in the field of foreign economic cooperation, participated in the edition of more than ten books, and published over 500 articles with a total word count of more than 3 million words. He has also presided over or participated in more than 200 projects, providing decision-making support and consulting services for central ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Finance, National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Land and Resources, Ministry of Transport, etc., as well as local governments, international organizations, industry organizations, foreign governments and various enterprises.

In addition, he is also an expert for UNIDO, a technical expert of APEC index in the service industry, a postgraduate instructor of international finance, agriculture and forestry economics and business administration at AITEC, a postgraduate instructor at the Central University of Finance and Economics, an expert of government procurement evaluation at the Ministry of Finance, a correspondence evaluation expert at the China Academic Degrees Center of the Ministry of Education, a consultant of the China Development Bank, an expert of the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, Member of the 10th Council of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs, Member of the 11th Council of the China International Economic Relations Association, Member of the 8th Council of the Chinese Association for Latin American Studies, Commentator at CGTN English Channel and China Radio International, and a 2019 Young Talent in the Publicity of Thoughts and Culture.

View speaker details

Ms. Maggie MA’s career experience includes corporate strategy, merging and acquisition, government relations and regulatory affairs, marketing and communications across multiple industry such as hospitality, healthcare, manufacturing, and now information and digital technology.

During the past 12 years with Nokia and Nokia Shanghai Bell, the company has been under a few times going major transformation through merging and acquisitions and technology transition from 2G to 5G (fifth generation of mobile technology). Maggie successfully positioned the company as a trusted and valued partner of Chinese government, customers and employees, and a only joint venture with foreign investment under direct management of SASAC.

In 2000, Maggie served as public relations consultant for Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee, to prepare Beijing as host city of 2008 summer Olympic Games. There were only 50 consultants engaging and Public Relations were firstly introduced to serve China national level events.

Three decades multi-culture business experience brings Maggie a good understanding of business and regulatory systems of Europe, US and China. She worked short term assignment Washington, Silicon Valley, Brussels, Berlin and Helsinki.

View speaker details

Bruce Fu is a managing director in the APCO Worldwide Beijing's office. Mr Fu has deep knowledge of China's technical standards, IPR, and competition-related issues in the ICT sector. At APCO, Mr Fu provides clients with counsel on government relations building, operations management, stakeholder engagement, and market entry strategy across different sectors.
Prior to joining APCO, Mr Fu was a business manager at the EU Chamber of Commerce in China, where he worked closely with the European telecommunications industry by lobbying China's telecommunications regulators. He worked closely with ICT Working Group members on telecommunications regulatory policies and TBT/Standards. Mr Fu also directly engaged Chinese authorities on antitrust issues related to implementation rules of China's anti-monopoly law.
Mr Fu served as the Vice Chair of the ICT Working Group at the EU Chamber of Commerce in China between 2013-2021, driving the EU-China dialogues and negotiations on key issues such as Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). He currently serves as the Chair of the Government Affairs Forum at the EU Chamber of Commerce in China.
Mr Fu holds master's degrees in European studies and European modern history from the Catholic University of Leuven. He is fluent in English and Chinese and speaks intermediate French.

View speaker details

Tammy has joined Thales Group and assumed the role of Head of Government Affairs and Communications for Thales China since March 2020. Thales Group is a France-based global leader in advanced technologies, with businesses covering aeronautics, space, transport, digital identity and security, etc. Till now, she has worn two hats, in charge of government affairs as well as communications.

From the government affairs’ perspective, Tammy has offered new strategic thinking in support of the company’s sustainable growth after over 40 years’ local presence along China's journey toward new “dual circulation” development pattern, engaged government stakeholders at both national and regional level and advocated for the concept of “MNEs deeply rooted in China”, been involved in chambers of commerce and industry associations and lobbied for operating environment favorable for business growth of MNEs including Thales.

“MNEs deeply rooted in China”, been involved in chambers of commerce and industry associations and
lobbied for operating environment favorable for business growth of MNEs including Thales.

View speaker details

Mr. Liu, Xiaoguang (Sean) is VP of External and Government Affairs of TotalEnergies China, heading the department to support and secure company’s interest in the region. With MBA degree and solid working experience from both central government and private sectors, he is specialized in full spectrum of energy industry including Oil & Gas, Renewables, Electricity. Before current position, he had government related roles in other multinational enterprises such as GE & Shell.

Besides professional work in TotalEnergies, he likes to contribute to society and public, serves as member of Economy Committee of RCCK to provide economic and energy development proposals for CPPCC, chief consultant of Solar Decathlon China and registered part-time triathlete to advocate for low carbon life.

View speaker details

Mr. Guangda Chen is Government Affairs Director of Accenture Greater China. He is responsible for developing and maintaining company relationships with government officials and regulators, and leading policy advocacy in China. He also coordinates closely with business leadership in Greater China to develop and execute strategic efforts that enables business development.

Mr. Chen has 20 years working experience in both central government and multinational companies. He started his career at the North American and Oceanian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was posted in Chinese Embassy in the Republic of Nauru as Attaché and Director of Political and Media Section of Chinese Consulate General in Houston, USA.

Prior to joining Accenture, Mr. Chen was Corporate Affairs Director of SHV China and Corporate Affairs Senior Manager of Walmart China.

Mr. Chen holds a Master Degree of International Public Policy from SAIS, Johns Hopkins University.