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After taking his Degree in Law and entering the Diplomatic School in Spain, Ambassador Toledo joined the Spanish Foreign Service in 1989. Since then, except for three years in Senegal, where he was Ambassador of Spain from 2008 to 2011, his career has been devoted mostly to European Union Affairs. Among others, he was Spanish Secretary of State for the EU and European Affairs. In Asia, he has been posted to India and Japan before arriving to China in September 2022 as the Ambassador of the European Union.

Ambassador Toledo strongly believes in the European integration and that only together can EU Member States have a meaningful relation and dialogue with a strong world power as China.

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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.

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Dr. Yanliang Miao joined CICC in March 2023 as Chief Strategist and Executive Head of Research Department. Dr. Miao is among the most sought after and influential analysts in China. Before that he has served for 10 years at China State Administration of Foreign Exchange, including as its Chief Economist since May 2018. He joined in 2013 as Senior Advisor to the Administrator and then Head of Research. He helped formulate global macro views and built a top-notch research platform for the world’s largest sovereign wealth manager. As Chief Economist, he also advises the senior management of PBC/SAFE on a range of economic and policy issues. Before SAFE, he was an economist with the IMF where he worked on emerging markets and then the euro area crisis including as policy coordinator for the Portugal program. Before the IMF, he was visiting the Bank of Israel in 2007 as special assistant to the Governor and taught economics at the Woodrow Wilson School of Princeton University. Mr. Miao is an adjunct professor of Peking University’s National School of Development, a member of China Finance 40 Forum, a trustee of Shanghai University and an external member of the Academic Committee of China Development Bank. He publishes extensively on global macro and occasionally as a columnist for Project Syndicate. He holds a Ph.D., an M.A., an M.P.A., all from Princeton University, and an M.A. in economics from Fudan University.

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Professor Zhu is a leading global expert on China’s economy and financial system. He is the Senior Advisor and was Senior Partner and Head of China at Brunswick Group. With over 12 years’ experience in Mainland China, he has advised numerous government agencies and supported clients combining on-the-ground know-how with prodigious academic expertise. As a trained economist, he has been invited to speak to the boards of many Fortune 500 companies.

As an educator at heart, he is the Professor of Finance and Deputy Dean, Shanghai Advanced Institute of Finance, Shanghai Jiaotong University. He was Oceanwide Chair Professor of Finance, Deputy Dean, National Institute of Financial Research, Tsinghua University, Co-director of the DBA/EMBA/EE programs, a faculty fellow at the Yale University International Center for Finance, and a Special-Term Professor of Finance at University of California, Davis and at Guanghua School of Management, Peking University.

Professor Zhu has a wide range of research interests including behavioral finance, investments, corporate finance, and the Asian financial markets. He has published numerous articles in leading journals in the finance, economics, management and legal fields, including Journal of Finance, Review of Financial Studies, Management Science, Journal of Legal Studies, etc. He has also written or co-authored several books, including the famous "China's Guaranteed Bubble".

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Mr. Barnett has become the International Monetary Fund’s Senior Resident Representative in China since February 2020. Prior to that, he worked as an Advisor to the Deputy Managing Director. For much of his career, however, he covered Asia. His positions included Chief of the China Division in the IMF’s Asia and Pacific Department, Assistant Director at the IMF Office for Asia and the Pacific in Tokyo, Resident Representative to China, and Resident Representative to Thailand. Prior to joining the IMF in 1997, he earned his PhD in economics from the University of Maryland. He has a Bachelor's degree in economics from Stanford University as well as a Master's degree in Russian and East European Studies, also from Stanford.

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Alfredo works for The Conference Board as the Head of the China Center. Alfredo oversees the work done by the China Center to support C-level executives on the ground in Greater China and elsewhere through customized briefings, and by providing a platform where they can interact with peers; access market-leading insights; and build meaningful relationships.

Based in China since 2013, Alfredo has focused on analysing the business implications of policy, economic and political developments for companies investing and operating in China, and in the broader Asian region. This with the aim of distilling complex issues and conveying clear takeaways on how to capture business opportunities and respond to emerging challenges.

Before joining The Conference Board, Alfredo was the Beijing Director of The Economist Intelligence Corporate Network, which is the C-suite briefing and networking arm of The Economist Group. Prior to that, he was Associate Director at KPMG’s Global China Practice, where he led and contributed to numerous thought leadership projects, including flagship reports, customised business briefings, and policy proposals for Chinese authorities. He also played a large role in events programming and outreach, including leading the design and coordination of high-profile events aimed at senior executives. Before that, Alfredo worked for J Capital Research, Eurasia Group and the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Alfredo has a Master of Science in Foreign Service (MSFS) from Georgetown University, and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from Mexico’s Center of Research and Teaching in Economics (aka. CIDE). He is fluent in English and Spanish, proficient in French and Chinese and has a good working comprehension of Portuguese.

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Dr Dan Wang was the chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, based in Shanghai. Dan holds a PhD in economics from the University of Washington, with a focus in macroeconomics, environmental economics and econometrics. Her postdoc was with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in agriculture, leading national surveys in livestocks and farm subsidies commissioned by the State Council and Ministry of Agriculture. She’s regularly quoted in all major international media and a columnist for FT China. Before joining Hang Seng Bank, Dan was an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing.

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Professor LIU Qiao is the Dean and Professor of Finance at Guanghua School of Management, Peking University. He is a leading authority in economics and finance in China, and is recognized for his academic works in corporate finance, financial markets, and the Chinese economy. He is the author of “The Finance We Love: Rebuilding China’s Finance in the New Era”, “Big to Brilliant 2.0: Reconstructing the Underpinnings of China’s High-Quality Development”, “Corporate China 2.0: The Great Shakeup” and “Finance in Asia: Institutions, Regulation and Policy”. Professor LIU is the Chang Jiang Scholar Special Term Professor awarded by the Ministry of Education, the Distinguished Young Scholar awarded by National Science Foundation, and the Most Influential Chinese Economist of 2017 awarded by China Newsweek. He worked at McKinsey & Company from 2001 to 2003, where he advised various MNCs and leading Asian companies on corporate finance and strategies. Before joined Guanghua, he taught in the Faculty of Business & Economics of HKU and was tenured.

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Kenneth Fredriksen joined Huawei Technologies Ltd in the beginning of 2012. Since then he has been part of the leadership team for the CEE and Nordic Region, now Europe Region.


He is currently holding the position as the regional Senior Vice President, with overall responsibilities of the Nordic and Baltic countries in addition to overseeing a number of corporate initiatives across the European region. In addition, he is a member of the Huawei Subsidiary Board of Directors.

During the years 2016-2019 he held the position as the CEO of Huawei Technology Sweden AB covering Huawei’s operations in Sweden and Iceland.

Prior to his current responsibilities he was the Chief Operating Officer of the region. In this position Fredriksen was responsible for the Regional Sales, Business Development and Customer Relationship Management and Strategy execution across Huawei’s 3 Business Groups (Carrier, Enterprise and Consumer), in addition to overall regional HQ responsibility for Cyber Security-, Information Security-, and Public Relation and Affairs management.

He has also been taking the role has the Head of the Nordic and Baltic Regional office during the period when Huawei established individual Rep offices for each country in the Nordic and the Baltics in 2013-2015.

Kenneth Fredriksen has more than 22 years global telecom industry experience. Prior to joining Huawei, he held several director and management positions within other multinational companies among others Siemens AG.

Kenneth Fredriksen graduated from University of Birmingham in the UK in 2000.

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Member of China Leadership team, EVP, Head of CX Strategy & Technology, Board Member of Nokia FUNO. He has over 22 years of managerial experience in multinational companies on ICT research & innovation, standardization, technology strategy and regulations and Pre-sales. After joining Nokia, he has assumed various managerial roles in research & standardization, strategy & regulations, Solution Pre-sales/Sales support. He currently looks after all major technologies frontline relevant to Nokia mission and thought leadership in Greater China, e.g. 5G/6G, oRAN/vRAN, critical network evolution, cloud & digital transformation, technology policies for cybersecurity and data security.

Supervisory Board Member of CCSA (China Communication Standard Association). National Chair of ICT working group, EU Chamber of Commerce in China (EUCCC). Michael served as Vice President and Board Member for EUCCC (2017-2019), where he played a leading role in China-EU high level dialogue on High-Tech & Digital policies and cross-industry exchanges. Michael was a member of the “EU-China Expert Group on Digital Economy & Cybersecurity” formed by China & EU government as top dialogue platform on digital policies coordination.

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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)

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Elizabeth Pei oversees SAP China’s broad public sector-facing portfolio including public policy, thought leadership and business development activities.

Elizabeth brings to SAP more than 20 years of experience in some of the world’s largest companies in technology, manufacturing and media sectors in the U.S., Asia Pacific and China markets. Prior to joining SAP, Elizabeth was with The Walt Disney Company, Schneider Electric, and Dell Technologies, managing business operation, corporate strategies, public affairs, and corporate social responsibility. In those roles, she successfully enabled business growth throughout her tenure.

Elizabeth serves as a member of the Board of Directors with USITO (United States Information Technology Office) and was the Vice-Chair on the American Chamber of Commerce’s (AmCham) Government Affairs Committee; Chair of the Government Affairs Committee of the European Union Chamber of Commerce (EUCCC). She also served as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Dulwich College Beijing for 7 years.

Elizabeth holds a B.A. in Economics from Peking University, China, and an M.S. in Management Science from Tsinghua University, China, as well as an M.S. in Information Systems Management from Carnegie Mellon University

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Dr. Henry Huiyao Wang is Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), Former Counselor to China State Council appointed by Chinese Premier and Vice Chairman of China Association for International Economic Cooperation under Ministry of Commerce; Vice Chairman of China Public Relations Association; Director of Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs and China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation under Ministry of Foreign Affairs; a member of Advisory Committee for Global Competence Development of Tsinghua University. In addition, he is a Steering Committee Member of Paris Peace Forum (PPF) and also sits on the Advisory Board of Duke Kunshan University and Richard Ivey Business School.

Dr. Wang pursued his PhD studies at University of Western Ontario and University of Manchester. He was a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School, a Visiting Fellow of Brookings Institute. As a thought leader on global relations, international business, global governance, talent migration, global investment and trade, etc., he has published over 100 works; a frequent speaker at international events such as the World Economic Forum, Munich Security Conference, Paris Peace Forum; a frequent contributing writer for the op-eds to South China Morning Post, Financial Times, Bloomberg, New York Times etc.

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Dr. Fang Jin is the Vice Chairman and Secretary General of China Development Research Foundation (CDRF) and a senior research fellow at the Development Research Centre (DRC) of the State Council, People’s Republic of China. Under his leadership, CDRF has actively engaged in international communication, policy research and social experiments, fulfilling its mission to advance good governance and public policy to promote economic development and social progress. His main area of research is China’s medium to long term economic and social development issues and has written extensively on relevant topics. He holds a Doctoral degree from School of Economics, Peking University and a Master Degree and a Bachelor of Economics from Macquarie University in Australia. He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard Kennedy School. His research publication has won the Sun Yefang Economic Prize and the Special Prize of China Development Research Award.

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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.

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A graduate of the École Polytechnique in 1994 and the National School of Statistics and Economic Administration (ENSAE) in 1996, Christian Gianella also holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne. He began his career at the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE), where he carried out research into the functioning of the labour market. He went on to work for the Ministry of the Economy and Finance, first in the Forecasting Department and then in the Treasury Department. After a spell as a senior economist at the OECD between 2005 and 2008, he returned to the Treasury, where he held a number of international positions. He was Head of the Economic Department in Argentina, Switzerland and Sweden. In September 2023, Christian Gianella was appointed Minister Counsellor for Economic Affairs at the French Embassy in China and Head of the 35-people strong Regional Economic Service.

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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.

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Chris Thomas is the Chairman and Founder of Integrated Insights, an advisory firm serving the Boards, Chairpersons and CEOs of global companies; a non-resident Senior Fellow in Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies at the Brookings Institution; a Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University; and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Chris spent ten years with McKinsey & Company, leaving the Firm in 2020. He served as Managing Partner for the Firm’s Asia Semiconductor Practice as well as its Co-Managing Partner for the global Digital Strategy and IOT service lines. McKinsey ranked Chris among the top 10% of global partners in three of his final four years at the Firm.

Prior to McKinsey, Chris spent a decade at Intel. He was the General Manager of Intel China, the largest semiconductor business in China. He owned the region’s $5 billion-plus P&L and grew revenues by more than 50% within 3 years. He led China’s successful elevation from a country-level sales unit to an independent regional P&L reporting directly into headquarters; directed Intel’s Olympic sponsorship campaign; and directly managed a senior team of over 300 local employees.

Chris also held multiple executive roles at Intel’s global headquarters. These roles included Chief of Staff to Intel’s Chief Sales, Marketing and Strategy Officer, where he advised on all key decisions for Intel’s 5,000-person global salesforce. As GM of the optical products business unit, he led large engineering teams in the design, manufacture, and successful launch of three advanced optical networking semiconductors. During his Intel career, Chris delivered more than $20 billion in revenue and $10 billion in gross margin to the company.

Chris began his career as a private equity investor at The Blackstone Group in New York City.

Chris is recognized as a leading global authority on the global semiconductor industry, MNC strategy for China and Asia, and the impact of US and Chinese technology policies. He has published more than 25 articles, reports and case studies via McKinsey, Stanford, Caixin, the Council on Foreign Relations, and the Brookings Institution.

He received an MBA from Stanford Business School, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar; a Master of Arts in Political Science from Stanford University; and a Bachelor of Science in Economics, summa cum laude, from the Wharton School.

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General Manager, Director of Communications, European Chamber

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Mariann Nagy is a policy and communications manager at the European Chamber. In her role, she contributes to the Chamber’s reports and other publications and to the production of the Chamber’s two podcast series, China ShortCuts and China Dispatches. She is a sinologist by training, with a professional background in journalism and translation.