China Business Briefing

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 (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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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 (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 (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.

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 (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).

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 (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 (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).