Speakers

Cao Baijun was born on 17.04.1954 in Nanking, Jiangsu province. After completing his studies at the College of Foreign Languages in Shanghai in 1975, he worked in the International Department of the Central Committee of the China Communist Party (CCP) for seven years. With a scholarship from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Cao then studied under Prof. Klaus von Baymer at the University of Heidelberg’s Institute of Political Science, October 1982–April 1985. Following the completion of his postgraduate studies in Germany he assumed the leadership of the Germany Unit of the CCP, a post which he held until 1992. During this time, he dealt with many prominent German politicians, such as Willy Brandt, Johannes Rau, Oskar Lafontaine, Rudolf Scharping, Werner Boerner and Egon Bahr and worked as Chief Interpreter. He has also published a great many articles on German foreign policy and Sino-German relations. In 1992 he began a postgraduate course at UCLA in the USA. During this year, he published through the Ebenhausen Research Institute a series of in-house studies of Chinese foreign policy and the newly-established states in Central Asia, as well as on China’s policy towards the independence movements in western China. From November 1992–August 1993 Cao worked as Head of Division of the Planning Commission of the New Development Area Pudong in Shanghai. From August 1993–May 1999, as Chief Executive Officer, he managed the China Hualian International Trading Corp. As its President from May 1999, he managed the China Economic Co-operation Centre (CECC). From 1999 to 2004 he carried out a series of in-house country studies and has published work in the fields of economic, social and foreign policy. Over recent years, the CECC has held a series of international seminars, symposiums and exhibitions for the promotion of international understanding and economic co-operation.

Ole von Beust was born in Hamburg in 1955. Von Beust studied jurisprudence from 1975 to 1980 in Hamburg and completed his studies in 1983 with the 2nd state examination in law. As of 1983 has practised law as a self-employed lawyer. Since 1971 von Beust has been member of the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). As of 1978 he has been member of Hamburg´s Parliament, the House of Burgesses (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft). In 1992 he became member of the state board (Land) of the CDU before he was elected as Chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the House of Burgesses in 1993. Von Beust is member of the federal board of the CDU since 1998. Since 2001 he has been First Mayor and President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

Lance is Chairman of Standard Chartered Bank in China, where he has worked since 1979 in engineering and finance. Past voluntary work in China include Chairman of the British Chambers in both Shanghai and Beijing, Chief Representative of the 48 Group, Chairman of the Foreign Bankers Association. He is an Honorary Citizen of Shanghai and was appointed CBE for his work in China. Lance speaks Chinese.

Sönke Bästlein is a Director at McKinsey & Company, as well as the founder and Office Manager of McKinsey‘ s European Asia House in Frankfurt. He previously served as the manager of McKinsey‘s Frankfurt office from 1999 to 2004. He is a current member of the leadership group in McKinsey‘s Global Chemicals Practice and led the E&C (Engineering & Construction) Sector in Europe for five years. Sönke Bästlein has nearly 20 years of experience in these fields – as a consultant and as an engineer/manager on his first project in China in 1987. Over the last five years, he has additionally worked on more than 20 commercial due diligence projects – most of them for private equity investors. Sönke Bästlein‘s consulting work and knowledge development efforts are directed at internationalization strategies (including value chain (re)design and technology management) and capital productivity of large-scale projects (including improvement of asset effectiveness in general). Prior to joining McKinsey in 1991, he worked more than five years with UHDE GmbH (at that time, a Hoechst subsidiary and now belonging to the ThyssenKrupp Technologies division). He has an M.S. degree in engineering from RWTH Aachen and a Ph.D. in Business Administration from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt, where he also served as a lecturer for three years.

Dr. Bruno Wu is the co-founder and Executive Chairman of Sun Media Investment Holdings Limited and also is the Chairman, Group Chief Executive Officer, Executive Officer and Executive Director of Sun Media Group Holdings Limited. From June 1998 until February 1999, Dr. Wu joined and served as the Chief Operating Officer of Asia Television Limited, one of the two free-to-air networks in Hong Kong. From 2001-2002, he served as the co-chairman of SINA Corporation, the World’s largest Chinese Internet Media Company. Dr. Wu received his Diploma of Studies in French Civilization from the University of Savoie, France, in 1987. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration-Finance from Culver-Stockton College in Missouri in December 1990. He received his Master of Arts in International Affairs degree from Washington University, Missouri in 1993 and a Ph.D. in the International Politics Department of College of Law, Fudan University, Shanghai, China, in 2001. Dr. Wu is a member of both the International Council and the Foundation of The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, United States, the organization that issues the annual International Emmy Award. In 2003, Dr. Wu was appointed as the Chairman of the iEMMYs Festival for a term of two years. Dr. Wu is a member of the International Council of the Museum of Television and Radio in New York and Los Angeles. Dr. Wu is also a trustee of the Board of Foreign Affairs University of China, the cradle of Chinese diplomats. Dr. Wu received the Super Media Star Award issued by Hong Kong–Macau Distinguished Person’s Society in October 1998.

Before joining Shell, Peter headed the global competitiveness programme at the World Economic Forum where he served as Chief Economist and Editor of the Global Competitiveness Report and various other studies on economic growth and development. Prior to that position, Peter was a visiting scholar at Harvard University, Head of International Economic Research of Deutsche Bank and a senior economist with the International Monetary Fund. Peter started his career as a staff economist of the German Council of Economic Advisers. Peter has been an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Brandeis University and lectured at several universities, including INSEAD, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and WHU School of Management. At Shell, Peter is responsible for analysing global economic trends, advising on structural shifts, especially with regard to the oil and gas markets, and contributing to the global, regional, and business scenarios. Having studied at the London School of Economics and the University of Göttingen, he holds a Doctorate degree in Economics.

Nan Cunhui was born in Liushi, Wenzhou in July 1963. He is the Chairman and President of CHINT Group. He was elected as a deputy of 9th and 10th National People’s Congress, a member of the Standing Committee of All China Federation of Industry and Commerce and Chairman of the All China Industrial Economy Association. In July 1984, he created the Yueqing Qiujing Switch Factory, the original enterprise of CHINT Group. With 20 years of hardwork, the enterprise has developed from a family-type factory of annual turnover of RMB10 thousand into a large-scale enterprise group of annual turnover of more than RMB10 billion. With his innovative and remarkable achievements and outstanding experience he was known as "spokesman of new private enterprises of China". Nan Cunhui was awarded "World Award of Outstanding Achievements as a Yong Entrepreneur", "China Ten Most Outstanding Youth", "2002 CCTV China Economy Annual Figure", "Ten News Figure of Times of China" and so on. "China Youth" Magazine listed him as one of the "100 youths who may influence China in 21st Century" and praised him "bringing private enterprise into the process of modernization".

Before joining Goldman Sachs in 1997, Mr Hu was a staff member at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C. Mr Hu has since 1996 served as Co-Director and a Senior Fellow (non-resident) of the National Center for Economic Research (NCER), where he continues to teach a graduate course in International Finance at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Mr Hu has advised the Chinese Government on financial reform, pension reform, and macroeconomic policies. He also sits on the advisory board for Bank of China, Huarong Asset Management Company, and the South China Morning Post, and is a Director of the Applied Research Council, Hong Kong SAR Government. Mr Hu has published extensively on China, Asia-Pacific economies, and financial markets. His latest book (co-authored with Jonathan Anderson), The Five Great Myths about China and the World, has been translated into and published in Chinese by a Mainland China publishing house. Mr Hu holds an MS in Engineering Science from Tsinghua University, as well as an MA and a Ph D in Economics from Harvard University.

Mark Qiu Zi-lei is a Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the company. Mr Qiu received an MBA degree from the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a Sloan Fellow. He also has a Master‘s degree and a Ph D degree in Decision Sciences from the University of Texas at Arlington. Mr Qiu was the Head of Asia Oil & Gas Investment Banking group at Salomon Smith Barney from 1998 to 2000, responsible for leading the firm‘s investment banking business in Asia‘s oil and gas sector. He previously held several management positions with the Atlantic Richfield Corporation (ARCO). From 1996 to 1997, Mr Qiu served as the Federal Government Relations Director for ARCO in Washington DC. He was a Vice President of ARCO China Ltd, from 1993 to 1996, where he was responsible for ARCO‘s business development and investment efforts in China. Mr Qiu was a consultant with the succession planning-consulting firm RHR International from 1990 to 1993. He was a founder, President and Chief Financial Officer of AsiaEC.com. Currently Mark Qiu serves as Director and CFO of CNOOC, one of China’s largest oil corporations whose IPO he led.

Dr. Karl-Joachim Dreyer is President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce and Speaker of the Board of HASPA Hamburger Sparkasse, Germany´s largest savings bank. He was born in Hamburg in 1942. Dr. Dreyer completed his law studies at the Hamburg University with a doctor’s degree in law. From 1975 to 1979 he was director at a Hamburg-based private bank. In 1979 he joined the HASPA, as of 1985 he has been member of the Board, since 1989 he has been Speaker of the Board. In addition he is member of the Board of the German Association of Savings Banks (Deutscher Sparkassen- und Giroverband) and Chairman of the Supervisory Boards of several companies. As regards to his honorary appointments, Dr. Dreyer has been member of the Plenary Assembly of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce since 1989. In 1991 he assumed the function of Vice-President, in 2002 he was elected President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce.

Born in 1945. Studies of Law and Economics in Berlin, Nuremberg, Hamburg, first and second legal examination with honours in Hamburg. Doctorate in International Maritime Law. After legal work in London and Paris, joined the Federal Government in the Ministry of Economics in Bonn in 1973. In charge of industrial policy, energy matters, and international co-operation. Since December 1974, with the European Commission in Brussels, including Member of the President’s Cabinet (Roy Jenkins) from 1977–1980, Cabinet of the Vice President for External Affairs (W. Haferkamp) 1982–1984. Assistant to Director-General of External Affairs 1984–1988 and Division Chief for relations with United Nations and international organisations from 1988–1990. Director for Internal Coordination at the Secretariat-General of the European Commission, under the responsibility of the President and the Secretary-General (D.W. Williamson, C. Trojan, D. O’Sullivan). Since May 2001, Ambassador and Head of Delegation of the European Commission accredited to China and Mongolia.

Ulrich W. Ellerbeck, born on 16.06.1952, studied Economics at the University of Kiel, Germany. After his graduation he joined LB Kiel in 1980. He held executive positions in a number of departments before moving to Denmark in 1996 to build up LB Kiel’s Scandinavian activities as General Manager of its Copenhagen branch. At the beginning of 2001 he joined Hamburgische Landesbank as general representative for corporate and banking clients. In 2003 he was given a seat on the Board of LB Kiel before he joined the Board of Managing Directors of HSH Nordbank, which is the result of the merger between LB Kiel and Hamburgische Landesbank, on June 2 2003. As member of the Board, he is responsible for Corporate Banking, Structured Finance, Corporate Finance, Global Trade Finance, Financial Institutions and HSH Nordbank’s foreign network in the Nordic countries, London and Asia.

Marc Faber was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He went to school in Geneva and Zurich and finished high school with the Matura. He studied Economics at the University of Zurich and, at the age of 24, obtained a Ph.D. in Economics magna cum laude. Between 1970 and 1978, Dr. Faber worked for White Weld & Company Limited in New York, Zurich and Hong Kong. Since 1973, he has lived in Hong Kong. From 1978 to February 1990, he was the Managing Director of Drexel Burnham Lambert (HK) Ltd. In June 1990, he set up his own business, Marc Faber Limited, which acts as an investment adviser, fund manager and broker/dealer. Dr. Faber publishes a widely read monthly investment newsletter, The Gloom Boom & Doom Report, which highlights unusual investment opportunities, and is the author of the book, The Great Money Illusion — The Confusion of the Confusions, which was on the best-seller list for several weeks in 1988 and has been translated into Chinese and Japanese. A book on Dr. Faber, Riding the Millenial Storm, by Nury Vittachi, was published in 1998. In addition, Dr. Faber is a regular contributor to several leading financial publications around the world. A regular speaker at various investment seminars, Dr. Faber is well known for his ‘contrarian’ investment approach.

Jürgen Fitschen is a Member of Deutsche Bank‘s Group Executive Committee and Chairman of the Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) Operating Committee. Mr Fitschen joined Deutsche Bank in 1987. Positions he has held within the Group since then include: General Manager and Deputy Director, Bangkok Branch (1987), General Manager for Japan, Tokyo Branch (1990) and Executive Director, Regional Head Office Singapore (1993). From 1997, he was a member of the Corporates and Real Estate Divisional Board (1997–98) and a member of the Global Corporates and Institutions Divisional Board (1998–2001). In March 2001 Mr Fitschen was appointed to Deutsche Bank Group‘s Board of Managing Directors. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr Fitschen was at Citibank in Hamburg and Frankfurt (1975–1986), ultimately serving as member of the management committee responsible for inancial Institutions and International Trade Services in Germany. After completing commercial raining in wholesale and import/export business, Mr Fitschen studied Economics and Business Administration at the University of Hamburg, where he received a degree as ‚Diplom-Kaufmann‘.

Dr. Heike Holbig, born in 1967, is a specialist in China‘s domestic politics. She has undertaken research in Chinese Studies, Economics and European Studies at Erlangen, Beijing, Heidelberg and Berlin. Since 1999, she has been working as a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg, and has published widely on the political transformation of the PRC. Special research topics are the political role of private entrepreneurs and their impact on the party-state, the process of economic decision-making, and media politics. Recent publications include: China‘s Accession to the World Trade Organization. National and International Perspectives (2002, co-editor with Robert Ash, co-author), „The Party and Private Entrepreneurs in the PRC", Copenhagen Journal of Asian Studies, No. 16 (2002), „Hong Kong Press Freedom in Transition", in Robert Ash (et al., ed.), Hong Kong in Transition. One country, two systems (2003), and „The Emergence of the Campaign to Open Up the West: Ideological Formation, Central Decision-Making and the Role of the Provinces", China Quarterly, No. 178 (2004).

Jean-Christophe Iseux is a Special Member of the Upper House of Parliament and Adviser to the Ministry of Commerce since December 2000. He holds several other positions as China Business Consultant to a dozen of the largest multinationals all members of Fortune 500; Guest speaker at the Central Party School on Leadership Management; Investment Adviser to 14 Chinese local governments including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, Chongqing, Shenzhen etc.; Honorary Professor of the Beijing Institute of International Strategic Studies (member of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences); Honorary Adviser to the Investment Research Department of the National Development and Reform Commission (since 2002); Research Fellow of the State Council Leadership Selection Committee (since 2002); Adviser on the „Go-Out Strategy" of the Ministry of Commerce Research Centre (since 2003) and Special Adviser to the National Economic Research Institute (since 2001). Prof. Iseux was the recipient of the Lei Feng Medal (1999) and Friendship Award (2000). Recently he received the „Global Leader of Tomorrow" Award from the World Economic Forum (Davos 2003). Prior to his current position, Prof. Iseux was a Lecturer on Leadership Management to the International MBA class of Tsinghua University (1999–2000), Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization and the UN Conference on Disarmament (1996–1997), Vice-President for Eastern Europe and China of Oxford Analytica (1994–1996) and Research associate at the Oxford School of Management Studies (1992–1995). He received his Master‘s degree in Management Studies at Templeton College, Oxford University in 1991 and his BSc, MSc, DEng degrees at the University of Strasbourg. He has been invited as a speaker at several international conferences such as World Economic Forum, APEC CEO Summit, Business Week CEO Forum, Asia Business Forum, Wilton Park, etc. and has also written several articles on China‘s current economic and social development as well as one book entitled, China Reform for the New Century. His current two main fields of research are: China: Model of Corporate Governance; and China: Leadership Structure and Developments.

President since 1998, Capt. Wei has held several executive positions within the COSCO Group, including Managing Director, Chinese-Tanzanian Joint Shipping Company, 1992–93; President of COSCO Holding (Singapore) Pte Ltd., 1993–95; Managing Director, Tiajin Ocean Shipping Company, 1995–97; and Managing Director of COSCO Bulk Carriers, 1997–98. With Beijing as its home base, COSCO is China’s largest shipping company, its trans-national operations extending from Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore to Europe and the USA. COSCO’s fleet of 600 vessels serve over 1,100 ports in some 150 countries around the world. The company also owns more than 70 wholly owned companies, joint ventures and representative offices abroad. As well as President of COSCO, Capt. Wei holds numerous additional offices in China and abroad, including that of Chairman of the China Shipowners Association, Co-Chairman of the China Federation of Industrial Economics and Vice Chairman of the China Enterprise Confederation. He is a member of the advisory boards of the Harvard Business School and the Panama Canal Authority. In 2002 he was elected Member of the CPC Central Committee for Discipline Inspection at the 16th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Following his first degree at Wuhan Marine College, Capt. Wei studied at Dalian University, obtaining an MA in Shipping Management Engineering and gained his doctorate degree in Marine Architectural Design at Tianjin University. A native of the Jiangsu Province, he began his career at COSCO Group’s Guangzhou Shipping Company in 1967.

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 2001, Mr Johnson’s career in journalism spans the USA, China and Germany. Berlin Bureau Chief of The Wall Street Journal since 2001, he worked as a reporter and acting Bureau Chief of the newspaper’s Beijing newsdesk from 1997—2001, where his main interests were China’s macro-economic and social issues. He was previously Bureau Chief of The Baltimore Sun’s bureaus in Beijing and New York respectively. Mr Johnson first came to Germany in 1989 when he worked as a freelance correspondent, reporting on the events leading to German re-unification. A graduate in Asian Studies and Journalism from the University of Florida, Mr Johnson went on to complete an MA in Chinese Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin, writing his thesis on China’s coastal development strategy. As well as the Pulitzer Prize, he has received awards from the Overseas Press Club and the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Excellence in Journalism. He has also recently published a book, Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China.

Andreas Kreimeyer was born in Hanover, Germany, in 1955. He studied Biology at the Universities of Hanover and Hamburg. After being awarded his doctorate, Dr. Kreimeyer started work in BASF’s Main Laboratory in 1986, where his functions included the position of Group Leader for Biotechnology. Starting in 1993, Dr. Kreimeyer was Personal Assistant to the Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors. In 1995, he transferred to Singapore. Here he worked in the South East Asia/Australia division and his responsibilities included Regional Marketing, Capital Expenditures and Strategy. In November 1998, Dr. Kreimeyer was appointed President of the Fertilizers division. Following the dissolution of the Fertilizers division, he became President of the Dispersions division in August 2000, which was renamed the Functional Polymers division in July 2001. Dr. Kreimeyer was appointed to the Board of Executive Directors of BASF AG with effect from 1 January 2003. Since 1 February 2003, his responsibilities comprise the Functional Polymers and Performance Chemicals operating divisions, and the Asia/Pacific region.

Ms Yang is the Chairwoman of Sun Media Investment Holdings Limited, one of China’s leading private media groups. In 2003, she was appointed as a delegate to the 10th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC). Ms Yang received her Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Beijing Foreign Studies University, PRC and acquired her Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University, New York, USA. Ms. Yang has fourteen –year’s experience as one of China’s leading television journalists and talk show hosts. Her renowned programme Yang Lan One On One is popular with Chinese audience across the world. In 1999 and 2001, Ms Yang was named by Asiaweek magazine as one of the "Leaders in Society and Culture in Asia" and one of the "Movers and Shapers of the 21st Century of China" respectively. Ms Yang also received the "Chinese Women of the Year" award in 2001 and "Top Ten Woman Entrepreneurs" award in 2002. In 2001, Ms Yang served as a Goodwill Ambassador for Beijing’s bidding for the 2008 Olympic Games and as one of the speakers in the final presentation to the International Olympic Committee in Moscow, where Beijing won the bidding.

With effect from May 2004, Bernd Leißner was appointed to the President and Chairman of Board of Management, Volkswagen Group China. From 1 March 2002 to his current new position, Bernd Leißner was the President of Volkswagen Asia-Pacific. Dr. Leißner was born on 26 September 1941 in Berlin, Germany. He studied Economics at the Freie Universität Berlin, and graduated in Economics in 1966. His career began in 1967 with the Allianz Insurance Group in Berlin. In 1970 he joined Volkswagen AG, in Wolfsburg, Germany. He embarked on his international career with Volkswagen in 1990 when he was appointed Managing Director of the TASTvornica Automobila Sarajevo, in Yugoslavia. In January 1993 he became Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen de México S.A. de C.V., Puebla, Mexico, responsible for Production, Purchasing, Logistics, Planning, Technical Development and Quality Assurance. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed Chairman of the Board. In 1996 he was also appointed President of Audi de México, and in 2001, in addition, he became President of SEAT de México. From 1993 to 2002 he was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Volkswagen Group North American Region. In 1992 he was presented the Golden Medal of the city of Sarajevo. In 2001 he was distinguished with the First Class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the same year he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Ibero-America University in Puebla, Mexico. Dr. Leißner lives with his wife, May, in Beijing.

Appointed Managing Director at Dresdner Bank this year, Mr Maetze oversees the bank’s international products, services and financial institutions coverage. Prior to this appointment, he was Head of Trade Finance at HypoVereinsbank, Munich, with additional responsibility for financial institutions coverage, 1999—2003. Following an apprenticeship and qualification as a banker with Commerzbank, Mr Maetze began his career with the BHF-BANK in Frankfurt as a Credit Officer and Marketing Officer for corporate clients. In 1990 he joined the Bayerische Vereinsbank in Munich as Area Manager for South-East and North Asia, within the International Division. He then moved to Singapore in 1994 as First General Manager of the bank’s newly-established regional branch for South-East Asia. Returning to Munich in 1997, Mr Maetze acted as Project Manager during the merger between Bayerische Vereinsbank and Hypo-Bank, overseeing international merger activities. Within Dresdner Bank, Mr Maetze holds the additional position of Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Dresdner Bank Polska S.A., Warsaw.

Born in 1945. After studying Non-ferrous Metallurgy/Electrometallurgy and four years as a scientific assistant at the Institute for Metallurgy and Electrometallurgy of RWTH in Aachen, when his doctorate was conferred, his professional career commenced in 1978 as a production assistant at NA. In 1979 he changed to Korf Stahl AG and returned one year later when he was appointed assistant to NA’s Executive Board. After being appointed Head of Smelting Operations in 1986, he became a Deputy Member of the Executive Board in 1990 and a Full Member of the Executive Board in 1992. On 4 February 1994 he was appointed the Chairman of the Executive Board and, additionally, in 1997 Director of Labour Affairs at NA. In 1994 he joined the Presiding Committee and Board of the Wirtschaftsvereinigung Metalle (Federation of the Metal Industry in Germany) and was elected President in 1998. In 1996 he became a member of the „Plenum" of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. From 1997 to the end of 2000 he was the President of the European parent association of the non-ferrous metals industry „Eurometaux". He was a member of the Supervisory Board of the Hamburgische Landesbank, today HSH Nordbank AG, from 1997 to 2003 and from 1998 to 2002 he has been a member of the Board of BDI (Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie e.V. — Federation of German Industry). Since January 2001 Dr Werner Marnette has been a member of the Hamburg Stock Exchange Council and Listing Tribunal. In February 2001 he was elected Chairman of the Energy Board of the Federation of German Industry, in June 2001 Chairman of the Board of the Industrieverband Hamburg e.V., and in May 2002 he became Vice President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Since 2002 he is a member of the Supervisory Board of the Leoni AG and since 2004 Chairman of the Advisory Board of HSH Nordbank AG.

Stefan Matz was born in Hamburg in 1963. After his apprenticeship in international trading with NUG (Norddeutsche Überseegesellschaft in Hamburg mbH), he joined the company as Assistant Manager for Machines and Tools Export. From the year 1988 on he was in charge of NUG`s subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Bangkok with responsibility for South-East Asia. As Export Marketing Manager he worked for JK Josef Kratz GmbH (Ergoline) in Bad Honnef/Rhein from 1990 to 1995. Since 1995 Matz has been acting as Area Manager for China and America at HWF. Since 1999 he also is in charge of Japan. In 2004, Matz became Director International Business of HWF. Matz is also member of the Executive Committee of the German-Japanese Association in Hamburg and member of the Executive Committee of the Chinese-German Association. Futhermore, Matz is member of the Advisory Board of the Chinese School in Hamburg as well as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce (BAH) and the Advisory Board of the America-Center in Hamburg.

Ming-Jer Chen, Leslie E. Grayson Professor of Business Administration, teaches business strategy and competition courses in Darden‘s MBA programme. Known for his pioneering work in the study of competitive dynamics, Dr. Chen has received awards from such organisations as the Academy of Management, where he has served as the Chair of the Business Policy and Strategy Division, with 3,500 members worldwide. He is on the editorial review boards of Strategic Management Journal and Harvard Business Review (China), among other periodicals. Addressing business groups internationally, Dr. Chen has contributed to East-West dialogue on business and management, including his 2004 address at the US China Executive Summit in New York City and his keynote speech to the World Economic Forum’s China Business Summit 2000 in Beijing. His book, Inside Chinese Business: A Guide for Managers Worldwide (Harvard Business School Press, 2001) was reviewed by Foreign Affairs. Before joining Darden in 2001, Dr. Chen was founding director of the Global Chinese Business Initiative at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and, prior to that position, on the faculty of Columbia Business School. He holds affiliations with the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Imperial College of Science, Technology & Medicine in the UK. His corporate teaching and consulting clients include AIG American General, DuPont, FedEx, Morgan Stanley, and Bristol-Myers Squibb (USA); BOC Gases (UK); the People’s Construction Bank of China and Kelon Electric Holdings (China); the Ruentex Group and BenQ (Taiwan); and the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization (Hong Kong). Dr. Chen has been featured in many articles and interviews in major media outlets around the world, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Newsweek, Reuters, Fortune (China), the People’s Daily, Yazhou Zhoukan (Asian Week), and Central China TV Station.

For the past thirty years, Robert Mundell has been Professor of Economics at Columbia University in New York. He studied at the University of British Columbia and the London School of Economics before receiving his Ph.D. from MIT. He taught at Stanford University and the Bologna (Italy) Center of the School of Advanced International Studies of the Johns Hopkins University before joining, in 1961, the staff of the International Monetary Fund. Professor Mundell has lectured widely in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia. He has been an adviser to a number of international agencies and organizations including the United Nations, the IMF, the World Bank, the Government of Canada, several governments in Latin America and Europe, the Federal Reserve Board and the US Treasury. The author of numerous works and articles on economic theory of international economics, he is known as the father of the theory of optimum currency areas; he formulated what became a standard international macroeconomics model; he was a pioneer of the theory of the monetary and fiscal policy mix; he reformulated the theory of inflation and interest; he was a co-developer of the monetary approach to the balance of payments; and he was an originator of supply-side economics. He has written extensively on the history of the international monetary system and played a significant role in the founding of the euro. He has also written extensively on the „transition" economies and in 1997 co-founded the Zagreb Journal of Economics. In 1983 he received the Jacques Rueff Medal and Prize in the French Senate; is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Science. In 1999, he received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science; and in 2003 was appointed Companion of the Order to Canada.

David Murphy has been a correspondent with the Far Eastern Economic Review in Beijing since December 2000. Prior to that he worked for a number of regional publications including the South China Morning Post, the Singapore Business Times and the Japan Times. He also wrote for international publications including the Economist Intelligence Unit and the Financial Times. He covers business and economic issues in China and lately focused more on the regional and global impact of China’s rise and the domestic social cost to the country of its economic transformation. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin Mr Murphy studied history as an undergraduate and later carried out post-graduate work there on Sixteenth Century Irish history.

A member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) since 1978, Mr Zeng has held a number of distinguished government positions. In addition to his current office of Vice Premier of the State Council, he is also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee; Deputy Secretary-General of the Central Economic and Financial Leading Group; Minister of the State Development Planning Commission; Deputy Director of the Three Gorges Project Construction Committee under the State Council and Director of the Office of the State Council Leading Group for Western China Development, among many other appointments. In 1987, Mr Zeng was Vice Minister of the Electronics Industry, becoming Vice Minister of the Machine-Building and Electronics Industry and a member of the Ministry’s Leading Party Members’ Group in 1991. At this time, he was also a member of the Leading Party Members’ Group of the China Electronics Industrial Corporation. He previously worked as Second Secretary and subsequently First Secretary of the Commercial Counsellor’s Office of the Chinese Embassy in the USA, 1982–1984. A graduate of the Radio and Electronics Department of the Tsinghua University, Mr Zeng is a Senior Engineer (research fellow in rank). He began his career in 1962 as a Technician at the Shanghai Electrical Appliances Research Institute of the First Ministry of the Machine Building Industry and Chief of the Research Project Group of the Insitute. Mr Zeng is an ethnic Han from the Zhejiang province.

Mr Perkowski received a Bachelor of Arts degree (cum laude) from Yale University in 1970 and an MBA degree (with high distinction) from the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration in 1973 and was designated a Baker Scholar. Mr Perkowski joined Paine Webber in 1973 and was the Director of Investment Banking when he left in 1988 to become the Managing Director of a leveraged buyout firm. In 1990, Mr Perkowski began to research the concept of investing in Asia, leading to the formation of ASIMCO Technologies in 1994. Mr Perkowski developed ASIMCO’s industry approach and strategy for taking an active management role which has led to the formation of one of the largest, independent China-based manufacturing organizations. ASIMCO has 13 manufacturing facilities and 36 sales offices in China, and two manufacturing facilities and a sales office in the United States. In 2001, ASIMCO was named one of the "10 Best Employers in China" in a survey conducted by the Asian Wall Street Journal, the Far Eastern Economic Review and Hewitt Associates.

The Global Visions Community is a Geneva-based consultancy focusing on long-term scenarios related to corporate globalisation and Asian business. HORASIS delivers tailored reports, as well as access to a network of renowned experts. Prior to founding HORASIS he was Director of the World Economic Forum, in charge of Asian Affairs. During this time he has developed an extensive experience and knowledge on the world‘s economic, business and political scene and its key players. He has lived, studied and worked in Asia for almost a decade, principally in Tokyo and in Beijing where he developed and managed European Multinationals’ China operations. As one of the leading analysts of Asian business and economies, he influences major business and governmental decisions with his public comments. He is also an active scholar and has authored and edited a series of books on Asian country economies and international business. His most recent books include Tigers Leap: Asian Business Goes Global (Wiley, New York and Singapore) and Asia’s New Crisis: Renewal through Total Ethical Management (Wiley, New York and Singapore).

As a Member of the Board of Thyssen AG, now ThyssenKrupp AG and as Chairman of the Board of Thyssen Industrie AG from 1991 to 2004, Prof. Eckhard Rohkamm has shaped the company’s strategy within the Asia-Pacific and its activities in China. After studies in Marine Engineering Rohkamm started his professional career with Blohm + Voss, where he has been Member of the Board since 1983 and Chairman of the Board since 1988. Rohkamm teaches as Honorary Professor at the Technical University Hamburg-Harburg. He is Honorary Officer of the Order of Australia and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. A member of the OAV Board since 1995, Prof. Rohkamm took over the Chair in 2003.

Helmut Schmidt was born in Hamburg in 1918. He studied Economics and Political Science from 1945 to 1949 in Hamburg. Since 1946 Schmidt has been a member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). From 1953 to 1961 Schmidt was member of the Lower House of German Parliament (Bundestag). From 1962 to 1965 he was Senator for Interior Affairs in Hamburg and directed the rescue operations during the flood disaster in 1962. In December 1965 he returned to the Lower House of German Parliament and was Deputy Chairman of the parliament party of the SPD. From 1967 to 1969 he was Chairman of the SPD. In 1969 Schmidt was Minister of the Federal Department of Defence, in 1972 he became Minister of the Federal Department of Economics and Finance. From 1972 to 1974 he was Minister of the Federal Department of Finance. In May 1974 he was elected 5th Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany after the resignation of Willy Brandt. In 1976 and 1980 Schmidt was re-elected Chancellor. The Lower House of the German parliament asked for a vote of confidence in 1982. Consequently Schmidt was replaced as Chancellor by a vote of distrust. In 1987 Schmidt retired as a member of the Lower House of the  German Parliament. Since 1983 he has been Co-editor of the weekly journal DIE ZEIT. In 1983 Schmidt was appointed Honorary Citizen of Hamburg and in 1989 Honorary Citizen of Berlin, 1998 he was elected Honorary Citizen of Schleswig-Holstein. Helmut Schmidt is Honorary Chairman and one of the leading initiators of the Hamburg Summit.

Ludwig Schmucker was born in Munich in 1967. He studied Business Administration at European Business School (ebs) in Oestrich-Winkel, London and Paris. After being awarded his doctorate Ludwig Schmucker worked for an international media house. In 1997 Ludwig Schmucker joined Berenberg Bank in Hamburg and became Managing Director of the M&A Department (Berenberg Consult GmbH) in 2000. Since then Ludwig Schmucker has specialized on China related transactions and has advised Chinese clients in acquiring companies in Germany. Ludwig Schmucker holds lectures on International M&A at the Northern Institute of Technology (NIT) Hamburg.

Hans-Otto Schrader, born in 1956, studied Economics in Cologne, Germany. Soon after joining OTTO in Hamburg he moved to Hong Kong in 1987. His function included sourcing and product-management in China. Mr Schrader returned to the Otto Group’s Corporate Headquarter in 1984 and held executive positions in various divisions. As a member of the Board, he is responsible for the Multi Channel Retail Companies of the OTTO Group in Korea and in Japan. In his OTTO Hamburg function he is in charge of all purchasing activities. Since November 2000, Mr Schrader is a member of the OTTO Academy Advisory Council.

Nikolaus W. Schües was born in Hamburg in 1936. After his apprenticeship in the shipping business in Hamburg, London, Dublin and New York, he joined the shipping company F. Laeisz in 1961. Since 1973 he is partner of F. Laeisz. As of 1986, he has been a member of the Plenary Assembly of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. He was elected Vice-President in 1990 and President in 1996. After his presidency he was re-elected as Vice-President in 2002. Since 1997 Mr Schües is Vice-President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK).

Patrick T. Siewert was named President of Coca-Cola’s East and South Asia Group in August 2001. He is responsible for a diverse and dynamic group of 16 East and South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Greater China, India, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Philippines, Singapore, Sri-Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam within the Asia Group of The Coca-Cola Company. Mr Siewert joined The Coca-Cola Company from Eastman Kodak Company where he worked since 1974, holding various positions in sales management, marketing, finance, brand management, business planning and general management. This included general management positions in Canada, Greater China, Europe, Africa and Middle East and the United States. He was Chairman, Greater China Region; Chief Operating Officer of Kodak’s global consumer business and President, Kodak Professional, its global commercial business. He was a Senior Vice-President of Eastman Kodak Company. Mr Siewert attended the Rochester Institute of Technology in Imaging Science and Business and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration/Finance from Elmhurst College, Illinois. He is Director, US-China Business Council; Director, US-ASEAN Business Council; Director US-Hong Kong Business Council; a member of the Board of Governors, American Chamber of Commerce Hong Kong; a member of the Government Relations Committee, American Chamber of Commerce and a member of the Young Presidents’ Organization, Hong Kong & China Chapter and a recipient of the United Nations Lifetime Achievement.

Prof. Thomas Straubhaar is President of the HWWA — Hamburg Institute of International Economics, Professor of Economics at University of Hamburg, and Director of the Europa-Kolleg Hamburg (Institut für Integrationsforschung — Institute for Research on Integration Issues). He is a leading international expert on the economics of migration, including the causes, dynamics and impact of labour migration, and migration policy. A Swiss national, he studied at Bern University, where he gained his PhD and post-doctoral lecture qualification, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Berkeley, California. Before becoming President of HWWA in 1999, he was lecturer in International Economics at Konstanz, Basel and Freiburg, and Professor at the University of the Federal Armed Forces, Hamburg. Prof. Thomas Straubhaar, is a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, London, and a joint member of the transatlantic network "Cooperative Efforts to Manage Migration" (CEME). He is the President of ARGE (Arbeitsgemeinschaft deutscher wirtschaftswissenschaftlicher Forschungsinstitute — Working Group of the German Economic Research Institutes). Thomas Straubhaar has directed some major research projects. He was Professional Consultant of the German Immigration Commission (the so-called "Süssmuth Commission"). Also, he is a member of the Committee for Population Economics at the Verein für Socialpolitik and has acted as a consultant to the EU Commission on the issues of migration and labour market problems.

Professor Dr. h.c. Horst M. Teltschik is Chairman of Teltschik Associates and Vice President International Relations/ President, Boeing Germany. Since leaving government, he has been closely associated with BMW, including service as a Member of the Board of Management of the BMW Group (1993–2000) and from July 2000 to 2003, as a Representative of the Board of Management of BMW for Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East. From 1993 to 2003 he was Chairman of the Board of the BMW-Foundation Herbert Quandt. Since 1999 he is Chairman of the Munich Conference on Security Policy. He also previously served as CEO of the Bertelsmann Foundation. From 1982 to 1990, Dr. Teltschik was Ministerial Director at Germany’s Federal Chancellery and Head of the Directorate-General for Foreign and Intra-German Relations, Development Policy and External Security (National Security Adviser to Chancellor Dr. Helmut Kohl). In October 1993, he became Deputy Chief of Staff of the Federal Chancellery. Earlier in his career, he was Chief of Staff of the CDU/CSU Parliamentary Group (1977–1982), Executive Ministerial Counsellor to the Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate (1972–1976) and Head of the International Policy and Intra-German Relations Group of the Christian Democratic Union – CDU (1970–1972). Dr. Teltschik holds a degree in Political Science from the Free University of Berlin, where he also taught as an Assistant Professor, and has received honorary degrees from the University of Budapest and Sogang University in Korea. As of November 1996 Dr. Teltschik is lecturing at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at Technical University Munich. He is active in various corporate supervisory and advisory boards, inter-governmental institutions and charitable organisations.

Business Consultant and CEO of Sterling Invest AG, Brunnen, Switzerland, since October 1999, Dr. Vogt is also a member of several supervisory and advisory boards. He was previously Chairman of the Managing Board of Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) 1992–1999, having originally joined the company in 1965. A Chartered Accountant, he also worked for Deutsche Treuhandgesellschaft (DTG) in Munich. Following an apprenticeship with Deutsche Bank AG, Dr. Vogt studied Business Administration at the Hochschule für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften in Nürnberg. He subsequently obtained his doctorate degree at the University of Innsbruck.

Dr. Henning Voscherau was born in Hamburg in 1941. He completed his studies in Law and Economics with a doctorate degree in Law in 1969. From 1974 to 1988 he worked as an independent lawyer and notary. He joined the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1966, was member of the Hamburg Parliament and Chairman of the SPD in Hamburg. From 1988 to 1997 he was First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. During this period Dr. Voscherau was member of the Federal Council of Germany (Bundesrat), between 1990 and 1991 he assumed the Presidency of the Bundesrat. Since 1990 he has been member of the Board of the SPD. In 1997 he resumed his own business as a lawyer and notary.

Having joined the company in 1993 as Executive Vice-President, Mr Wallenberg also served as Deputy CFO of Investor AB before being appointed to his current position in 1999. He previously worked for Citibank, New York; Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt and Hamburg; SG Warburg, London; Citicorp, Hong Kong; Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, Stockholm and London and Stora Feldmühle AG, Düsseldorf. Mr Wallenberg is Vice Chairman of the Boards of Ericsson, Saab and SEB Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken, respectively. In addition, he is a member of the Boards of Astra Zeneca, Scania, Stora Enso, The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and Hi3G Access. Born in 1956, he graduated from the School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University, USA with a Bachelor of Science.

Former Senior Vice President at BMW Group since 1994, Dr. Wolf was Director of the Group’s ‘China’ project. He was also Director of the BMW ‘Automobile Recycling’ project and subsequently became the German and European automotive industries’ spokesperson on the issue. Following studies at the universities of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe in Mechanical Engineering and Technical Business Administration, Dr. Wolf first joined the BMW Group in 1973. From Head of Controlling at the Department of the Chairmen of the Board, he was promoted to Commercial Executive of the BMW Marine Division, later becoming the Marine Division’s Managing Director, responsible for design, production, sales and the administrative department. Dr. Wolf was then appointed Head of Controlling, Finance and Dataprocessing in the Dingolfing workgroup.

Born in 1953. Dr. Xu obtained Ph.D. in Economics, University of California, Davis, in 1991, and an MA in Industrial Economics in 1981 from People‘s University of China. He received the Sun Yefang Economics Prize in 1996, the highest Chinese award in the field, for his research on China‘s capital markets. His research interests include: Macroeconomics, Finance, Financial Institutions and Financial Markets, Transitional Economies, and China‘s Economic Reform. Xu Xiaonian is Professor of Economics at CEIBS. He worked for China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC) since 1999 as Managing Director and Head of Research. The research team under Dr. Xu was ranked No. 1 in 2002 among domestic brokerage firms by Chinese institutional investors. And Dr. Xu himself was voted in the same survey as the best in economics research. Prior to CICC, Dr. Xu was Senior Economist with Merrill Lynch Asia Pacific based in Hong Kong from 1997 to 1998. He worked as a consultant of the World Bank in Washington DC in 1996. Dr. Xu was appointed Assistant Professor of Amherst College, Massachusetts, from 1991 to 1995, teaching Economics and Financial Markets. He was employed by the State Development Research Center of China as a research fellow from 1981 to 1985.

The Hon. Lee Kuan Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, is one of the world‘s most important and enduring political figures. Considered to be the founding father of modern Singapore, he brought prosperity and stability to his country as its leader for more than 30 years. He helped establish the People‘s Action Party (PAP), the governing party in Singapore since it became a sovereign state in 1965. Educated at Fitzwilliam College, University of Cambridge, and the Middle Temple, London, Lee Kuan Yew practised as an Advocate and Solicitor. He co-founded PAP in 1954 and was appointed the party’s Secretary-General, a post which he continued to hold—except for a brief period in 1957—until 1992. Following PAP’s first election victory in 1959, he became Prime Minister and in 1963, one of 15 representatives from Singapore to the Parliament of Malaysia. On the secession of Singapore from the Malaysian Federation in 1965, Lee Kuan Yew became the independent republic’s first Prime Minister and subsequently led his party to win a further six general elections. In November 1990, Lee Kuan Yew resigned from the premiership and was appointed Senior Minister. In August this year he became Minister Mentor to the Government and remains, as ever, a tireless spokesman for Singapore and its future.

Liu Yong-hao, founded the Hope Group in Chengdu, Sichuan (1990), and served as its President. From 1992, Mr Liu expanded the group‘s business in China and formed New Hope Group in 1996. Regarded as one of China‘s outstanding private entrepreneurs, he serves as a standing member of the China People‘s Political Consultative Conference, Vice Chairman of the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce, and Vice President of the Chinese Feed Industry Association. New Hope Group, one of the largest private companies in China and a leading animal feed producer, has 64 branches throughout the provinces of Beijing and Shandong as well as middle, southern and western China. It has businesses in the feed meal, food processing, and international trade, real estate, banking and financing, as well as printing industries.

This year has seen Broad start production of a new natural gas air conditioner for family use and move head office from Hunan to Beijing. An art teacher on graduation, Zhang in 1988 started developing an oil- and gas-fired absorption chiller together with his brother, which became the basis for his central air conditioning units today. With sales for the last two years static at $145 million and paying taxes of $14 million, Broad has 1,600 employees. Zhang, proud of having no debts, succeeded in raising Broad‘s image, when he became the first Mainland Chinese to own a private jet and took his helicopter licence.

Prof. Dr. Max von Zedtwitz is an Associate Professor of Technology and Innovation Management at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, where he teaches in MBA, Ph.D. and executive education programmes. He is also Director of the Research Center for Global R&D Management with offices at Tsinghua and the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland. His research focuses on global innovation and technology-based entrepreneurship, with a concentration on China. He holds a M.Sc. in Computer Science, as well as an MBA and a Ph.D. in Business Administration. His engineering experience includes research in nuclear physics and software development. He was a research associate with the Institute for Technology Management in Switzerland, and a visiting fellow at Harvard University, before being appointed Professor of Technology Management at IMD-International, Switzerland. He is on the editorial board of "R&D Management" and five other international journals, as well as the advisory boards of several start-ups. He has published five books and more than forty papers in five languages, winning best paper awards with the Academy of Management, R&D Management, and MOT associations.

Born in 1934. Studied English at Beijing Foreign Language Institute and then Germanistik at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig. Started diplomatic career in 1956. Served in the Department of Soviet Union and East European Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese embassies in Berlin and Bonn. Mr Mei served as Director-General of the Department of West European Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1985 to 1988, Ambassador to Germany from 1988 to 1997, President of the Chinese People’s Institute of Foreign Affairs from 1997 to 2003, Member of the 8th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference from 1993 to 1998. Mr Mei is now a Special Consultant to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vice Chairman of China Institute of International Strategic Studies, Director of the Institute of World Development under the State Council Development Research Center and guest professor of several universities in Beijing and Shanghai. Mr Mei was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Law by the Myongji University Republic of Korea in 2003, the ‘Grosse Verdienstkreuz mit Stern des Verdienstordens’ of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2004. Mr Mei translated a number of German books and published dozens of articles analysing or commenting on European affairs and international relations.

Mr Jiang was born in Shanghai in 1975, studied from 1993 to 1996 at the College of Humanities and Applied Sciences of Shanghai Industrial University, before he studied at the German College of Tongji University for one year. From 1997 to 2001, Mr Jiang studied Economics at Heidelberg University. In 2001 he established the Huapeng trading GmbH as major initiator in Germany, which deals with Sino-German industrial trade primarily. At the beginning of 2003, Mr Jiang succeeded in purchasing the Welz Gas Cylinder GmbH in the state of Brandenburg, Germany, which is the market leader in the market of Gas Cylinders and other relevant products. Nowadays, Huapeng engages the production and trade in the German market and organises the European business for the Huasheng Group in Shanghai as well.

Jonathan Zhu is a Managing Director of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Asia Limited. Jonathan is a Chinese native, educated both in China and in the United States. He joined Morgan Stanley in January 1995 based in New York, engaging in equity and debt securities offerings and mergers, acquisitions and restructuring transactions. After transferring to Hong Kong in 1996, he has led a number of landmark transactions, including the initial public offerings of China Shipping Container Lines, China Meng Niu Dairy, China Telecom, China Unicom, Sinopec, China Eastern Airlines, Shanghai Industrial and Beijing Enterprises. He has also advised Unilever in the restructuring of its China businesses, Alcatel in acquiring control over Shanghai Bell, Anheuser-Busch in a strategic investment in Tsingtao Beer, China Unicom acquiring interest in its cellular businesses from multiple foreign partners and TCL in establishing a global TV joint venture with Thomson. He is the Head of Morgan Stanley China investment banking responsible for initiating and maintaining a broad range of client, and government relationships in China.

Chief Editor of Germany’s leading economic and financial daily newspaper since January 2002, Mr Ziesemer joined the Handelsblatt Verlagsgruppe in 1985. He began as Foreign Policy Editor of the group’s business magazine, Wirtschaftswoche, becoming Political Editor in 1987. Positons at two of the group’s key overseas bureaux then followed, including Chief of the Moscow Bureau, Handelsblatt/Wirtschaftswoche, 1990–94 and Chief of the Tokyo Bureau, Wirtschaftswoche, 1994–97. In 1998 Mr Ziesemer became a Senior Writer at the magazine, before his appointment as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Handelsblatt in 1999. A graduate of the Hamburg Postgraduate School of Journalism, Mr Ziesemer also studied Political Science, Economics and Modern Chinese History in Hamburg and Cologne. He began his career in Journalism as Bonn Correspondent with the German news agency, DDP in 1982 and as Frankfurt Correspondent with the German economic and finance news agency, VWD. He speaks German, English, Russian, French and Japanese.