Speakers

Born in 1929 in Bordertown, South Australia, Bob Hawke graduated in law and economics from the University of Western Australia. In 1955, he graduated Bachelor of Letters from Oxford. In 1970, he was made President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), a position he retained until 1980. He was President of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1973-78 before entering parliament in 1980. He led the ALP to victory in the general election in 1983 and, in winning three successive elections, became Australia’s longest serving Labor Prime Minister.

Mr. Hawke was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in 1979. He is an Honorary Fellow at the University College of Oxford, was presented with an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by the University of Western Australia, and holds honorary doctorates from, among others, Nanjing University of China, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. In March of 1999, Mr Hawke was granted the Freedom of the City of London.

Mr. Kemish’s education at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, included several teaching appointments and culminated in an International Relations and South East Asian History BA degree. Thereafter he entered government service in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) holding numerous responsible positions as well as serving three years as Counselor and Deputy Ambassador at the Australian Embassy in Vienna, Austria. In October 2003, Ian Kemish became an Awarded Member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for managing the Australian Government’s response in the aftermath of the 2002 Bali bombings. In December 2004, he was appointed First Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Since April 2006, Mr. Kemish is the Australian Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Laurence began his career as a commercial lawyer, first in Paris for four years with Clifford Turner (1974-78) and then for four years in Tokyo, on secondment to Nakagawa Law Office (1978-82). It was in Tokyo that he first became involved in aircraft financing transactions.

Laurence has been at Airbus for twenty three years; he joined the company in 1982 as an in-house lawyer specialising in aircraft finance; after ten years as a lawyer, he moved to the business side when, in 1984, he was appointed Sales Finance Director North America, becoming Head of Sales Finance in 1985, and then, in 1987, Vice President Customer Finance. In effect, he ran the customer finance function at Airbus for a decade, from the mid-80's to the mid 90's.

In 1994, he was asked to set up the Asset Management Organisation within Airbus and that year became Vice President and Head of Asset Management. Airbus Asset Management has full responsibility for all used aircraft transactions at Airbus and acts as an in-house leasing company for the 60 or so used Airbus aircraft owned or controlled by the Airbus group of companies. It also acts as the remarketing agent for Airbus aircraft financed with the support of the European Export Credit Agencies.

He was promoted to Senior Vice President of Airbus in 2001. After a decade of running the Asset Management business, Laurence was asked to take over in China, and consequently, since the beginning of 2004, Laurence has taken up residence in Beijing and assumed the position of President of Airbus China, with responsibility for Airbus' overall activities in the PRC, including business development, commercial activities, customer services, and industrial cooperation.

Michael Behrendt was born in Hamburg in 1951. He studied law in Hamburg, ended his training at the Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht (Higher Regional Court), and graduated by passing the “Assessor“ examination in 1984. During his studies, Michael Behrendt gained practical experience at various companies in the USA. After joining the legal department of VTG Vereinigte Tanklager und Transportmittel GmbH, he became head of tank farm sales in 1987, head of the tank farm division in 1990 and manager of VTG GmbH in 1994. In 1999, Michael Behrendt was appointed Executive Board Chairman of VTG-Lehnkering AG and Member of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG. Since 2002, he has been Chairman of the Executive Board of Hapag-Lloyd AG. In 2004, Michael Behrendt was appointed to the TUI Executive Board. In 2005, with the acquisition of CP Ships, Michael Behrendt was appointed Chairman of their Board. In May 2006, Michael Behrendt was appointed ordinary member to the Executive Board of the TUI Group.

Lutz Bethge was born in Hanover in 1955. He graduated from the University of Berlin with an MBA in Economic Science. After his first business experience at Beiersdorf AG in Hamburg he joined the German EFFEM GmbH in Bremen working for the Planning & Supply Department and as a Product Manager. In 1987, he took over the Finance Department at EFFEM subsidiary MARS GmbH. Three years later he joined MONTBLANC Simplo GmbH in Hamburg being responsible for Finance & Controlling and Legal. In 1995 he was promoted to Executive Vice President Services & Finance at Montblanc International GmbH. Since 2004, Lutz Bethge has been Managing Director of Montblanc International GmbH. H. Since 2004, Lutz Bethge has been Managing Director of Montblanc International GmbH.

Ole von Beust was born in Hamburg in 1955. He completed his studies in law in Hamburg in 1983 with the 2nd state examination in law. As of 1983 he has practised law as a self-employed lawyer. In 1971, he joined the Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU). In 1978, he was elected to the Hamburg Parliament (Hamburgische Bürgerschaft). At that time, he was the youngest member of the Parliament. In 1992, he became member of the board of the Hamburg CDU and in 1993, he was elected as Chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Hamburg Parliament. Since 1998 von Beust is member of the federal board of the CDU. Since October 2001 he has been First Mayor and President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg.

Jin started his career as a banker in the 1960s, working in the Huangpu Sub-branch of the People’s Bank of China, Shanghai Branch. From 1985 to 1993, he worked as Deputy President of the Shanghai Branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. In 1993, he became one of the founders of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. Then, he became Vice Chairman and Deputy President of the newly established bank. Starting from 1996, he was nominated President of the bank. Since September 2005, Mr. Jin works as the Chairman of the Board, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank.

Ronnie C. Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1949. He received his MBA degree from the University of Southern California. Mr. Chan is the Chairman of the Hang Lung Group and Hang Lung Properties. He also co-founded the privately owned Morningside group.

Mr. Chan is a former director of Standard Chartered PLC and Motorola, Inc., and a former government appointed Non-executive Director of The Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong. He is Chairman of the Executive Committees of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute and of the Better Hong Kong Foundation, Convenor of the Hong Kong Development Forum, an advisor to the China Development Research Foundation of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, and Chairman of the China Heritage Fund. Internationally, Mr. Chan is, among other appointments, a Vice Chairman of the Asia Society in New York and Chairman of its Hong Kong Center, a Trustee of the University of Southern California, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Liu Changle is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong-based Phoenix Satellite Television Holdings Ltd, which operates five channels, including a 24-hour news channel, and can be seen across the Asia Pacific, North America, Europe and North Africa. After working at the Central Radio Station in Beijing, Liu went into private business in 1988, basing himself in Singapore and trading in petroleum and other products. He formed a joint-venture partnership with News Corporation and established Phoenix Television in March 1996. Phoenix went public in 2000 and is listed on the Hong Kong Growth Enterprise Market. Liu is the Justice of the Peace of Hong Kong, and also the largest shareholder in Asia Television Limited, Hong Kong’s second largest free-to-air television broadcaster. He is a Director of the International Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and is chairman of the 2005 and 2006 EMMYs Festival.

Born in 1951 and a graduate of China’s Northeast Petroleum Institute, Mr. Fu earned his master's degree in petroleum engineering from University of Southern California in the United States later.

Mr. Fu joined CNOOC in 1982 and has held several senior management posts in CNOOC Nanhai East Corporation, in Phillips Petroleum (Asia) and in CNOOC Limited. Mr. Fu became Chairman and CEO of CNOOC Oilfield Services Limited in August 2002. In October 2003, Mr. Fu became President of CNOOC. He was also appointed Chairman and CEO of CNOOC Limited. He serves as Executive Chairman of CFIE.

Mr. Barón Crespo, born in Madrid in 1944, graduated in law from the University of Madrid, in 1965. As a practising lawyer, he specialised in labour law, and acted for defendants in political cases (1970–1977). He was a Deputy in the Cortes (1977–1986) and was Minister of Transport, Tourism and Communications (1982–1985). Since 1987, Mr. Barón Crespo is International President of the European Movement. After election to the European Parliament he was President of the European Parliament (1989–1992), and was President of the Group of the Party of European Socialists in the EP (1999-2004). He was Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs (1992–1995) and is currently Chairman of the Committee on International Trade. Mr. Barón Crespo is author of numerous articles on economic and social questions, and books, e.g. “Population and Hunger in the World”, “The Automobile Civilisation”, and “Europe at the dawn of the Millennium”.

Born in 1949 in Oberndorf, Germany, Heinz Dollberg graduated in law at the University of Freiburg, Germany, in 1977. Already in 1978, he began his career at Allianz, being with the company now for 28 years. In 1985, he was appointed Chief Representative of the Representative Office for Allianz AG in Tokyo, helping to establish the company in the Japanese market. In 1988, he became Deputy Managing Director of Allianz Cornhill Insurance (Far East) Ltd. Hong Kong as well as Regional Director for Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Taiwan, Mainland China and Australia. His principle areas of responsibilities covered financing, controlling, establishment of cooperations agreements, joint venture contracts or stand-alone operations in these countries. In 1990, Heinz Dollberg assumed his position as Vice President Overseas Division of Allianz Group Munich and is Executive Vice President Asia Pacific Division of Allianz Group Munich since 1998.

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 June 16, 1952, Mr. Ellerbeck graduated with a degree in economics and joined Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein in 1980. He held executive positions in a number of departments before moving to Denmark in 1996 to expand the bank’s Scandinavian activities as General Manager of the Copenhagen branch. At the beginning of 2001 he joined Hamburgische Landesbank as the Director for Corporate and Financial Institutions clients. In 2003, Mr. Ellerbeck was appointed to the Management Board of Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein and has served as a member of the Management Board of HSH Nordbank since its foundation in June 2003.

Mr. Ellerbeck is responsible for the Competence Centers Financial Institutions/Global Trade Finance, Corporate and Structured Finance, and Nordic Corporate Business.

After completing commercial training in wholesale and import/export business, Mr. Fitschen studied economics and business administration at the Hamburg University, where he received an MBA. Prior to joining Deutsche Bank, Mr. Fitschen was at Citibank in Hamburg and Frankfurt (1975 - 1986). Since 1987, he has held numerous executive positions at Deutsche Bank, incl. 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 2001, Mr. Fitschen was appointed to Deutsche Bank Group’s Board of Managing Directors. Today, Jürgen Fitschen is a Member of Deutsche Bank’s Group Executive Committee. Additionally, he is Head of Regional Management worldwide and Chairman of the Management Committee Germany.

Diethard Gagelmann is a member of the Executive Board, International Procurement, of the Hamburg- based Otto Group. The Otto Group is a leading trading and services group, operating in the major economies of Europe, Asia and North America. Mr. Gagelmann has been working for the company for 34 years, primarily in procurement roles. From 1992 to 1996, he was executive director of the French mail order company 3 Suisses. Following his return to Otto, he joined the Executive Board in 1998. Since the restructuring of the Board in 2005, his main responsibilities included the bundling of goods flows and the coordination of purchasing operations for the Group as a whole. Some 70 percent of the Group’s goods currently come from China. His many years of close involvement in trading with Asia have given Mr. Gagelmann an intimate knowledge of Sino-European relations.

Prof. Meinhard von Gerkan was born on January 3, 1935, in Riga, Latvia. In 1964, he obtained his degree at the Technical University of Brunswick, Germany, and since 1965 has been working as a freelance architect together with Volkwin Marg. During his career, Prof. Meinhard von Gerkan held guest professorships and honorary doctorate titles at numerous universities, e.g. in Germany, Japan, South Africa, USA and Taiwan. Besides receiving many awards for outstanding buildings, he and Volkwin Marg were successful in more than 390 national and international architectural competitions, incl. 190 first prizes. Among his most notable buildings are Berlin Central Station/ Lehrter Bahnhof, Stuttgart Airport, Hamburg Airport, International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Nanning, China, Lingang New Harbour City in Shanghai, Guangzhou Development Central Building, China.

Dr. Bernd Gottschalk, born in Lübeck in 1943, studied economics at the Universities of Hamburg, Saarbrücken and Stanford, California, and earned his doctorate in 1971 in Hamburg (Dr. rer. pol.). From 1972 to 1996, he has held numerous executive positions in various divisions of the Daimler- Benz AG: Public Relations, Economic Transport Policy; Plant Manager of the Mannheim factory; President of Mercedes-Benz do Brazil. In 1992, Dr. Gottschalk was appointed Member of the Managing Board of Mercedes-Benz AG, responsible for the Commercial Vehicles Division worldwide. In 1996, the Board of the VDA unanimously elected him as President of the VDA. In addition, Dr. Gottschalk has various national and international responsibilities: President of OICA (Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d’Automobiles), Vice-President of BDI, the Federation of German Industries, President of the BDI Traffic Committee and Honorary Professor at the Western Saxon University of Zwickau.

Mr. Zhang Guangsheng is Vice Chairman of the Board at SAIC. He joined SAIC in 2003 and has been holding this position ever since then. Before that he worked in the public sector, holding positions such as Director of Department of Research, Shanghai Municipal Government, Deputy Director of Shanghai Municipal Institute of Economic Reform, etc. Since joining SAIC, Mr. Zhang has been Chairman of the Board, Shanghai Sunwin Bus Corporation, and Shanghai Ogihara Dies Co. Ltd. He has also been director of Shanghai SVA Co. Ltd., Shanghai International Trust and Investment Co. Ltd., Shanghai Changjiang Computer Co. Ltd. (Group), Shanghai Baosteel United Co. Ltd., Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co. Ltd. He is Executive Deputy Director of Shanghai Automotive Strategic Research Centre. Mr. Zhang is in charge of the strategy committee of the Board of Directors, SAIC. Mr. Zhang was born in 1952. He graduated from Fudan University with a master’s degree in Economics.

Dr. Richard Hausmann was born in 1960. He studied physics at Regensburg University and the State University of New York with obtaining his Doctorate in Physics. In 1988, Dr. Hausmann joined the Siemens Medical Engineering Group where he has held various positions in the Magnetic Resonance Division. In 1998, he joined the Computer Tomography Division, where he became Division President and also was responsible for the entire China business of the Siemens Medical Solutions Group.

In 2005, Dr. Hausmann assumed his current position as President & CEO of Siemens Ltd, China. He actively helps to shape the country’s business environment, and is Chairman of the Executive Committee of Foreign Invested Companies in China and of the Board of the German Chamber of Commerce in China. He also serves as consultant and advisor to two province governors and a municipal government. Dr. Hausmann published numerous articles and holds various patents related to Magnetic Resonance and Imaging.

Edgar (Ed) G. Hotard is a Senior Advisor to the Monitor Group, serving as the Chairman of the Monitor Group (China). He is also a Senior Advisor to MPM Capital; a Venture Partner with ARCH Venture Partners and Managing General Partner of Hotard Holdings Ltd. In 1999, Ed Hotard retired as President and Chief Operating Officer of Praxair Inc. During his career he co-led the spin-off of Praxair from Union Carbide Corporation where he was a corporate Vice-President, led the integration and restructuring of CBI Industries into Praxair, advised on market entries into China and on acquisitions and alliances in the US, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia and China. He spent over 15 years involved in China business development.

Ed Hotard is a member of the Board of Directors of Global Industries, Ltd, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the US China Business Council. In 2000, the municipality of Beijing presented him the Great Wall Friendship Award.

Prof. Iseux is Director of Research at the Institute of World Economy, People’s University of China (since May 2006). He was the first and only Caucasian ever Specially Invited Member of a Chinese parliamentary institution namely Changchun delegate of the China People’s Political Consultative Conference (from 2001 to 2005). Besides being China business adviser to the CEOs of more than 20 multinationals, he is Foreign Investment Adviser to 20 local governments in China including Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Chongqing, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shenzhen etc., and acts as honorary professor and adviser to numerous institutes, associations and ministries in- and outside China. Prior to his current positions, Prof. Iseux was director, visiting professor and lecturer at various institutes and universities in UK and China; Permanent Representative to the WTO and the UN Conference on Disarmament; and Vicepresident of Oxford Analytica.

Steffen Klusmann was born in 1966 in Karlsruhe. After studying economics in Mainz, Glasgow and Hamburg, he successfully attended the Holtzbrinck school of Journalism in Dusseldorf. His next stop was the business weekly “Wirtschaftswoche“, where he worked as economy and politics correspondent. In 1996, he then moved on to the monthly “manager magazin“, dealing mainly with economic policy and technology trends. In 1999, the Financial Times Deutschland hired Klusmann. He helped develop the newspaper, which was launched in February 2000.

Klusmann then became features editor, in charge of background stories, comments and editorials as well as feature stories. He then moved on to become the FTD’s news editor. In July 2003, Steffen Klusmann returned to the “manager magazin“ as vice editor-in-chief. In 2004, Steffen Klusmann joined the Financial Times Deutschland again, this time as editor-in-chief.

Dr. Helmut Kohl was born in 1930. He studied law, sociology, political science and history at the Universities of Frankfurt am Main and Heidelberg and gained a PhD in 1958. From 1959 to 1969, Dr. Kohl worked as a clerk for an employers’ association. Already in 1947, he joined the CDU, where he has held numerous executive positions in the Palatinate and Rhineland-Palatinate. Becoming a Member of the German Bundestag in 1976, he led the Opposition as chairman of the CDU/CSU group until 1982, when he was elected Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (until 1998). During his career Dr. Kohl received numerous awards, including the Grand Cross first class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany special edition, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom – the highest US civil honour, conferred by Bill Clinton.

Born in 1937 and a graduate of the Beijing Institute of Iron and Steel Technology, Prof. Xu has lectured in a number of renowned universities in China. He worked as Deputy Chief Engineer and Technical Manager in Scandinavian Lance Corporation, Sweden. Prof. Xu served as Director General of Shanghai Higher Education Bureau, Director General of the Shanghai Municipal Planning Commission, vice Mayor and Mayor of Shanghai. He was elected Academician of CAE in 1995 and has served as its President since 2002. Prof. Xu was elected vice Chairman of CPPCC in 2003 and Chairman of CFIE in November 2003.

Jutta Ludwig studied at Hamburg University and Taipei University and in 1981 completed her studies as a Sinologist and Economist in Hamburg. In 1984, she became Executive Director in the German East-West Trade Committee (Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft) of the Federation of German Industries (BDI) with main focus on China; 1993, she headed the China-Coordination Department with Karstadt AG; 1997, Ludwig became Project Director at the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. Jutta Ludwig has published several articles on Chinese economy and environment. In 2003, Jutta Ludwig assumed her current position as Delegate of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Beijing and the Executive Director and Board Member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.

Dr. Werner Marnette was born in 1945. After studying Non-ferrous Metallurgy/Electrometallurgy and obtaining his doctorate, he commenced his professional career as production assistant at Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (NA), where he subsequently has held numerous executive positions.

In 1994, he was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board and, additionally, in 1997, Director of Labour Affairs. Besides his positions at NA, Dr. Marnette was member, president and member of the supervisory board of various national and European associations and of Hamburgische Landesbank. Since 2001, he is a member of the Hamburg Stock Exchange Council and Listing Tribunal, was elected Chairman of the Energy Board of the Federation of German Industries, and Vice President of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce. Since 2002, he is a member of the Supervisory Board of Leoni AG, and since 2004 Chairman of the Advisory Board of HSH Nordbank AG.

Born in Varese in 1943, Mario Monti graduated from Bocconi University and did graduate work at Yale University. Prior to joining the European Commission, where he for ten years served as Commissioner in charge of Internal Market, Financial Services and Taxation (1995-1999) and then of Competition (1999-2004), he was professor of Economics at Bocconi and then Rector.

Besides his current appointments as President of Bocconi University and as Chairman of Bruegel, the former president of SUERF is a member of the Senior European Advisory Council of Moody’s, of the Board of Directors of the Institute for International Economics in Washington, D.C., of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Meetings, of the Trilateral Commission and of the Executive Committee of Aspen Institute Italia, and regularly contributes to the Corriere della Sera. Since 2005, he is also an international advisor to Goldman Sachs and member of the Research Advisory Council of the Goldman Sachs Global Markets Institute.

A graduate of Tsinghua University, Ms. Xie is professor, senior engineer and supervisor of doctoral students. She joined the Baosteel Group in 1978, where she has held a number of senior posts. At present, Ms. Xie is Chairwoman of Shanghai Baosteel Group Corporation. Ms. Xie is also Chairwoman of the Baoshan Iron & Steel Group. She has won a number of prestigious awards, including the “Outstanding Entrepreneur of Shanghai” award, “Outstanding Female Entrepreneur of China” award and “CCTV Person of the Chinese Economy 2002”. In 2002 and 2003, Xie was acclaimed as one of the fifty most influential female entrepreneurs worldwide. She also serves as CFIE Presidium Chairwoman. In 2005 she was appointed Chairwoman of China Iron and Steel Association.

Born November 22, 1952, Mr. Rieck joined Landesbank Schleswig-Holstein in 1978 after graduating with a degree in business administration. He advanced to become Director of the Corporate Office as well as the Department Head for German Corporates and Banks. In 1995 Mr. Rieck was appointed Chairman of the Management Board of Investitionsbank Schleswig-Holstein. In 1998 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Management Board of Hamburgische Landesbank and has served as a member of the Management Board of HSH Nordbank since its foundation in June 2003. Mr. Rieck is responsible for the Competence Centers Real Estate, Lease Finance, Private Clients, and Transportation. Within the group, Mr. Rieck is Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HSH Nordbank Hypo AG, Hamburg; Chairman of the Administrative Board of HSH Nordbank Private Banking S.A., Luxembourg as well as Chairman of the Supervisory Board of HSH N Real Estate AG, Hamburg.

Alfred T. Ritter, born in 1953, the grandson of the company’s founder is owner and managing director of Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co KG, Waldenbuch, one of Germany’s leading chocolate producers. The nearly worldwide known chocolate bar in its high quality and unique square design is manufactured and distributed under the brand of “Ritter Sport“. Besides, Alfred T. Ritter shows a long lasting, large engagement for alternative energies and ecology: he is involved in various projects, foundations and owns companies named Paradigma or Ritter Solar. In 1997, he was elected the “ecological manager of the year“. Only one year later he got the “Prognos award for future“ and just another year has passed by, when Alfred T. Ritter was honoured with the “Bundesverdienstkreuz“ (Federal Cross of Merit, the highest decoration of the Federal Government of Germany). Last but not least in 2003 his work was rewarded with the “German Solar Award“.

Eberhard Sandschneider graduated from the Saar University, Saarbrücken, in English Language and Literature, Latin, History and Political Science. In 1986, he received his PhD at the Saar University, and after his postdoctoral lecture qualification in 1993, he was offered chairs of political science by the universities of Potsdam, Erlangen-Nuremberg and Mainz. From Mainz, where he held a position as professor for International Relations between 1995 and 1998, he moved to Berlin. In August 2003, he succeeded Karl Kaiser as Otto-Wolff-Director of the Research Institute of the German Council on Foreign Relations, and concurrently holds a chair for Chinese Politics and International Relations at Freie Universität Berlin. Sandschneider published or edited 10 books and made numerous contributions to academic publications focusing on Chinese and East Asian politics and international relations in Asia Pacific.

Helmut Schmidt was born in Hamburg in 1918. After military service (1937-1945) he completed his education in Hamburg, studying economics and political science and graduating in 1949. Mr. Schmidt joined the Social Democratic Party (SPD) in 1946. During his political career, he held numerous executive positions: Member of the German Bundestag (1953–1961, 1965-1987), Member of the SPD Federal Executive (1958–1983), Minister of Domestic Affairs in Hamburg (1961–1965), Chairman of the SPD Parliamentary Party (1967–1969), Federal Minister of Defence (1969–1972), Federal Minister of Economics and Finance, then Federal Minister of Finance (1972–1974), Federal Chancellor of Germany (1974–1982). Since 1983, Mr. Schmidt is publisher of the German weekly DIE ZEIT and wrote a multitude of books.

He holds numerous honorary degrees, e.g. from the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and is Honorary Chairman of the “Hamburg Summit: China meets Europe”.

Born in 1954, Dr. Schäfer reached his degree in economics at Frankfurt University in 1979 and his doctoral degree in Economics in 1984. He works for Dresdner Bank as Head of Country Risk and Emerging Markets Research. Dr. Schäfer wrote numerous articles on international finance and banking and monetary policy issues. His main focus is emerging market and country risk analysis. He was a member of bank rescheduling committees in case of Poland and South Africa. In addition he has undertaken extensive studies and economic policy consultancy on the transformation of formerly socialist countries and in particular their finance and banking systems into market oriented units.

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 general 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 reelected as Vice-President in 2002. From 1997 to 2005, Mr. Schües served as Vice-President of the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and in 2006 has been elected as member of the Senior Committee of DIHK.

Dr. Margot Schüller is Deputy Director and Senior Economist of the Institute of Asian Affairs/GIGA (German Institute of Global and Area Studies) in Hamburg. Since more than two decades she closely follows China’s economic development. Her work covers numerous publications on economic transition, incl. topics such as global economic integration and China’s regional economic cooperation. Dr. Schüller is a member of the faculty and program co-director of the international study program MIBE (Master of International Business and Economics, China Focus), co-organised by the Department of Economics and Business Administration/University of Hamburg, the School of Management/Fudan University and the Institute of Asian Affairs. Her membership in the Research Committee on Economic Systems and Institutional Economics of the German Economic Association also reflects her strong academic background. In addition, she is a frequent consulter for governmental and private institutions.

Mr. Selverajah was born in Johore, Malaysia, in 1953. He graduated in History from the National University of Singapore and obtained a Master of International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York. Mr. Selverajah joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1979 serving as First Secretary, and later as Counsellor at the Singapore Embassy in Bangkok, and as Deputy Director and later as Director of Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate II (North America and Europe) in the Ministry. He was Minister-Counsellor and Deputy Chief of Mission at the Singapore Embassy in Washington D.C. On his return to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1997, he became Director of Policy, Planning and Analysis Directorate II (NA and Europe). From 1999 to 2003, Mr. Selverajah was Singapore’s Ambassador to Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and the Holy See. He was awarded the Public Administration (Silver) Medal in 2000 and the decoration of the Grand Cross of the Order of Saint Gregory by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

Vincent Wong joined Kerry Logistics Network Limited (KLN) in June 2001 and took up the post of Joint Managing Director in May 2004. Mr. Wong has over 30 years experience in the transport industry. Prior to joining KLN he was Chief Executive of a multinational transportation company involving shipping agency, ship management, feeder services, cargo terminals, freight forwarding and contract logistics. Mr. Wong received his bachelor degree with honour from the University of Hong Kong and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbroker as well as a fellow member of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport. Mr. Wong is a member of the Logistics Development Council of the HKSAR Government, and member of the China Advisory Committee and Hong Kong-UK Business Partnership (HK section) of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council. He is also the Vice President of the China International Freight Forwarder Association.

Dr. Theo Sommer pursued his academic studies in history, political science, and international relations at the University of Tübingen; Manchester College; and the University of Chicago. In 1958, he started his career at DIE ZEIT. In 1969/1970, Sommer was called upon to set up and head the Policy Planning Staff of the German Defence Ministry. From 1972 to 1992, he served as Editor-in-Chief of DIE ZEIT and afterwards joined Marion Countess Dönhoff and former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as one of the paper’s co-publishers. In the 1990s, he acted as Vice-Chairman of the commission on “Common Security and the Future of the German Army”, was a member of the International Commission on the Balkans, and the Independent International Commission on Kosovo.

In addition to his current appointment, Sommer is dean, moderator and academic head of the Bucerius Summer School in Hamburg. He is also president of the German Society for Asian Studies and chairman of the Scientific Council of the German Foundation for Peace Research.

Volker Stanzel was born in 1948 in Frankfurt am Main. He studied Japanese, Chinese Studies and Political Science in Frankfurt and Kyoto, receiving his PhD from Cologne University. He entered the Foreign Service in 1979 and worked at the German Embassies in Rome, Tokyo, Aden and Beijing. He has headed the Press and Information Department at the German Embassy in Beijing (1990-1993), the Operation Center at the Foreign Office in Bonn (1993-1995) and the Department for Non-proliferation and Civilian Use of Nuclear Energy at the Foreign Office in Berlin (1999-2001). From 1995 to 1998, Volker Stanzel was Foreign Policy Advisor to the Social Democratic Party of Germany in the German Bundestag, 1998/1999 Visiting Fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States in Washington.

From 2001 until 2002 he was Director for Asian & Pacific Affairs followed by an appointment as Director-General for Political Affairs. Since 2004, Dr. Stanzel is the German Ambassador to China.

Prof. Dr. h.c. Horst M. Teltschik is Chairman of Teltschik Associates. Following a career in government, where he has held numerous executive positions, he has been closely associated with BMW, incl. service as Member of the Board of Management of the BMW Group and as Representative of the Board of Management of BMW for Central and Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Since 1999, he acted as Chairman of the Munich Conference on Security Policy. He also previously served as CEO of the Bertelsmann Foundation and subsequently was Vice President International Relations/President of Boeing Germany. Holding a degree in political science, Prof. Dr. h.c. Teltschik received honorary degrees from the University of Budapest and Sogang University in Korea. Since 1996, he has lectured at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the Technical University of Munich. He is active on various corporate supervisory and advisory boards, intergovernmental institutions and charitable organisations.

John Thornhill, currently the Paris-based editor of the European edition of the Financial Times, joined the newspaper in 1989 and has since reported from 36 countries. After several years in London as a City reporter, industrial correspondent, and Lex columnist, he moved to Moscow in 1994 where he covered Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, the Russian financial crisis, and the rise of Vladimir Putin. From 2000-2002 he was Asia editor during which time he interviewed Junichiro Koizumi, Lee Kuan Yew, and Kim Dae-Jung. After becoming foreign news editor in 2002, he helped shape the FT’s coverage of the Iraq war. In 2004 he moved to Paris as bureau chief, taking over responsibility for the European edition the following year. John is a graduate of Oxford University and the London School of Economics. He is married with one son.

Born in 1933, Mr. Guan is Senior Engineer. He served as Deputy Division Chief in the Water Transport Bureau of the Ministry of Communications, Marine Engineering Division Chief of China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd. Since Feb. 1992, Mr. Guan has served as the General Manager and Board Director of Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. Ltd.

Until March 2006, Professor Töpfer was UN Under-Secretary-General, Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Director General of the UN Office at Nairobi (UNON). From 1998 until 2000 he served as Acting Executive Director of the UN Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat). Before starting his career at the UN, Professor Töpfer held two offices as Federal Minister in Germany. From 1994 to 1995 he concurrently was Chairman of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD). Professor Töpfer was a member of the German Bundestag from 1990 until 1998 and received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1997.

He is an honorary doctor of many national and international universities, Cottbus, and an honorary professor of Tongji University, Shanghai, PRC, where he still lectures today.

Dr. Vahland, born in 1957, majored in Mechanical Engineering and Economics at the TU Darmstadt and received an MBA from General Motors Institute, Michigan, USA. In 1985, Dr. Vahland started as a project analyst of European investments at Adam Opel AG. In 1990 he joined Audi AG as Head of Controlling & Profit Analysis. In 1993, he was assigned to Volkswagen AG as Director of Group Controlling. From 1995 to 1997, he worked as a Sales Executive Director Overseas. In 1997, Dr. Vahland became Finance Executive Director of Volkswagen do Brasil Ltda. One year later, he was promoted to Vice President for Finance and Corporate Strategy. In 2002, Dr. Vahland was appointed Vice Chairman of the Board of Management of Skoda Auto. In 2005, Dr. Vahland became President and CEO of Volkswagen Group China as well as Global Vice President of Volkswagen Group. He was given an honorary doctorate degree from the University of Economics in Prague in 2006.

Born in 1963, Mr. Guo is a graduate of Northeast University of China. In 1988, he earned his master’s degree in management from University of Science and Technology of China. Mr. Guo has held a number of senior-level positions in Legend (Lenovo) Group. Between 1994 and 1996, he worked as General Manager of the Daya Bay Industrial Investment Company, a Legend Group subsidiary. Between 1996 and 1997, he served as Deputy General Manager of Legend Group (HK). From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Guo served as Executive Board Director, Senior Vice President of Lenovo Group and General Manager of Lenovo Technology Development Company. Since 2001, he has been serving as Vice Chairman and President of Digital China Holdings Ltd.

Born in 1945. Mr. Cai Weici graduated from electrical engineering department of Tsinghua University of China in 1968. He was Director General of the former Ministry of Machinery Industry. From 1998 to 2001, Mr. Cai Weici served as the Chief Engineer of the State Administration of Machinery Industry. At present, he is the Executive Vice President of China Federation of Mechanical Industry. He is in charge of the survey and analysis on the industry’s economic operation information, research on the development strategy and planning, key equipment localization duties.

Mr. Cai is employed and honored as member of the Expert Commission of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission by the Personnel Bureau of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. Mr. Cai is also standing committee member of the 4th Experts’ Panel of the China Development Bank and expert of China Everbright Bank.

Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker was born in 1939. After studying physics and zoology in Hamburg and Freiburg, he was professor for biology (University of Essen), President of the University of Kassel and then became Director at the UN Centre for Science and Technology for Development, New York. Subsequent appointments included: Director, Institute for European Environmental Policy, Bonn-London-Paris; President, Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment, Energy; Member of the German Parliament, and Member, World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation. Since 2006, Prof. von Weizsäcker is Dean of Donald Bren School of Environmental Science and Management, UCSB. He has published numerous English-language books mainly on ecological topics and received the following honours: Premio de Natura; Honorary Professor, University of Valparaiso, Chile; Duke of Edinburgh Gold Medal; Honorary degree, Soka University, Tokyo; Takeda Award.

Born in 1942, Mr. Zhao graduated from Tsinghua University in 1966. Mr. Zhao has held senior posts in Heilongjiang province Bureau of Electricity Industry, Northeast Electricity Administration Bureau of China, Northeast Electricity Corporation of China and Northeast China Electric Power Group Co. From 1993 to 1998, Mr. Zhao served as Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Power Industry of China. In Oct. 2002, he was appointed as the Deputy Party Secretary of the State Power Corp. At present, he serves as President of China Electricity Council and Presidium Chairman of CFIE.

Born in 1961, Mr. Zhu is senior engineer. After his graduation in 1983 from Zhejiang University, Zhu held several senior posts in various departments in China FAW Group Corp. In 1994, he was appointed Director of the Foreign Economic Division of China FAW Group Corp. In March 1997, he started to serve as Deputy General Manager of China FAW Group Corporation and was appointed General Manager of FAW Limousine Co. Ltd in May 1997.

In Nov. 1998, Mr. Zhu took up office as the Executive Deputy General Manager of the Group. On Feb. 28 1999, Mr. Zhu started to serve as the General Manager of China FAW Group Corporation. He is also CFIE Presidium Chairman.

Lee Kuan Yew has been Minister Mentor for the Republic of Singapore since 2004. He was previously appointed Senior Minister in 1991, 1997, and 2001. Lee Kuan Yew won the general election to be Prime Minister eight times between 1959 and 1988. He began his political career in 1954 when he helped to found the People’s Action Party (PAP). Prior to this, he was Secretary-General and held this office, with the exception of a brief period in 1957, until 1992. Lee Kuan Yew holds many honorary awards including “The Most Esteemed Family Order“ which he received in 1990. Additionally, he received the “Most Honorable Order of the Crown of Johore“, First Class in 1984, Freedom of the City of London in 1982, and First Class Order of the Rising Sun from Japan in 1967.

Prior to assuming his current position, Yang Yuanqing was the president and CEO of Lenovo. Yang joined Lenovo in 1989 and became CEO in 2001. Under his leadership, Lenovo has been China's best-selling PC brand since 1997. In 1999, Lenovo ranked first in PC sales in Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan) and has maintained this position ever since. Mr. Yang has been named by BusinessWeek magazine one of the “Stars of Asia,“ and has been selected by the Chinese media as one of China's “Ten Star Entrepreneurs“ and “Ten Most Valuable Managers.“ He was also named “Man of the Year“ by CCTV in 2004. He holds a master's degree from the Department of Computer Science at the University of Science and Technology of China. Yang is also a member of the National Youth Association Committee, director of China's Entrepreneurs' Association, guest professor at the University of Science and Technology of China, and a member of the New York Stock Exchange's International Advisory Committee.

Born in Changsha, China, in 1960, Zhang Yue graduated from the college in 1980, taught at a Normal College and also worked in a library. In 1988, Zhang Yue founded the privately owned company BROAD developing China's first ‘nonelectric chiller’. In 1993, he started presiding the technology research & development department and put forward hundreds of innovations during the past decade, which made BROAD the leader in global industry. BROAD gained global awareness with the world’s most energy-saving non-electric chiller, the world’s first CHP (cooling, heating and power) system and the world’s first ‘clean indoor unit’, which effectively absorbs dust and kills bacteria. Zhang Yue has been awarded many international prizes for his tremendous contributions to the environmental protection and social activities, among which are the “China-Europe Sustainability Award” from the Hamburg Summit 2004 and “Knight of the Ordre National du Mérite” awarded by the French government.

Born in 1934, he studied English at the Beijing Foreign Language Institute and Germanistik at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig. Started diplomatic career in 1956. Served in the Department of Soviet Union & East European Affairs of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Chinese embassies in Berlin and Bonn. Prof. 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. Prof. 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 Centre and guest professor of several universities in Beijing and Shanghai.