Speakers

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 appointed as Chairman of the CDU parliamentary group in the Hamburg Parliament. Since 1998  on Beust is member of the federal board of the CDU. In 2001 Ole von Beust was elected First Mayor and President of the Senate of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. In March 2003 and in May 2008 he was re-elected First Mayor at the  Hamburg state elections and confirmed in office for another four years. Since November 2007 he is President of the German Federal Council (Bundesrat).

Simon Brooks has been a Vice President of the European Investment Bank since July 2006. He is a member of the EIB’s Management Committee which draws up the Bank's financial and lending policies, and oversees its day-to-day business, and takes collective responsibility for the Bank’s performance. Mr. Brooks is responsible for EIB business in the U.K., and for the Bank’s environment lending and policies. Within the EIB, he is responsible at Management Committee level for all audit matters, liaising with the European Court of Auditors, OLAF and the European Ombudsman, internal audit and compliance. He is also responsible for all matters regarding buildings, facilities and logistics.

Martin Brudermüller was born in Stuttgart in 1961. He studied chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe. After taking his doctorate and spending a postdoc period at the University of California, Berkeley, Brudermüller started work in BASF’s Ammonia Laboratory in 1988. Thereafter, he held a number of positions within BASF before being appointed to the Board of Executive Directors in 2005. Brudermüller is currently responsible for the Performance Polymers and Polyurethanes Division as well as for the Asia Pacific Regional Division. He has been based in Hong Kong since April 2006.

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.

Professor Leonard Cheng was appointed Acting Dean of the School of Business and Management on July 1, 2007. He joined Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in 1992, being one of the founding members of the University, after teaching at University of Florida for more than 10 years. Professor Cheng received his PhD in Economics from University of California, Berkeley. Dedicated to serving the public, he has been an advisor to many local and regionally organizations. He was recently appointed by the HKSAR as Justice of the Peace. Professor Cheng has extensive teaching experience. He was Associate Professor at the University of Florida, Visiting Professor of Fudan University, and Adjunct Professor of Shantou University. He has taught in a number of executive programs. Professor Cheng’s research interests include applied game theory, market structure, technological innovation and imitation, currency crisis, international trade and investment, FDI in China, and technology industry in China.

Danyang Xie received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago in 1992. He started an academic career in 1991 at the University of Montreal. He joined HKUST in July 1993. He has been teaching Macroeconomics at all levels and China in the Global Economy for the MBAs. His research interest includes endogenous growth, fiscal policy, and money and banking. After working at the International Monetary Fund as Economist and Senior Economist during 2000-2004, he returned to HKUST in July 2004 and is now the Head of Economics Department.

Danyang Xie has publications in Journal of Political Economy, Review of Economic Studies, Journal of Economic Theory, Journal of Monetary Economics, and International Economic Review among others. He is the co-editor of Annals of Economics and Finance and is a member of the Editorial Advisory Council of Pacific Economic Review.

Dr. Bernd Drouven, born on 19 September 1955, is married and has two children. He graduated in metallurgy and electrometallurgy in 1979 at the Technical University in Aachen. Dr. Drouven received his Ph.D. from Carnegie-Mellon University Pittsburgh, U.S.A., in 1982 for metallurgical engineering and materials science. After starting his career at Preussag AG Metall in 1982, he joined Degussa in 1987 and worked in managerial positions for Degussa and its subsidiaries. In 1998 he became Board member and in 2000 Chairman of the Board at Possehl Besi Electronics N.V. Drunen, NL. Dr. Drouven’s career in the NA Group began in 2001 when he was appointed Managing Director of the NA subsidiary Spiess-Urania Chemicals. After the sale of Spiess-Urania, he moved to the group headquarters and was appointed Chief Financial Officer on NA’s Executive Board in January 2006. He was appointed Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board on 16 January 2008.

Jens Froese was born in October 1941. Before starting his academic career he served as master of research and survey vessels, later becoming a hydrographer. After having graduated as engineer of sea transport and economy he managed the German research and survey fleet later focusing on research and development in shipping and logistics. He gained international experience by both, visiting professor at many universities in Asia and Europe and as member of various advisory boards mainly of the European Commission.

Ilham A. Habibie is co-founder (1999) and Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, The Habibie Center (THC) Foundation. He heads THC’s Institute for Democratization and Socialization of Technology, which works on bridging the digital divide. He also heads the Center for Engineering and Industry Policies Studies of the Indonesian Engineers Association; and is Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors, Institute of Technology Indonesia. Ilham manages Ilthabi Rekatama, a private investment company, as President Director since 2002 and invested into companies in energy, mining, manufacturing and transportation. Previously he worked with Aerospace companies (1996-2001: IPTN, Indonesia; 1994-96: Boeing, U.S.A.). Before, he worked as Academic & Research Assistant at the Institute for Fluid Mechanics, Technical University of Munich, Germany (1987-94). He holds a Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering from the Technical University of Munich and a MBA from the University of Chicago, U.S.A.

Dr. Richard Hausmann studied Physics at Regensburg University and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. In 1988 Dr. Hausmann completed his studies with a Doctorate in Physics. In June 1988 Dr. Hausmann joined the Siemens Medical Engineering Group. Until 1993 he worked in the Applications Development Department of the Magnetic Resonance Division. From 1994 to 1995 he was Marketing Manager for the new Magnetom Open MR system. In 1995 Hausmann was appointed as Director for Marketing and Product Planning. In 1998 he joined the Computer Tomography Division, where he rose to the position of Division President in April 2000. On January 1, 2005, Dr. Hausmann assumed his position as President and CEO of Siemens Ltd., China with full responsibility for all Siemens activities in China. Since April 2008, he took additional responsibilities as CEO of Siemens North East Asia, which comprises of Siemens China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Korea and Mongolia.

Currently, Arding Hsu is a SeniorVice President of Siemens Limited China and the Head of Siemens Corporate Technology in China. He has the responsibility to build up a world class Siemens research lab in China with 300 top researchers by 2008. Before coming to China in October 2004, Arding Hsu was the President & CEO of Siemens Technology-To-Business Center (TTB) in Berkeley, California.  TTB is a dynamic and flexible interdisciplinary B&R&D (Business & Research & Develop) organization that serves as a technology-to-business factory by working closely with universities, start-up companies, and individual entrepreneurs. Prior to TTB, Arding Hsu was the department head of Multimedia/Video Technology in Siemens Corporate Research in Princeton, New Jersey. Arding has 22 years industrial R&D experience along with venture investment and business development. He holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Dr. N. Janardhan is a political analyst based in the United Arab Emirates.

He was formerly Editor, ‘Gulf in the Media’, and Program Manager, Gulf-Asia Relations, at the Gulf Research Center in Dubai. With a broad-based interest in socio-political developments, his research areas include reforms, education, media, labour and international relations in the Gulf region.

Dr. Janardhan received his PhD from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and worked with The Asian Age (India) and The Gulf Today (UAE) newspapers, and was the Gulf correspondent for the Inter Press Service, Rome.

Apart from over 450 opinion articles in international newspapers, his recent academic publications include 'Kuwait: Never Before and Never Again,' in P. R. Kumaraswamy (ed.), Caught in Crossfire: Civilians in Conflict in Middle East (Ithaca Press, 2008); and 'Gulf-Asia Ties: Economy First, What Next?' in Eckart Woertz (ed.), Gulf Geo-Economics (Gulf Research Center, 2007).

Peter Kleinschmidt, born in Rostock in 1950, studied economics and obtained his master degree in 1980. He started his career at Colgate Palmolive in 1981 and held several marketing positions before joining Beiersdorf AG in 1985.

From 1985 to 1991 he held the responsibility for various marketing and business development functions. In 1991 he became Managing Director of Beiersdorf (Thailand) Co., Ltd with responsibility for the South East Asia region. He returned to Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg, in 1996 as Corporate Vice President for Personal Healthcare worldwide. In 1999 he moved to the Netherlands to become Chief Executive Officer of Beiersdorf N.V., as well as Director of the Beiersdorf Holding BV.

Since May 2003 he has been a member of the Beiersdorf Executive Board in charge of Human Resources/Sustainability. He also holds the regional responsibility for the Beiersdorf consumer business in Africa/Asia/Australia.

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.

László Kovács was born in 1939 in Budapest, Hungary. He is now a Member of the European Commission and Commissioner for Tax and Customs Policy since 2004. He held the post of Foreign Minister of Hungary from 1994 to 1998 and again from 2002 to 2004. He was Member of the Hungarian Parliament from 1990 to 2004, and Chairman of its Foreign Affairs Committee in 1993 and 1994. Earlier in his career he was Deputy Foreign Minister from 1986 to 1989 and State Secretary. Additionally he acted as Chairman-in-Office of the Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Commissioner Kovács is a graduate of the University of Economic Sciences of Budapest.

David Marsh is a strategic adviser and banker combining skills in cross-border transactions and investments with expertise in marketing and communications. He joined London & Oxford in 2005 and became Chairman in 2007. He previously worked at Hawkpoint and Flemings financial groups and German consultancy company Droege, after a journalistic career at the Financial Times and Reuters.

David Marsh’s fields of expertise include infrastructure & transport, technology, energy, real estate, media and financial services. He specialises in crafting solutions for British-German businesses. A founder member of the German-British Forum (1995), he was made CBE and awarded the German Order of Merit for services to Anglo-German relations. He is a member of the advisory boards of the Centre for European Reform and the Institute for Corporate Cultural Affairs. David Marsh has a BA in Chemistry from Queen's College Oxford and is an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham.

Matthias Nass was born July 9, 1952 in Bevensen, Germany. From 1971 to 1974 he studied History, Chinese Studies and Communications at Goettingen University, followed by a Fulbright Scholarship at the University of Hawaii. Back in Germany, he finished his studies in Hamburg. From 1978 to1982 he was Secretary of the German Association for Asian Studies and Editor of the quarterly „Asien“. Having completed the Hamburg School of Journalism, he became member of the Editorial Staff of DIE ZEIT with emphasis on East and Southeast Asia. From 1990 to 1997 he was Deputy Political Editor and Managing Editor of DIE ZEIT. Since 1998 Matthias Nass is Deputy Editor-in-Chief of DIE ZEIT.

David O'Sullivan is currently the European Commission's Director General for Trade. His services support the EU's Trade Commissioner, Peter Mandelson, in negotiating bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, ensuring that foreign markets are open for EU businesses and that the international rules agreed are actually applied.

David was Secretary General of the European Commission from June 2000 to November 2005, Head of Cabinet of Commission President Romano Prodi and Director General for Education and Training. He also has extensive experience in EU social and employment policy. David has a background in economics, graduating from Trinity College, Dublin and having completed post graduate studies at the College of Europe, Bruges.

Lucas Papademos has been the Vice-President of the European Central Bank since June 2002. He is also a Member of the Executive Board and of the Governing Council of the ECB. He was born in Athens and educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received a B.S. in physics, an M.S. in electrical engineering, and a Ph.D. in economics.  From 1975 to 1984, he was a professor of economics at Columbia University.  In 1980 he worked as a Senior Economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  He held a number of senior positions at the Bank of Greece from 1985 onwards, ultimately serving as Governor between 1994 and 2002. He was elected professor of economics at the University of Athens in 1988. He has published numerous articles and essays in the fields of macroeconomic theory, financial markets, monetary analysis and policy as well as on subjects concerning the economy, financial stability and economic policies in the European Union.

Mr. Parisotto is founder of Videolar S.A., a company with more than 2,500 employees and revenues of U$ 800,000,000.00 in 2007, engages in entertainment and petrochemistry. Videolar won the Best Plastic and Rubber Company Awards and is one of the 250 biggest industry companies in Brazil, according to publications such as IstoÉ Dinheiro ("As melhores da Dinheiro 2007"), Jornal Valor Econômico ("Valor 1000 2007") Revista Exame ("Melhores e Maiores 2007"). Current Chairman of the Board of Directors of Videolar and a member of the Board of Directors of Eternit, Celesc and Fundação Amazonas Sustentável and Consult (Upper Advisory Board of the Santa Catarina State Government). In 2002 he was Entrepreneur of the Year - category Master of Business, awarded by Ernst & Young. In 2005 and 2006, Mr. Parisotto was honored as Citizen of the Rio de Janeiro and Amazonas States, awarded by the governments of those Brazilian states. He administrates the shares portfolio of Fundo Geração L. Par. Fia., worth U$ 1,000,000,000.00.

Edmund Phelps, born in 1933 in Chicago, grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson. He received his B.A. from Amherst in 1955 and his Ph.D. from Yale in 1959. After appointments at Yale and Penn he joined Columbia in 1971 and was named McVickar Professor of Political Economy in 1982. He founded The Center on Capitalism and Society in 2001. He received the 2006 Nobel Prize in Economics. He is a Fellow of the National Academy of Science and a Distinguished Fellow and former Vice-President of the American Economic Association. This year he won the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, the Premio Pico della Mirandola for humanism and the Kiel Global Economy Prize.

A thread running through his work is his effort to put people into economic models – to take into account the incompleteness of their knowledge and to study the effects of their expectations on market outcomes. He has adopted this perspective in studying unemployment, economic growth, business swings and economic dynamism.

Sheikha Lubna Al Qasimi has been one of the most recognisable government officials of the United Arab Emirates, due to her ground breaking achievements in the public and private sectors. As one of the country's pioneering women professionals in the field of computer engineering, Sheikha Lubna has also showcased her exceptional management skills in the corporate world when she was named CEO of Tejari, which she guided to become the premier electronic business-to-business marketplace for emerging markets. Sheikha Lubna's appointment in November 2004 to manage the UAE’s newly merged economy and planning portfolio as Minister of Economy was a historic event for the UAE as she became the first woman ever in the country to assume a cabinet position. Following her tenure as Minister of Economy, Sheikha Lubna was appointed in February 2008 as Minister for Foreign Trade.

Xie Qihua is Chairwoman of Metallurgical Council of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade; she is also Vice Chairwoman of Woman Entrepreneur Association of China, Chinese Entrepreneur Association and Investment Association of China, Chairwoman of China Federation of Industrial Economy and Vice President of China Society for Metals and China Environmental Protection Foundation. Additionally she is Executive Director of International Iron & Steel Institute.

Ms Xie was awarded several prizes, e.g. the “Chinese Entrepreneur Outstanding Contribution Award” in 2004 and the “2005 China Economic Woman Annual People Prize”. In 2004 and 2005 she was ranked as one of the Most Powerful Businesswomen by Fortune Magazine which also listed her in the „Asia 25 Power“. Forbes nominated her as one of the “World 100 Most Powerful Women”, Wall Street Journal listed her in its global “Top 50 Women to Watch” and in 2006 Ms Xie was listed in “Chinese Outstanding Quality People”. She has been listed in “25 annual most influential corporate leader in China” for consecutive years.

Resorts: Strategy; Expansion; Production; Legal; Human Resources; Health, Safety and Environment

Thomas Richterich, born 1960, is board member of Nordex AG since 2002, and heads the wind turbine manufacturer as CEO since 2005. Nordex AG is, with its Multi-Megawatt turbines, one of the most experienced, global active players in the market. Thomas Richterich studied business management and worked before joining Nordex in several executive management positions with MAN Group and Babcock Borsig Group. Also, Mr. Richterich is Chairman of the wind industry group and member of the board of the Power Systems Association within the Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA) as well as board member of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Bertram R.C. Rickmers was born in Bremerhaven, Germany. After finishing school, Mr. Rickmers studied economics and graduated with a master of economics. He trained with several shipping companies in London and the Far East before entering Rickmers Shipyard as marketing director in 1980.

In 1982 Mr. Rickmers started his own business with the foundation of MCC Marine, a ship-broking company. Rickmers Reederei and Atlantic followed later on. The acquisition of Rickmers-Linie from Hapag-Lloyd in January 2000 marked the beginning of a new era for the shipping of breakbulk, heavylift and project cargo.

Today, Bertram R.C. Rickmers is Chairman of Rickmers Group, which manages, including ships on order, a fleet of close to 130 vessels and employs more than 2750 crew onboard and more than 250 employees ashore worldwide.

Rickmers Group has also diversified into marine services and consultation as well as into marine and non-marine investment funds and the real-estate business.

H.E. Dr Michael Schaefer was born in Germany in 1949. He studied law in Munich and Geneva, and earned a law degree from the University of Munich in 1974. He prepared a doctoral thesis at the Max Planck Institute for International Public Law in Heidelberg and worked with the United Nations’ Political and Security Council Division in New York before passing his bar examination in 1978 in Heidelberg.

In 1978, Dr. Schaefer joined the diplomatic service of Germany. His postings included the German UN mission in New York, the German Embassy in Singapore, and the German UN Mission in Geneva. He was Head of the Western Balkans Task Force, Special Envoy for South Eastern Europe and Director-General for Legal Affairs in the Foreign Office in Berlin before becoming the Federal Foreign Office’s Political Director in 2002. Since August 2007 he is German Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.

Mr. Schneider, a French national, previously worked as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the French Treasury, in charge of the Macroeconomic Analysis Department. As part as of his functions at the Ministry, he was then Vice-chair of the Working Party N°1 of the Economic Policy Committee of OECD, and a member of the Economic Policy Committee of the Ecofin Council in Brussels.

Mr. Schneider was educated in mathematics and economics in the Ecole Normale Supérieure (rue d’Ulm), the Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l’Administration Economique and the London School of Economics, He joined the French Ministry of Finance in 1988, and held various positions in the Forecasting Directorate, at the French statistical institute and in the Treasury and Economic Policy Directorate General, dealing with structural policies, public finance, and macroeconomic policy. Mr. Schneider also worked for the IMF in the Fiscal Affairs Department for several years.

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.

Ms. Cai, a Chinese national, founded the Global Fashion Project/Shiyin e.K headquartered in Hamburg, previously worked as Chief Technology Officer of General Electric Infrastructure Asia-Pacific based in Shanghai. In her 10-year professional experience, Ms. Cai worked for GE, Siemens, AIG and Roland Berger in New York, Atlanta, UK, Mexico, Singapore and China. She was speaker at the 37th and 38th St. Gallen Symposium in Switzerland. Ms. Cai got her MBA at the State University of New York and was also educated in International Business Management at Fudan University in Shanghai.

Born in 1935, Pierre Simon is a graduate of Institut d’Etudes Politiques (Lyon) and doctorate in law. Beginning in 1959, he acted as Supply Officer in the French Navy, then Deputy General Manager of “Lyonnaise de Banque”, General Secretary of “Paribas”, General Manager and Chairman of “Crédit du Nord”, General Manager of “French Banking and Financial Association”.

He has been elected Chairman of Eurochambres in Sept. 2005 and re-elected in 2007. After having been member of the European Economic and Social Committee, he is member of the French Economic and Social Committee (Conseil Economique et Social) since 1999 and President of the audit committee of OSEO.

Member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Paris since 1994, he has been elected Chairman in Dec. 2004. He is also Chairman of the regional “Paris Ile-de-France” Chamber of Commerce and Industry as well as “Comité des Expositions de Paris” and Comexpo.

Pierre Simon is an Officer Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur and Officer Ordre National du Mérite.

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.

Born in Detmold, Germany in 1956, Dr Frank Walter Steinmeier obtained a law degree in 1986 and embarked upon a career in politics in the Federal Republic of Germany. After serving as Head of the Office of the Minister-President of Land Lower Saxony from 1993 to 1994, he took charge of the department in the Lower Saxon State Chancellery responsible for policy guidelines and interministerial coordination and planning, where he remained until 1996. From 1996 to 1998 he held the position of State Secretary and Head of the State Chancellery of Lower Saxony, becoming State Secretary in the Federal Chancellery and Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services in 1998. In 1999 he became the Head of the Federal Chancellery, a position he held for the next six years. Dr Steinmeier has been Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs since November 2005 and, since November 2007, Deputy Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Dr. Günter Strempel works for BP Group Research & Technology as Director of the Energy Innovation Laboratory at Dalian, China.  He joined BP in Hamburg in 1990 and worked in several technical, commercial and strategic roles in German BP. He spent two years in Zug as a Managing Director of BP Switzerland and in 2002 he took over responsibility for BP Global Fuels Technology at Bochum in his role as Director of ARAL Forschung. Since last year he is in charge for BP Group Research & Technology in China managing the BP Energy Innovation Laboratory at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics in China, which is part of the Chinese Academy of Science.

He is a graduate in mechanical engineering from Kaiserslautern University and holds a PhD in mechanical engineering.

David is the Chairman and Managing Partner of Ernst & Young Far East Area and a member of the Global Executive Board. He leads the growth of the firm’s business in the area, which includes China. He also serves as the senior advisory partner of a number of key accounts.

David is active in serving the accounting profession and the community in Hong Kong and serves on a number of Hong Kong Government appointed boards and committees. He has been awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star and appointed Justice of the Peace by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

David is a Past President of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants and a fellow of the Institute. He is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. David holds a bachelor degree in business administration (Kansas State University) and a master degree of accounting (University of Illinois), and received an honorary doctor of business administration from the Open University of Hong Kong.

John Thornhill is the editor of the European edition of the Financial Times, responsible for European coverage both in print and online. He is based in Paris. Joining the FT in 1988 as a graduate trainee, John has been the Paris bureau chief, world news editor, Asia editor, Moscow bureau chief and a Lex columnist. He has filed reports from 36 countries and interviewed 11 heads of state or government, including Vladimir Putin, Jacques Chirac, Junichiro Koizumi, and Lee Kuan Yew.

He has a MSc in Soviet politics from the London School of Economics and an MA in Ancient and Modern History from Magdalen College, Oxford University. John has also worked as a research associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.

Norbert Walter (born in 1944) has been Chief Economist of Deutsche Bank Group since 1992. In 1968 he graduated in economics from Johann Wolfgang Goethe University in Frankfurt am Main and he also completed his doctorate there in 1971. He was employed at Frankfurt’s Institut für Kapitalmarktforschung from 1968 onwards but left in 1971 to join the Institute for World Economics in Kiel, where he subsequently became a professor and director in 1978. In 1987 he joined Deutsche Bank Group as Director of the Economics Department, Deutsche Bank Research. From 2000 to 2002 he was also a member of the Committee of Wise Men on the Regulation of European Securities Markets at the European Commission in Brussels. Since 2007 Norbert Walter has also been a member of the Business and Industry Advisory Committee of the OECD (BIAC). As he says himself, he is like a cup of espresso: small, dark and strong. Many people know him from watching the evening news bulletins.

Ulrich Weber is leading the Final Assembly Line Project since February 2006. Until now he is realizing the set-up of the Airbus A320 Final Assembly Line in Tianjin, from the implementation of the Joint Venture as well as the first planning steps, up to the production start in September 2008. Before taking over the lead of this project, Ulrich Weber was the Hamburg Site Manager for three years. From 2001 to 2003 he was in charge of raising the complete site infrastructure, including all facilities and production organization for the A380 Final Assembly Line at Airbus Hamburg.

Ulrich Weber (49) studied Mechanical Engineering and finished his education with a doctor’s degree. He started his career at Airbus in 1990 as Head of the Component and Assembly Planning team in Hamburg, followed by leading positions in Components and Logistics Planning as well as IT-Strategy. Ulrich Weber lives in Hamburg. He is married with two children.

Mr. Lu Weiding was born in March 1971 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. He holds a Master’s degree and an EMBA degree. He is a senior economist and CPC member. Throughout the years, he has worked up from general manager assistant, deputy general manager to the position of CEO, acting chairman of the board of directors and deputy secretary of CPC committee in Wanxiang Group.

Mr. Lu also serves as the Executive Chairman of CFIE, deputy Chairman of China Group Companies Promotion Association, Deputy Chairman of China Industrial Overseas Development & Planning Association as well as committee member of the All-China Youth Federation.

In 1999 Mr Joerg Wuttke was founding member of the German Chamber of Commerce in China (800 member companies in 3 cities at that time) and from 2001 - 2004 he was the Chamber’s Chairman of the Board. Since April 2007 he is the President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (over 1200 member companies in 8 cities). He is member of the European Bahai Business Foundation.

Mr Wuttke is General Manager and Chief Representative of BASF China, based in Beijing. Since joining BASF in 1997, he has been responsible for helping guide the company’s investment strategies for China, negotiation of large projects and government relations.

He holds a BA in Business Administration and Economics from Mannheim University and studied Chinese in Shanghai 1982 and in Taipei 1984-85. In 2005 Mr Wuttke became Honorary Professor of Business Administration at the Fachhochschule Heidelberg.

Wu Xiangming, born in 1938 in Jiangsu, majored in Industrial and Civil Building in Tongji University. He is Professor senior engineer, adjunct Professor and supervisor of Ph. D candidates of Tongji University, honorary doctor of Dresden University of Technology, and member of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB).

Wu acted as deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Construction Bureau, vice director of Shanghai Municipal Planning Commission, director of Shanghai Municipal Construction Commission, vice secretary-general of Shanghai Municipal People’s Government, chief commander and chief engineer of Construction Headquarters of Shanghai Pudong International Airport, chief commander of Shanghai High-Speed Transrapid Project Construction Headquarters. Currently, Wu is board chairman and chief engineer of Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co., Ltd, and director of Shanghai Maglev Transportation Engineering Research Center.