Eric Fish is a leading journalist, podcaster and author specialising on China’s youth. He drew on his years working as a teacher and journalist in China to write his acclaimed book, “China’s Millennials”, a nuanced and insightful look at the post-1980 generation and its coming of age as China assumes a leading position on the world stage. He previously worked for the Chinese newspaper Economic Observer and founded the blog sinostand.com. He currently writes for the Asia Society, a non-profit dedicated to promoting US-Asia cooperation.

As President, Chi Fulin leads the China Institute for Reform and Development’s efforts to facilitate China’s economic and development policy. He has published over 500 academic papers and is the recipient of numerous awards. Chi was listed in 2009 as one of the ‘100 Economists that have influenced China’s economic construction in the last 60 years’. In addition to his role at CIRD, he serves in numerous leadership positions including as Vice-Chairman of the China Society of Economic and Administrative Reform.

Meng Hong is a leading academic specialising on EU-China relations, and holds key responsibilities in numerous Chinese and German research institutions, being among others visiting research fellow in the Centre for European Studies at the Renmin University of China.

Zhao Jinping is a leading voice on international economy and foreign trade. The Development Research Center is a policy research and consulting institution directly under the supervision of the State Council, the chief Chinese administrative authority. As Director of the Research Department of Foreign Economic Relations, he is in charge of conducting studies and providing policy recommendations on China’s opening-up, as well as foreign trade and foreign investment.

Cecilia Malmström is a renowned Swedish politician, who has held various positions at the national and European levels. As the European commissioner for trade, she was responsible for pursuing an ambitious trade agenda to the benefit of European citizens, SMEs and the broader economy, as well as negotiating key bilateral trade agreements, including a comprehensive EU-China investment agreement. Prior to her role at the Commission, Malmström was also the Swedish minister for EU affairs and served as a member of the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs and Committee on Constitutional Affairs, among others.

A leading Chinese businessman, Liu Miao joined Luzhou Laojiao in 1991 and currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Luzhou Laojiao is a state-owned entreprise principally engaged in the production and sale of Luzhou Laojiao series spirits, one of the oldest Chinese liquors still in production. Liu has been awarded a number of business awards, including “Most respected Board Chairman in China’s Listed Companies” and was named one of China’s 2016 Economic Figures of the Year.

Pino Musolino is at the head of the North Adriatic Sea Port Authority, which brings the Venice and Chioggia ports under a unified administrative system. A major European port, the Port of Venice handles more than 20 million tons of cargo every year, and is one of the key players in the ‘Five Ports Alliance’, a major container terminal project in the northern Adriatic widely seen as Italy’s flagship BRI project. An expert in international commercial and maritime law, Musolino previously held senior positions at Hapag-Lloyd and Atlantis International Services.

Masami Nakata is the Assistant Secretary-General of the Energy Charter Secretariat, the main institution of the Energy Charter Conference, an international organisation dealing with global energy governance issues. She is an expert on energy policy, and previously worked as a Professor at Kumamoto University and Associate Professor at Doshisha University in Japan. Nakata also previoulsy served as a Programme Specialist in UNESCO’s Science Sector.

A sinologist, Andrejs Pildegovičs has more than 20 years of experience in the Latvian Foreign Ministry. Latvia was the first Baltic country to join the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is part of the “16+1” group, China’s mechanism for engaging with Central and Eastern Europe. During his time in the Ministry, Pildegovičs has also served as Undersecretary of State and Political Director, Ambassador to the United States and Mexico and Chief of Staff to the President.

Juan Prat y Coll combines very distinguished diplomatic, civil service and European Commission careers. A key expert and practitioner on EU foreign policy, he previously served as European Commission Director-General for External Relations and was also the Ambassador of Spain to Italy and the Netherlands, as well as Spain’s Permanent Representative to NATO. He has written numerous publications on EU foreign policy and is a member of the Aspen Institute, a leading policy studies organisation.

Hans-Jörg Schmidt-Trenz is a leading specialist on business development and foreign trade. As CEO of the Hamburg Chamber of Commerce for more than two decades, he initiated the Hamburg Summit “China meets Europe” in 2004, a major biennial economic conference aimed at improving economic dialogue and relations between the EU and China. He is also the Founder and President of the Hamburg School of Business Administration and teaches economics at the University of Saarland and at the University of Hamburg.

Zhang Ying is a widely-recognised expert on the Chinese economy, and has written numerous analyses and commentaries for prominent newspapers, including the Washington Post and China Daily. She currently teaches Chinese Economy at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, where she is also Associate Dean for China Business and Relations and supervises cross-disciplinary studies on economics and business administration. Zhang was named in 2015 one of the “Best 40 under 40” Business School Professors worldwide by Poets & Quants. Previously, she was a Research Fellow at Harvard University and Honorary Professor at Beijing Jiaotong University.

An expert on transformation economies and international finance, Cao Yuanzheng is the Chairman of Bank of China International Research (BOCI), an investment research firm, and previously served as the Chief Economist of the Bank of China. Prior to that, Cao served as an economist for several development institutions, including the Asian Development Bank and the United Nations Development Program. He has also worked as a consultant for countries undergoing economic transformations, including Vietnam, Mongolia, the Czech Republic, and Kazakhstan.