Europe-China Forum: 20 years on – what’s next for EU-China relations?

Throughout his diplomatic career, Fu Cong has occupied various roles, most notably as the deputy permanent representative and second secretary at the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations Office in Geneva and Vienna, as well as the advisor to the director-general of the World Health Organization. While working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China, Fu served as the director-general of the Department of Arms Control and deputy director of the Department of International Organizations and Conferences.

Gao Zhikai has extensive experience in government, diplomacy and securities regulation, most notably working as Deng Xiaoping’s English interpreter in the 1980s and serving as the China policy advisor at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Gao’s prior investment banking and corporate management experience includes senior positions with Morgan Stanley Asia, the China International Capital Corporation (CICC) and Daiwa Securities, as well as the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC).

Lin Goethals is Director at EIAS, a Brussels-based think tank and policy research centre focusing on EU-Asia relations. In this role, she follows the latest developments in EU-Asia affairs and EU-China relations, managing EIAS projects, publications, events and other activities. She has a keen interest in EU policies towards Asia, EU-Asia political and diplomatic relations, public diplomacy, people-to-people affairs and education. Goethals is also an Associated Researcher and Lecturer on EU-China political and economic relations at the ESSCA School of Management EU-Asia Institute in France. In addition, she sits on the Mercator Advisory Council of the Flemish Ministry of Mobility and Public Works, as well as the Advisory Board of the Student Think Tank for Europe-Asia Relations (STEAR). Previously based in Beijing, she conducted research on EU-China relations. 

Prior to joining Friends of Europe, Dharmendra Kanani was director of policy at the European Foundation Centre (EFC). He was the England director at the Big Lottery Fund, the largest independent funder in the UK and fourth largest in the world. Dharmendra has held senior positions in the public and voluntary sectors and advisor to numerous ministerial policy initiatives across the UK.

As a career diplomat with nearly 40 years of service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Ma Keqing is the former Chinese ambassador to Finland, the Philippines and the Czech Republic. Prior to her current position, she served as a political counsellor of the Chinese Embassy in Finland, as well as the counsellor and deputy director of the then Department of Western European and as the deputy director of the Department of European Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In her current position, Liang Linlin is responsible for communication, media relations and research on China-EU trade and business relations at the CCCEU. She has also coordinated and worked as an editor for the chamber’s annual flagship reports. Prior to joining the CCCEU, Liang covered China’s foreign affairs in Beijing and EU business and trade in Brussels for the Xinhua News Agency. Previously, she also worked as an advisor, providing consultancy services to various organisations, including the international business association ChinaEU.

As a Director and Senior Research Fellow at CAITEC, Yao Ling’s research concentrates on the economic and trade relationship between China and the European Union, including EU member states. Her recent work focuses on the digital and green economy, as well as China’s opening-up policy and reform.

As a career diplomat with nearly 40 years of experience serving the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Luo Linquan has served as the Chinese ambassador to Greece and Ireland, as well as the Consul General (Ambassadorial Rank) in San Francisco. Prior to his current position, he was the director general of the Protocol Department at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In her current position at DG TRADE, Maria Martin-Prat is in charge of Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Caribbean. She also oversees sustainable development and Green Deal trade related issues, services and digital trade, as well as investment and intellectual property. Before assuming this role, Martin-Prat served as a director at DG Trade and consecutively as the head of the unit responsible for free movement of services, freedom of establishment and copyright in the European Commission.

Thomas Richter recently joined Solvay SA as its new Vice President and Head of Global Government & Public Affairs. In his role, he leads the company’s global engagement with governments, policymakers, regulatory authorities, NGOs as well as community stakeholders. Part of his role is to advise the executive leadership and business leadership team on geopolitical developments around the world and assess how they might impact Solvay’s business. Prior to joining Solvay, Richter worked at Lanxess AG as the head of EU Representation, leading the company’s government affairs work in Europe. Before that, he spent more than a decade working as a public affairs consultant advising multinational companies primarily on chemical, industrial and environmental policy in Europe.

Tomáš Petříček is a Senior Non-Residential Fellow at the Centre of Global Political Economy at the IIR in Prague. He is also the Director of the Progressive Analytical Centre, a Prague-based think tank, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom. He previously served as the Czech minister of foreign affairs. His research interests lie in the area of international political economy, new technologies and development, societal resilience, global environmental politics and climate diplomacy. 

Prior to taking up his current post, in which he is in charge of the EU’s relations with China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Mongolia, Dominic Porter led the EEAS headquarters division covering economic and global issues, including climate, energy and international financial institutions. Before that, he was the deputy head of the EU Delegation to the United Nations and other international organisations in Geneva. He also worked with former Commissioner Chris Patten as an advisor on global issues and speechwriter, before moving in to head the human rights and social affairs section of the EU Delegation in New York.

In her current role at GIZ in East Asia, Ina Schmitt supports the implementation of projects for international cooperation in China. The project portfolio spans product safety, digitalisation and the automotive industry. The projects she supports are commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, with the aim of reducing technical barriers and promoting internationally harmonised approaches to trade.

As Research Fellow, Liu Ying has expertise in the Belt and Road Initiative and industrial research. Before joining Renmin University, Ying was a researcher at Peking University, where she focused on finance, industry and macroeconomics.