Luncheon Presentation 
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Registration: 12:15pm
Luncheon: 12:30 - 2:00pm

Chinese banks have undergone remarkable transformation over the past 15 years. But how can their resiliency in challenging economic times be explained, and how do they operate in China’s political-economic environment? In China’s Banking Transformation, The Untold Story, author Jim Stent argues that banks and nation are shaped by three factors: modernization through borrowings from the rest of the world; the power of traditional Chinese cultural values and institutions; and control and direction by the Party. He shows how these play out in the banking sector, and how they have driven the successful transformation of the sector over the past 15 years. The result is a hybrid banking sector that operates in many ways like Western banks, but is also deeply embedded in traditional Chinese values, supporting achievement of the party-state’s economic development goals. He demonstrates how the banking sector can be used as a case study for understanding the overall Chinese political economy, which is both modern and traditional at the same time. Based on insights drawn from 13 years serving on the boards of both a privately-owned and a state-owned bank, Stent will assess the transformation in governance and management of the banks that has occurred over the past 15 years, and how the party-state in China’s hybrid market socialist economy has made effective use of banks in driving economic development.

Jim Stent has pursued a career in financial services in Thailand and China. He has served for six years as an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of the China Everbright Bank, followed by four years as a member of the bank’s Board of Supervisors. He is presently an independent director and chairman of the audit committee of the XacBank of Mongolia. Mr. Stent worked for 18 years in Bangkok at Bank of Asia, a Thai bank, serving as deputy president of the bank until his retirement in 2002. From 2003-2006 he was an independent director on the board of the China Minsheng Bank in Beijing. Mr. Stent began his banking career with Citibank, and then Crocker National Bank, before moving to the Bank of Asia. He is the author of China’s Banking Transformation: The Untold Story published by Oxford University Press in 2017. Mr. Stent graduated from the University of California, Berkeley and received his Master of Public Affairs from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

*FULL HOUSE & WAITLIST ONLY. To get on the waitlist, please email [email protected].

Regular Menu

Tuna Tataki with baby herbs and ginger

Roast Herb Chicken with sweetcorn puree, baby bok choy and grainy mustard sauce

Citrus Breton Tart filled with lemon mascarpone and berries

Vegetarian Menu

Caprese Salad, tomatoes and mozzarella with orange-infused basil oil and balsamic caviar pearls

Roasted Cauliflower Steak with ricotta, toasted pine nuts, preserved lemon and gold raisins

Citrus Breton Tart filled with lemon mascarpone and berries