SOLD OUT - Join Asia Society Northern California and Pacific Pension & Investment Institute (PPI) for an off-the-record virtual Executive Roundtable discussion on A Rare Agreement Between the U.S. and China with Andy Rothman, Matthews Asia Investment Strategist, Jack Wadsworth Asia Society Northern California Honorary Chair, James Lin, Partner at DavisPolk Corporate, Hong Kong, Lionel C. Johnson, President of PPI, Kevin (Gang) LIU, Managing Director & Strategist at CICC Research and Carson Block, Founder of Muddy Waters Research.

A new deal aims to resolve one of the biggest disputes in global business, and may signal that Xi Jinping is taking a more pragmatic approach to China’s economy and U.S.-China relations. After a decadelong standoff that threatened to delist more than 200 Chinese companies from American stock exchanges, Washington and Beijing finally reached an audit agreement in late August. Speakers will discuss what this means for both countries and what remains at stake.

Join us online on Thursday, September 22, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m Pacific. This will be a Zoom Meeting. Participants will be asked to join with their cameras on to encourage an interactive discussion.

This virtual Executive Roundtable Program is a special benefit for PPI Members and Asia Society Northern California Board, Advisory Council, Groundbreaker and Innovator Members. Learn more and become an Asia Society Member today: https://asiasociety.org/northern-california/join-our-community. Registered Members will receive a link to join virtual discussion the week of the program. 

For more details about the audit agreement from Matthews Asia’s Andy Rothman, read here:  https://www.matthewsasia.com/insights/china/2022/chinese-pragmatism-aud… .
 
This event is a follow-up to our Holding Foreign Companies Accountable Act event on August 12, 2020: https://asiasociety.org/northern-california/events/webcast-holding-fore….

AGENDA

Date: Thursday, September 22, 2022 from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m Pacific.

• 5:00 p.m. Program Begins - Opening Remarks
• 5:00 p.m. Introductory Remarks
• 5:05 p.m. Moderated Discussion followed by Audience Q&A
• 6:00 p.m. Program Concludes

This is a Virtual Event

Link to join virtually via Zoom will be emailed the day before and an hour before the program is scheduled to begin via Eventbrite*. This will be a meeting program where you will be directly connected with our speakers and able to ask them questions directly. We encourage you to leave cameras on the whole time to make the session as interactive as possible. 

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SPEAKER BIOS

Andy Rothman (Moderator) is an Investment Strategist at Matthews International Capital Management, LLC. He is principally responsible for developing research focused on China’s ongoing economic and political developments while also complementing the broader investment team with in-depth analysis on Asia. In addition, Andy plays a key role in communicating to clients and the media the firm’s perspectives and latest insights into China and the greater Asia region. Prior to joining Matthews in 2014, Andy spent 14 years as CLSA’s China macroeconomic strategist where he conducted analysis into China and delivered his insights to their clients. Previously, Andy spent 17 years in the U.S. Foreign Service, with a diplomatic career focused on China, including as head of the macroeconomics and domestic policy office of the U.S. embassy in Beijing. In total, Andy has lived and worked in China for more than 20 years. He earned an M.A. in public administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs and a B.A. from Colgate University. He is a proficient Mandarin speaker. 

Jack Wadsworth is the Honorary Chair of Asia Society Northern California, the Honorary Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and an Advisory Director of Morgan Stanley, globally based in San Francisco. In 1987, he moved to Japan as President of Morgan Stanley Japan, Chairman of its Executive and Operating Committees, and as Head of the Firm’s investment banking business in Asia. In 1991, Mr. Wadsworth moved to Hong Kong as Chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia. In 2001, he moved from Hong Kong to San Francisco. Mr. Wadsworth earned a BA from Williams College in 1961, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1963.

James Lin is a Partner at DavisPolk Corporate practice in Hong Kong. He advises on some of the most significant capital markets transactions in Asia, including numerous U.S. and Hong Kong IPOs.

James focuses on public and private corporate finance transactions, including initial public offerings, convertible and high-yield debt offerings and private equity investments, and mergers and acquisitions. He has worked on some of the most significant capital markets transactions in Asia, including with companies from the technology, media, healthcare, financial services, natural resources, real estate and energy sectors.

He is recognized as a leading capital markets lawyer by publications including Chambers, IFLR1000 and Legal 500 Asia Pacific. Chambers says James is “an adept adviser on IPOs and follow-on offerings, with additional expertise in investment-grade DCM work.”

James is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Lionel C. Johnson became president of the Pacific Pension & Investment Institute in July 2014. His career spans nearly four decades, during which he has been a leader in international business, public policy, and economic development. He has served as senior vice president of the Initiative for Global Development, as vice president of Turkey, Middle East, and North Africa Affairs at the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, and senior vice president of Public Affairs at Fleishman-Hillard.

Previously, Johnson was vice president and director of International Government Affairs at Citigroup and deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for International Development, Debt and Environment Policy in the Clinton Administration. He was also a senior advisor for Resources, Plans, and Policy to Secretary of State Warren Christopher and a member of the Department of State Policy Planning Staff. He served as deputy director of the Clinton/Gore transition team at the Department of State.

As a member of the U.S. Foreign Service, Johnson held assignments in the U.S. Embassies in Haiti, the Philippines, and Kenya. He also served as special assistant to Secretaries of State George P. Shultz and James A. Baker III. Johnson was a senior program officer at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He was a graduate instructor of U.S. foreign policy and American politics at the City University of Manila, Philippines, and received his B.A. in political science from Rutgers University in 1982.

Johnson is a professor of Practice of International Relations at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He is also chairman of Foreign Policy for America, chairman of Sudoc, and a member of the board of trustees of the RAND Corporation. Johnson also serves on the boards of the American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS), International Research & Exchanges (IREX), the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), Oxfam America, and the Center for U.S. Global Leadership. He has two children, Alicia and Christopher.

Kevin (Gang) LIU, CFA, joined China International Capital Corporation (CICC) in August 2011 and is now the Managing Director of the Research Department. As a Portfolio Strategist, his main responsibility is to provide investors with portfolio and cross-assets/markets allocation recommendations, by incorporating macro (growth, policy, cycle) and micro variables (earnings, valuations, liquidity, sentiments etc.), mainly focusing on the H-share, US ADRs and the broader overseas markets.

In the Institutional Investors Best Analysts Ranking (Portfolio Strategy Research), Mr. LIU Gang personally ranked the 2nd for both All China and China Mainland in 2017 and 2018 consecutively; the 3rd for China Mainland in 2019; 1st for All China and 2nd for China Mainland in 2020; 1st for Thematic Research and 2nd for Strategy Research of China for 2021.

Prior to CICC, He worked as a Quantitative Strategist with UBS in Hong Kong. He obtained his master degrees from both Cornell University and Tsinghua University. Mr. LIU Gang has published American Economic Growth: Drivers and Challenges, in Contemporary American Review, January 2020.

Carson Block is the Founder of Muddy Waters Research. In 2011, Block was ranked as a 50 Most Influential Thinker by Bloomberg Markets. Muddy Waters, LLC is a pioneer in on-the-ground, freely published investment research and produces three types of research product: business fraud, accounting fraud, and fundamental problems. Business fraud reports focus on issuers that have massively overstated their revenues. Accounting fraud reports cover real businesses that boost profits through fraud. Fundamental problem reports discuss opaque businesses that have serious fundamental problems that the market does not yet perceive.

Margaret Conley, a Bay Area native, is the Executive Director of Asia Society Northern California. Her non-profit experience includes the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, where she developed and launched an inaugural Future of Asia conference, and the Berggruen Institute, where she helped build a new Philosophy + Culture Institute with a focus on the US and China. Margaret was based in Asia for several years as a television news correspondent with ABC News in Jakarta and Tokyo and with Bloomberg Television in Shanghai. Her interviews include Howard Schultz, Richard Branson, Ban Ki-Moon, LeBron James and Beyoncé. She earned a bachelor’s degree from Columbia University and a master’s in journalism from the University of Hong Kong, which specializes in coverage of Asia. In 2019, Margaret was selected as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times.  

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