Investment decisions in China and Asia must contend with several ongoing developments. Geopolitical tensions throughout the region, including between the U.S. and China across multiple theaters and territorial disputes between China and other Asian nations, have increased the risk profile for new and existing investments. Both the U.S. and China have tightened restrictions on trade and investment, including export controls on technologies deemed vital for national security. Many companies have embraced a strategy of supply chain diversification into new or emerging markets. China’s economy is also struggling with population decline, an ongoing real estate crisis, and structural challenges.

Join us on Thursday, April 11 to hear from seasoned experts on the risks and rewards for current and future investments in the China and Asia. Our speakers include Guonan Ma, Senior Fellow on Chinese Economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis; Tim Stratford, Senior Counsel in Covington & Burling LLP’s Beijing office; and Dan Wang, chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China.

This is a virtual, on-the-record event. Free for Asia Society Seattle and Asia Society Northern California members. Members, please email [email protected] if you have trouble registering. Non-members should email [email protected] for registration inquiries. Zoom link will be emailed to registered attendees 24 hours before the event. Registration and confirmation of registration is required.

AGENDA

Date: Thursday, April 11, 2024 from 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m Pacific.

5:00 p.m. Program Begins

6:00 p.m. Program Concludes

The Zoom link will be emailed to registered attendees 24 hours before the event.

SPEAKERS

Guonan Ma is Senior Fellow on Chinese Economy at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis. He is an economist with four decades of experience conducting policy, market, and academic research, specializing in Chinese economic issues. He was a senior economist at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) for 15 years, before becoming visiting scholars and professors in recent years at various central banks, universities and thinktanks. Before his BIS career, he worked as a market economist on Asia at different investment banks, including Bankers Trust, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup, and he has been a lecturer in economics at both the Australian National University and Beijing University. Dr. Ma received his Ph.D. in economics at the University of Pittsburgh and holds a bachelor degree in economics from Beijing University. Over the years, he has published many research papers, including those in Comparative Economic Studies, the Journal of Development Economics, Pacific Economic Review, International Economics, and the Journal of International Money and Finance. 

Tim Stratford is senior counsel in Covington & Burling LLP’s Beijing office and a member of the International Trade, Corporate and Public Policy Practice Groups. He is also presently serving as Chairman Emeritus of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. Tim’s practice is focused on advising international clients doing business in China and assisting Chinese companies seeking to expand their businesses globally. As a former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Tim is the most senior former U.S. trade official working as a member of the U.S. business community in Beijing. Except for the five years he spent in Washington, DC in government service (2005-2010), Tim has lived and worked continuously in the greater China region since 1982.

Prior to serving at USTR, Tim was General Counsel for General Motors’ China operations, where he was a member of GM’s senior management team in China and oversaw the company’s legal and trade policy work. Tim also served previously as Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Brigham Young University, and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Dan Wang is the chief economist at Hang Seng Bank China, responsible for China related research, macro forecast, Sino-US relations and geopolitical risk analysis. Dan holds a PhD in economics from the University of Washington, with a focus in macroeconomics, environmental economics and econometrics. Her postdoc was with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in agriculture. She is an active speaker for AmCham and other chambers of commerce, embassies, local governments, industrial conferences and universities guest lectures. She’s regularly quoted in CNBC, WSJ and other major international media and columnist for FT China. Before joining Hang Seng Bank, Dan was an analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit in Beijing.