East Tech West is an annual invite-only tech retreat held in Nansha, Guangzhou, China. Bringing together a carefully curated guest list of the world’s most influential technology leaders, East Tech West is a forum to discuss and debate what’s next for this exciting industry.

Exploring everything from Artificial Intelligence to 5G, CNBC’s award winning reporters host panels, fire-side chats and workshops with the world’s most prolific investors, inventors and entrepreneurs where they share their stories and celebrate innovation.

East Tech West is produced by CNBC – the world’s number one business and financial news network.

SPEAKERS

Wen Guohui

Cai Chaolin

Liang Hua

Born in 1964, Mr. Liang holds a doctorate degree from Wuhan University of Technology. Mr. Liang joined Huawei in 1995 and has served as President of Supply Chain, CFO of Huawei, President of the Business Process & IT Mgmt Dept, President of the Global Technical Service Dept, Chief Supply Chain Officer, Chairman of the Audit Committee, and Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Mr. Liang is now Chairman of Huawei's Board of Directors.

Alex Atzberger

Alex Atzberger was appointed President of SAP Customer Experience in January, 2018. At SAP Hybris, Alex oversees strategy, operations, marketing, and product and engineering for SAP’s CRM, customer engagement and commerce business. Alex has expressed ambitions to significantly accelerate SAP Customer Experience’s cloud revenue during his tenure.

For three years before joining SAP Customer Experience, Alex was President of SAP Ariba, the world’s largest, most global business network. Under his leadership, the business more than doubled in size and the brand became synonymous with Alex’s vision to #MakeProcurementAwesome, a rallying cry that united customers, partners, suppliers and employees around a single vision.

Shortly after joining SAP in 2005, Alex was hand-picked by CEO Bill McDermott to be his Chief of Staff. In this capacity, Alex handled all operations of the CEO office and carried responsibility for the governance of SAP’s Executive Board. By 2011, he relocated to Shanghai to lead a board-sponsored initiative to invest in fast growth markets, driving all investments and strategy to grow SAP’s business in China, the Middle East, and Russia. In addition, Alex successfully led SAP’s Markets Strategy, Competitive and Market Intelligence and Global Pricing organization to help shape SAP’s 2015 strategy. A 13-year veteran of SAP, Alex began his career at McKinsey.

Over the course of his career Alex has developed a passion for customer empathy, turning skeptics into champions for change.

His international background has predestined him to be a believer in diversity and the benefits of global business. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and International Business from New York University’s Leonard Stern School of Business. In 2013, Alex was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.

He lives with his wife and dogs in New York City.

John Studzinski CBE

Mr. Studzinski CBE is Vice Chairman of PIMCO and a managing director. As vice Chairman, he helps advance PIMCO’s global strategy and serves as a key strategic advisor to many clients around the world.

Prior to joining PIMCO in 2018, he was vice chairman, investor relations and business development, and a senior managing director at Blackstone, overseeing sovereign and institutional investor relationships and advising large family offices. Mr. Studzinski was previously head of European investment banking at Morgan Stanley and deputy chairman of Morgan Stanley International. He also worked at HSBC Group, helping to build its investment banking division and serving on the bank’s group management board.

Mr. Studzinski is a non-executive director at the Home Office in the U.K., chair of the Home Office’s Audit and Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC) and co-chair of the Business Against Slavery Forum, a partnership between government and business to accelerate progress in tackling modern slavery in supply chains. He is the co-founder and chair of the Arise Foundation, which partners with local networks to stop human trafficking, and vice-chair emeritus of Human Rights Watch. He is also founder and chairman of the Genesis Foundation, a U.K.-based charity that supports young artists.

He has 30 years of investment experience and holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree from Bowdoin College.

In 2008, the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List named him Commander of the British Empire (CBE) for services to the arts and charity

Alain C. Benichou

Alain Benichou was appointed as CEO, Greater China Group (GCG) in April 2019. The GCG
region includes Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. Prior to this position, Alain was
General Manager Global Enterprise & Commercial, responsible for total IBM revenue for Enterprise
and Commercial accounts in the 175 countries where IBM operates.

In 2016 he was Global Vice President, Strategy & Solutions in charge of strategic transformation
projects and led the global Industry Solutions Sales teams, Technical Sales and Industry Solution
Centers. Between 2010 and 2015 Alain was CEO of IBM France, leading all IBM operations in France.
Prior to that Alain held managerial positions with IBM business units based in New York USA, and
Zurich Switzerland.

In 2015 Alain was elected President of the American Chamber of Commerce in France where in
launched the "Next Gen" initiative aimed at reinforcing start-up companies in their quest for
growth and transatlantic collaboration. Alain is also Chairman of the “Institut Henri Poincaré” - the
French organization regrouping all Mathematics associations.

Alain graduated from CentraleSupelec engineering school in Paris, and holds the rank of Knight of the
“Légion d’Honneur” in France.

He is currently residing in Beijing, China

Gillian Tans

As Booking.com’s Chairwoman, Gillian Tans advises the company’s leadership on the long-term vision and operations for the business as well as key growth initiatives. Previously, Gillian served as Booking.com’s President and Chief Executive Officer, a role she was appointed to in 2016, following her experience as Chief Operating Officer as well as other positions at the helm of Booking.com’s Global Sales, Operations, IT, Content and Customer Care departments. Under her leadership, Booking.com has advanced its operations and sales across more than 225 countries and territories around the world.

Before joining Booking.com, Gillian spent four years with the international Golden Tulip Worldwide hotel group, where she served as Product Manager, Marketing Manager and Director of Sales. She also worked for the Intercontinental Hotel Group and with a number of independent hotels.

Gillian began her career at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts in Pennsylvania, and is a graduate of the Hotel Management School in Middelburg, in the Netherlands. She speaks English, Dutch, German and French.

Michael Gorriz

Michael joined the Bank as Group Chief Information Officer in July 2015 and is responsible for the systems development and technology infrastructure which underpin the Bank’s client services, and defines and implements the Bank’s digital and innovation agenda. With technology at the heart of the Bank’s growth strategy, Michael’s capabilities and experience to drive innovation and change in technology are key as he takes the Bank through its transformation journey of becoming a digital Bank with a human touch.

Prior to joining Standard Chartered, Michael was Vice President and CIO at Daimler AG where he was globally responsible for strategy, planning and development of the Group’s IT systems, as well as the operation of its technical infrastructure. Michael was instrumental in driving the digital transformation within Daimler, for both employees and customers, having found programmes such as Digital Life, a systematic evaluation of the impact of social media and the internet on its employees, products, and customers, and the highly successful and widely used Mercedes.Me, a personalised portal for car owners to monitor everything associated with their car. During his 29 years at Daimler, Michael progressed through specialist research and design roles in aerospace to general management roles.

He has won numerous awards - including the Global CIO award of the Indian NASSCOM and is one of only three CIOs in Germany nominated to a list of the 40 most important people in IT in the last 40 years.

Michael is a physicist and engineer by background and obtained a PhD in Engineering. He is based in Singapore.

Michael enjoys tennis and jogging in his leisure time. He is married and has three daughters.

Peng Tao

Tao joined Airbnb as President of Airbnb China in August 2018. Tao graduated from the University of Melbourne with Ph.D degree in computer networks. He is an adventurous traveler, an energetic entrepreneur and a geek in heart who wants to make the world a better place. Tao has left footprints on over 50 countries and 7 continents. He worked for McKinsey & Co. for 2 years as a management consultant and has over 12 years experience in building companies such as network security provider IntelliGuard and social travel platform Breadtrip. He is named as one of the top 50 innovative business leaders by Caijing Weekly in 2015. He is also one of the 12 Australian Alumni Ambassador globally. In his spare time, Tao loves sports and reading.

Michael Silver

Michael Silver is President, Global Business Development, for Universal Parks & Resorts (UPR), responsible for helping to create new Universal theme parks, resorts and location-based entertainment venues in appropriate markets throughout the world, in addition to identifying other tourism, leisure and recreation opportunities for Universal to pursue. Mr. Silver oversees both the negotiation and the implementation of new business initiatives for UPR and, in such capacity, interfaces frequently with its creative, operational and technical teams.

Mr. Silver is currently leading the business and legal aspects of the planning and development efforts for the Universal Beijing Resort, which UPR expects to open in early 2021. In addition, Mr. Silver oversees the various licenses of DreamWorks Animation properties to theme parks and location-based entertainment venues throughout the world that UPR inherited when NBCUniversal acquired DreamWorks Animation in 2016. Mr. Silver also heads UPR’s live entertainment business, which licenses and oversees touring arena and theatrical shows and temporary exhibitions throughout the world based on NBCUniversal intellectual properties as well as public screenings of NBCUniversal feature films accompanied by live orchestral scores.

Prior to assuming his international business development responsibilities, Mr. Silver was the lead attorney for UPR. In this capacity, Mr. Silver negotiated and reviewed contracts, new business proposals, acquisitions/divestitures, partnerships, financings and sponsorships for the division. He also advised the group on matters involving intellectual property, real estate development, tax, litigation and labor and employment.

Mr. Silver has been with UPR since 1997. He was its Senior Vice President, Business and Legal Affairs, from 2002 until early 2010, when he was promoted to his current role. Prior to joining UPR, Mr. Silver was an attorney in private practice in Los Angeles and in New York for 14 years. Mr. Silver is a graduate of Harvard University and earned his law degree at the New York University School of Law. He is admitted to practice law in California and New York.

Lei Chen

Mr. Lei Chen has been Xunlei Limited (Nasdaq: XNET) chief executive officer since July 2017. Prior to that, Mr. Chen served as Xunlei’s co-chief executive officer and chief technology officer at Xunlei. In 2015, Mr. Chen created Onething Technologies, Xunlei’s cloud computing division. Prior to joining Xunlei in 2014, Mr. Chen was the President of Tencent Cloud, where he spearheaded Tencent’s cloud computing, open platform and social advertisement efforts. Mr. Chen also worked at Google and Microsoft in the US focusing on cloud computing and big data research and development, before returning to China to join Tencent.

Mr. Chen holds a bachelor agree of science in computer science and technology from Tsinghua University in China, and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Texas at Austin in the US.

He has been invited to speak at multiple global and regional conferences, including the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, the Summer Davos and Fortune Global Tech Forum, to share insights on shared computing and blockchain innovation.

Mr. Chen was awarded China's Most Influential People for Cloud Computing in 2014, Annual Luminaries in Internet Industry in 2015 and Most Influential People for CDN in 2016. In 2017, he won the prize of Annual Leader of Global Blockchain. He was named with "Ram Charan Management Practice Award" at the 2018 Harvard Business Review China Forum.

Jeff Green

Jeff Green is the Founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of The Trade Desk, Inc., a technology company that empowers buyers of advertising through data-driven decisioning. Hundreds of billions of impressions are bought on The Trade Desk platform every year by leading agencies and brands.

Following a successful IPO in 2016 (NASDAQ: TTD), the company’s stock rose 231 percent in its first year as a public company. The company employs almost 700 people in over 10 countries around the world. Since 2012, the company has experienced a compound average growth rate (CAGR) of 138 percent.

Green built The Trade Desk as a second-generation demand-side platform, positioning it at the center of digital advertising’s trading future by offering efficient, transparent technology. Among the first programmatic ad partners of Facebook’s ad exchange, Apple, Spotify, Comcast, and CBS, The Trade Desk has been recognized by Business Insider, Crain’s, Deloitte, Forbes, Fortune,Glassdoor and others as both fast-growing and one of the best places to work. In 2015, Forbes named The Trade Desk one of the top 10 ‘America’s Most Promising Companies.’

The American Marketing Association named Green one of the ‘4 under 40’ emerging marketing leaders and California State University Channel Islands recognized him as 2017 Technology Leader of the Year. Green and co-founder Dave Pickles were also named 2017 Entrepreneurs of the Year by Ernst & Young.

A recognized digital marketing and advertising expert, Green regularly appears in national media, including Bloomberg TV, Business Insider, CNBC, Fox Business, NPR and The Wall Street Journal, among others. In 2017, Green appeared on 60 Minutes to share data with consumers about how to avoid fake news.

Prior to The Trade Desk, Green founded AdECN, which he built in 2004 as the world’s first online advertising exchange. As COO, he led all strategy, product, and business development. AdECN was acquired by Microsoft in 2007 and Green spent two years at Microsoft Online Services Division overseeing all reseller and channel partner business, including ad monetization for Facebook, MSNBC, MSN, Fox Sports, and others.

Green has also played a leadership role in the digital advertising industry, serving on the Networks and Exchanges Quality Assurance Guidelines Committee for the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), leading working groups that established rules and best practices for acquiring inventory, and setting data transaction standards.

Green has served on the boards of several advertising and technology companies in the U.S. and Europe and served as an advisor to multiple companies including AppNexus, a technology platform based in New York City.

Green and The Trade Desk have done work for hundreds of non-profits, including Water.org, The Charity Defense Council, Thorn, and Not Impossible. For two years Green served as Chairman of the Board for a non-profit school he started in Southern California.

Green resides in Ventura County, California.

Wei Zhou

Wei Zhou is the Founding Managing Partner of China Creation Ventures (CCV). Before starting CCV, Wei was Managing Partner at KPCB China as a founding member, and led its digital practice group in Greater China.

The companies that he backed include JD.com (NASDAQ:JD), CreditEase (NYSE:YRD), Rong360 (NYSE:JT), Himalaya FM, Yixia.com, Tan Tan Mobile Social(acquired by Momo, NASDAQ: MOMO), Asia Innovation Group, VenusTech (SZSE:002439), KJY Water (NEEQ: 835159), ULUCU (NEEQ: 837110), etc. After establishing CCV, he invested JD Digits, Wanka Online (HKSE:1762), Perfect, Ice Kredit, Joyrun, Veer VR, Cowa Robot, Lomotif, Dingdong Class, Shukun Technology, Yunhu Health, etc.

Before joining KPCB China as a founding member, Wei was the CEO ofShanghai Hanbo Tech Co., a leading e-payment solution provider, which was later successfully acquired. Prior to that, Wei held senior positions at Start Computer Group (SH:600734) since 1994. As the youngest executive, he grew from a regional operation leader to the supervisor of the entire e-payment ecosystem and corporate M&A. He led the company throughout its startup stage, IPO, to the following years of fast growth.

Wei has been honored as the amongst the Top 30 Most Influential Venture Capitalists by Fortune China, China's Top 20 Best Venture Capitalists by Forbes China, Top 50 CV-FT China Leader Venture Capitalist, China’s Top 50 Founding Partners Most Favored by Parent Funds by FoFs, China’s Top 10 Influential Investors by Huaxing Group, China's Top 30 VCs Most Favored by Entrepreneurs and LPs by 36Kr, and Top 10 Best Venture Capitalist by CV Awards.

Wei also serves as a governor and treasurer of China Venture Capital and Private Equity Association (“CVCA”).

Wei holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.

John Maojun Zeng

David Rafalovsky

David Rafalovsky, Chief Technology Officer of Sberbank Group, Executive Vice President, Head of Technology Block at Sberbank

David holds a master's degree in Software Development from Tel Aviv University. Mr. Rafalovsky started his career at Citi as a Lead Solutions Architect and worked his way up to the position of

Global Head of Finance & Risk Infrastructure Technology and Deputy Head & CTO of Global Functions Technology Services.

In December 2017, Sberbank announced the appointment of Mr. Rafalovsky as a Senior Vice President, Technical Director of Sberbank Group and co-head of the Technologies unit. In August 2018, he was appointed as a Head of the Technology block. David began to carry out strategic management of the technological function of the Sberbank Group. In February 2019, David was appointed as an Executive Vice President. He leads the Group's technology strategy, including the introduction of a modern business application platform, innovative cloud infrastructure architecture, advanced enterprise analytics platform and artificial intelligence technologies. He also manages Sberbank's technology laboratories in addition to implementing the basic Agile operating model.

Douglas Feagin

Mr. Feagin is President of International Business Group at Ant Financial.

Mr. Feagin joined Ant Financial in June 2016 to spearhead Ant Financial’s globalization strategy, as well as Alipay’s international business development, operations and marketing activities. Prior to joining Ant Financial, Douglas was senior partner of Goldman, Sachs & Co., with a broad set of client relationships in the US, Latin America and Asia across sectors including banking, technology and insurance. Douglas graduated from the University of Virginia in 1988, and received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1994.

William Li

Jai Verma

CEO and Global Head of Government Solutions business - Cigna DIFC & Global Head of Government Solutions based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. His responsibilities include the P&L, strategic planning and development of Cigna’s offshore business in DIFC & Government Business globally

Cigna B2G segment focus on providing health cover for diplomatic missions/ government sponsored students and people traveling for treatment around the globe. CIGNA B2G segments currently provide health insurance cover to diplomats, armed forces and students of over 30 countries around the globe. Prior to this he was Managing Director of Middle East and North Africa region for Cigna International. He has more than twenty years of executive experience in the rapidly growing international healthcare industry with leading multinational organizations like Aetna International, UnitedHealth Group, Mercer Consulting (Marsh & McLennan Group and Allianz AG.

Prior to joining Cigna, he served as Regional Director MEA & Head of strategic development in Aetna International based in Dubai. Earlier to that, he served as the Regional Vice President- Asia, Middle East and Africa in UnitedHealthcare International.

His 21 years of experience has covered multiple industries and countries and has allowed him a first-hand experience of new market development in Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the United States. He has been involved in the structuring, selection and management of regional and local business development, distribution & operations teams. He developed market entry strategies for new business and also worked on rebranding of existing services to shift market perception. He has hands on experience in Strategic Alliances, M&A activity, Provider Network Development and Employee Engagement Campaigns. Mr. Verma completed his Executive Development Program from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and also completed numerous leadership programs organized by Mercer, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna and Cigna.

Mr. Verma also serves on the boards of DIFC Insurance Association and Global Healthcare Accreditations

Freeman H. Shen

Born in Shanghai, China, Freeman H. Shen studied, lived and worked in China, Canada and the United States. He has worked for Fortune 500 companies in America, Europe and China. He joined Geely in 2009, and led the team to accomplish “Geely’s acquisition of Volvo”, the largest overseas acquisition in the history of China’s auto industry. And then, he took charge of restructuring Volvo’s global governance structure. He enjoys a high reputation in auto industry in China, America and Europe, hailed as the first man in globalization of China’s auto industry.

Mr. Freeman H. Shen founded WM Motor in 2015 as the CEO and chairman, led the startup team to complete the establishment process of WM Motor from scratch. In addition, he also directed the corporate strategy, financing and strategic partner development. He led the team building the first NEV intelligent industrial 4.0 park, thereby realizing the substantial breakthrough from brand release to product launching and gradually developing WM Motor into a leading local car brand. WM Motor, an emerging EV car and mobility solution provider, is dedicated to bring intelligent electric vehicles to mainstream. In September 2018, WM Motor mass delivered its first Living Car, EX5, and launched second model EX5 Pro during the Shanghai Auto Show in April 2019.

Jack Lin

As the Head of APAC Client Coverage, Jack Lin is responsible for MSCI’s commercial activities in the Asia Pacific region. Jack joined MSCI in May 2018 and is a member of MSCI’s Executive Committee. Jack joined MSCI from Amundi Asset Management, following the acquisition of Pioneer Investments, where Jack served as its Head of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and was a member of the Global Management Committee. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director of Asia Pacific and Co-Chief Executive Officer International of Janus Capital Group. Jack started his asset management career at Franklin Templeton, where he began as a key member of the Templeton Emerging Markets investment team and later managed various businesses including its China Joint Venture and the Asia institutional business. During a career of more than 20 years in the asset management industry, Jack has built and led investment and research teams and has significant experience managing businesses in key Asian markets including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Australia, India and Korea. He started his career as a corporate lawyer with the US based law firm of Loeb and Loeb in California, USA. Jack holds a BA in Economics and Political Science from Vanderbilt University, and a JD and MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dai Ying

Dai Ying is the Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) for GE Healthcare China. He is responsible for leading technology innovation and product development, marketing strategy and digital innovation to drive commercial growth in China.

In addition, DAI Ying is the chairman of board, GE China Technology Center, a diversified, multi-disciplinary organization conducting new product development, engineering service and sourcing service for GE China.

Most recently before taking CIO role, Dai Ying served as Chief Marketing Officer, leading product marketing across modalities and installed based programs for GE Healthcare in China. Before that, DAI Ying was the CTO of GE Healthcare China.

DAI Ying joined GE Healthcare in July 1998. He took several leadership roles in Engineering, Supply chain and Sourcing in China and the United States.

DAI Ying holds a master’s degree of Electrical Circuits and Systems from Beijing University of Technology. He also holds an MBA degree from China Europe International Business School (CEIBS).

Liu Wengfeng

Mr. Liu Wenfeng is the Chief Technology Officer and President of Infrastructure and Intelligent Content Distribution Business Group (IIG) at iQIYI. Besides leading the development of iQIYI’s technology infrastructure, Mr. Liu also motivates the development and operations of AI-based products that enable the intelligent distribution of information flow, providing iQIYI’s viewers with the best streaming quality and viewing experience in the industry.

Prior to joining iQIYI, Mr. Liu worked at VMware and Intel, overseeing the development and maintenance of key systems including Linux and VMware vSphere. As a pioneer in the Linux operating system and embedded systems field in China, Mr. Liu has published multiple books, such as Analysis on Linux 2.4 Kernel Source Code and Embedded Linux Operating System. He has also conducted in-depth researches in areas like operating systems, cloud computing, AI and big data. Mr Liu also holds nine patents, of which three are registered in the United States.

Mr. Liu holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in computer science from Zhejiang University.

Henry Ma

Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer of WeBank. Henry oversees the strategic planning and development of Fintech business at WeBank.

Prior to WeBank, Henry has served as General Manager at Ping An Technology Co., Ltd. Prior to that, Henry had lived and worked in Silicon Valley for more than 10 years. Henry has received his Bachelor of Science degree with Highest Honors from UC Berkeley and a Master of Science degree in Computer Science from Stanford University. With years of professional studies and working experience, Henry had successfully completed the IT integration and constructed the management system for many well-known enterprises.

Paul Brody

Paul Brody – EY Global Blockchain Leader

As the EY Global Blockchain Leader, Paul is responsible for driving the blockchain strategy, initiatives and investments for EY globally. With blockchain services teams in the Americas, Europe and Asia, Paul works with EY’s service lines to build a portfolio of blockchain services for EY clients.

Paul has more than 20 years of experience in the areas of IoT, supply chain, operations and business strategy. Prior to joining EY, Paul held leadership positions at McKinsey and IBM. He is an entrepreneur and co-founder, and previously held director-level roles at various startups.

Paul earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and a Certificate in African Studies from Princeton University.

John Chen

John Chen is appointed as Member of the Asia Management Team, President of Swiss Re China, effective 1June 2016. He also takes up the position of General Manager of Beijing Branch.

John has about 20 years of experience primarily working in the insurance industry in both China and overseas. Prior to joining Swiss Re, John was the Chief Actuarial Officer & Member of the Executive Committee of PICC P&C from 2007 to March 2016. He took the responsibility for product development, pricing strategy and significant involvement in the company's strategic decision-making processes. Before that, he was General Manager of Product Development for PICC P&C and has worked for PICC P&C for about 11 years in total. John also served on the Solvency Standard Board and other working committees of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, including involvement in the development of C-ROSS standards in China.

Before PICC P&C, John worked with Deloitte/Finity Consulting as Senior Consultant based in Sydney for about two years, responsible for consulting assignments in innovative pricing methods, customer insights analysis, predictive modelling, risk margin evaluation and capital modelling. He also spent some years with CGU Insurance (part of IAG) based in Melbourne and with Airbus Industries based in Beijing/Toulouse.

John holds a PHD in Econometrics from Monash University, Australia and a BSc in Applied Maths from Tsinghua University, China.

Ming Foong

Ming Foong is the Managing Director Asia at Travelport. He is responsible for commercial growth and strategy across the Asia region (excluding Japan and India).

Ming joined Travelport in 2012 as Global Account Director after extensive experience in the digital and e-commerce industries, including various product and category management, as well as commercial management roles within eBay, MSN and Bing.

A trained mathematician, Ming majored in Mathematics at the National University of Singapore and, also has a Master’s Degree in Econometrics from the University of Sydney. A keen foodie, Ming loves to cook and sample different food from various cultures.

Ming is currently based in Hong Kong.

Xiao Wunan

Mr. Xiao Wunan was born in Beijing in May, 1964. A native of Harbin, Heilongjiang province, he holds a master’s degree and an honorary doctorate degree. He is currently Executive Vice Chairman of the Asia-Pacific Exchange and Cooperation Foundation, International Chairman of the Temple of Understanding - United Nations NGO, Vice Chairman of the China Association of Social, Economic and Cultural Exchange, and Honorary Dean of China’s Jianzhen Buddhist University.

Xiao Wunan has made important contributions to world peace, the well-being of humanity and global sustainable development in the fields of international politics, economy, culture and religion, and has been widely recognized by the international community. He has been received by the leaders of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese 2 government, the heads of international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union and many other national dignitaries.

Xiao Wunan has made remarkable achievements in promoting cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between China and the world. Nepal's "Lumbini Recovery Plan" and the "Golden Link of Buddhism between China and Korea" initiated by him are milestones. The China Culture Center (USA) founded in Los Angeles, USA, is one of the most influential vehicles for spreading Chinese culture overseas. A series of events - “Promote World Peace through Dialogue among Civilizations” led by him won worldwide recognition.

He has made important achievements in the construction of the "One Belt One Road" initiative, successfully promoted construction of the Djibouti military port in Africa and cooperated with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (the largest economic organization in Africa) to take the lead in leading the 20 member states integrating into China’s "One Belt One Road" initiative; and cooperated with world-renowned institutions such as PwC and the City of London to forge a Sino-British cooperation and jointly develop the third party market cooperation mechanism of “One Belt One Road”. In Mongolia, he successfully implemented the integration of China’s "One Belt One Road" initiative and the local situation in Mongolia, namely Mongolia's initiative for 3 passage to grassland. In South Korea, he joined forces with Russia and other countries to build a new northern economic belt, bringing a dawn to East Asia's prosperity. All of the above are meaningful events and part of the process of "One Belt One Road".

He has made great achievements in maintaining the stability of China's border areas, promoting peaceful development across the Straits and strengthening cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, such as actively participating in the planning, construction and international cooperation of the Qianhai Special Economic Zone. He also achieved fruitful results in fulfilling his social responsibility and public welfare undertakings. In 2005, in cooperation with the Grammy Foundation, micro-poverty alleviation credit was successfully introduced into China for the benefit of millions of households. Earlier, he promoted international environmental cooperation in China and advocated the concept of sustainable development, such as advocating the concept of sustainable development in the fields of desertification control, ecological protection in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and climate change response. He actively participated in the construction of an ecological city in Anji, Zhejiang Province, which is the concrete manifestation of the "two mountains" theory, namely "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets". Since the 1980s, he has actively participated in 4 poverty alleviation in western China and established the first Hope Primary School in Tibet.

Xiao Wunan has established extensive cooperative relations and personal friendship with international institutions and organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union, the African Union and the League of Arab States, as well as with many heads of state and non-governmental organizations in numerous countries and regions around the world. He was interviewed by many of the world's mainstream media, such as Xinhua News Agency, CCTV News, People's Daily, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NBC, ABC, FOX, BBC, Reuters, Economist, Asia Weekly, Ming Pao and Lianhe Zaobao, etc.

Mr. Xiao Wunan has been awarded: 1995 - “Outstanding Young Talent Award” by the China Youth League 1996 - “Honorary Citizen and Outstanding Chinese Person” by the U.S. government 2002 - “Cultural Ambassador for Global Peace” by UNESCO January 2005 - Peace prize of “Upholding Human Future” by UNESCO. This prize is globally influential. Many dignitaries have been awarded this prize, such as former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev and Pope John Paul Ⅱ September 2005 - Top honor for “Promoting love in society and 5 supporting the flourishing of literature” by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles 2006 - Awarded by the Korean government for successfully promoting China Korea Buddhism cultural exchanges 2007 - Outstanding Chinese Global Award March 2008 - “Golden Key” award from the government and congress of Omaha, U.S., which designated the “Day of Vice Chairman Xiao Wunan” August 2008 - A decoration from the International Olympic Committee for his special contribution to the successful hosting of the Beijing Olympic Games. May 2012 - Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC) by Ms. Judy Chu, U.S. Congresswoman, on behalf of the U.S. Congress October 2012 - “ICCC Citizen of the World” from UN Habitat 2013 - Honorary Ambassador of the Jacques Rougerie Foundation under the Institut de France, one of the top academic institutions in Europe 2014 - A decoration from Mr. Terenzi, head of state of the Republic of San Marino May 2015 - Awarded by the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the U.S. House of Representatives in recognition of his contribution to world peace; meanwhile, the California Government and U.S. Congress awarded him for his contribution to promoting Sino-U.S. relations September 2015 - “World Peace Contribution Prize” at Expo Milano 6 July 2016 - Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for his outstanding and invaluable service to the community November 2016 - A decoration from COMESA (Africa's largest economic and diplomatic organization, equivalent to the Africa Union) for his special contribution to the development of Africa February 2019 - "8 th Outstanding Corporate Social Responsibility Award" from Mirror Magazine and other well-known organizations.

He used to work at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (now the Ministry of Commerce) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization. In addition, he also served as a Senior Consultant of Oxford Economics in London, Executive Director of the Board of the University of Haifa in Israel, senior fellow of Claremont Graduate University, honorary ambassador of L’Institute de France, visiting professor of South Korea’s Kongguk University, Honorary Director of the Research Center for Contemporary China at Peking University and Senior Researcher of the Center for US-China Relations at Tsinghua University. Prior to that, Mr. Xiao Wunan was vice director of the editorial board of Mao Zedong Thought Study Magazine. He was a member of the editorial board of the White Paper on China’s Foreign Trade and a series regarding entry into the WTO. He was also editor in chief of the book “A Selection of Chinese Buddhist Temples” and the 7 series Chinese Buddhist Figures which were collected by the U.S. congress, Stanford University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Many of his academic achievements and commentaries were published by leading media and journals

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