PhD, University of Alberta

Dr. Xiang Bing is the Founding Dean and Professor of China Business and Globalization at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). CKGSB is China’s first faculty-governed, independent and private business school with headquarters in Beijing, campuses in Shanghai and Shenzhen and representative offices in Hong Kong, London and New York.

He has served as an independent board member of a number of companies (including two Fortune Global 500 companies) listed in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the United States. He is a member of the International Advisory Council of Fundação Dom Cabral (FDC, a top-ranked business school in Brazil), a member of the Global Advisory Board of Yonsei School of Business in Korea, a member of the Advisory Board of Asia House in London and a Counselor for One Young World Summit in Dublin. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees for United Way Worldwide (US) from 2011-2017, the largest private charitable organization in the world.

Dr. Xiang is a leading authority on China business. His research interests include the reform of state-owned enterprises, innovation and the role of the private sector in China. His insights on the innovations in China, globalization of Chinese companies, China’s development models and global implications of China’s transformation, social innovations and global economic disruptions, China-US relations, global trade and investment systems and global governance has been widely acclaimed.

Dr. Xiang has served as keynote speaker at influential forums and conferences around the world including 2020 China National Annual Conference on Philanthropy, SCMP China Conference: USA 2019, Trade and Development Regional Forum 2019, Harvard China Forum (2017, 2018 & 2019), FT Banking Summit 2017, CKGSB-Brookings US-China Forum 2016, US Committee of 100 Annual Conference 2016 etc. He has been invited to prestigious webinars such as Bo’ao Dialogue 2020, Asian Leadership Conference 2020 and World Chinese Economic Summit 2020.

He has participated in prominent closed-door conferences, including Ditchley Foundation Annual Forum, Yale CEO Summit and Rome Roundtable. He was also an invited speaker for forums such as the World Economic Forum, Bo’ao Forum for Asia and Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, and for institutions like the Foreign Policy Association, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Pheu Thai Party in Thailand and Council on Foreign Relations.

Dr. Xiang was named the “China Philanthropist of the Year” in 2018 and 2020 by China Philanthropy Times. He was awarded the “Vanguard for Social Responsibilities” in 2020 by Southern Weekly.

Dr. Xiang received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Alberta in Canada, and his bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University in China.

Professor of Economics, Associate Dean for Asia and Europe at CKGSB, Director of CKGSB Case Center, Director of CKGSB China Economy and Sustainable Development Center

PhD, University of Michigan

Associate Dean for MBA

Dr. Li is Professor of Economics at the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), a private business school in China founded in 2002. Before joining CKGSB, Dr. Li was Professor of Business Administration (with tenure) at the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, University of Virginia, where he has served on the faculty since 2000. Since 2005, Dr. Li has also served as visiting Professor of Economics on the faculty of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. Before joining Darden faculty, Dr. Li was assistant professor and then associate professor of business administration at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business from 1994 to 2000. He was also a visiting professor of strategy at Peking University’s Guanghua School of Management in 2004. He received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan and his B.Eng. from Shanghai Jiaotong University (China).

An authority on Chinese economy and business, Dr. Li’s main research focus is on economic development, taxation, financial markets, corruption, corporate governance, corporate research and development, entrepreneurship, trade and investment in China. His work has been published in prominent academic journals and books, and some of his research results have also been featured in Foreign Affairs, New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and on CNNfn (CNN Money) and Bloomberg TV. Professor Li has extensive consulting experience with multinational firms, Chinese firms, and the World Bank.

Dr. Li has taught Macroeconomics, Global Economies and Markets, Managerial Economics, and Emerging Markets Finance in MBA, Finance MBA, EMBA, and Global EMBA, and Executive Education programs.

PhD, Columbia University

Dr. Liu is Professor of Accounting and Finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB). Prior to CKGSB, he was tenured professor at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. He earned his Ph.D. from Columbia Business School in 1999.

Academically, Dr. Liu is an internationally recognized expert on capital markets and investment analysis. A key feature of his research is a broad range and a tight connection between theory and practice. His research has been published in a number of leading international journals and has received wide recognition and citation. He is a recipient of the Outstanding Research Award from CKGSB, Eric E. Juline Research Award from the UCLA Anderson School and the Barclays Global Investors (BGI) Best Paper Award from the Review of Accounting Studies.

From the angle of practice, Dr. Liu’s research and teaching revolves around the general topic of value investing. He directs CKGSB’s Center for Investment Research, where students and
analysts study economic trends at the macro, industry and company level for investment implications. This effort received wide attention from the investment community and the media. Dr. Liu is regularly invited to speak at public forums, write opinion pieces, and give interviews to business news outlets.

At CKGSB, Dr. Liu has played multiple roles for school building. He was the former Chairman of the first democratically elected Faculty Executive Committee, former Chairman for the school’s alumni association and its development foundation. He oversees CKGSB’s flagship DBA program as well as its highly acclaimed accelerator for startup companies. From 2008 to 2015, he also guided the school’s finance, HR and IT functions.

Dr. Liu serves as a director on the boards of several large Chinese as well as international companies. He also consults widely on management and investment issues.

PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Prof. Gan Jie is Associate Dean for Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Professor of Finance and Director of Center on Finance and Economic Growth at CKGSB. Prior to joining CKGSB, she served as a professor (with tenure) at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and an assistant professor at Columbia Business School. Prof. Gan holds a PhD in Finance from MIT.

Professor Gan has published extensively on banking and finance issues in top academic journals. In 2011, she was the runner-up for the prestigious Brennan Award for Excellent Papers. Prof Gan’s teaching has been rated highly by both MBA and EMBA students and she has received several teaching awards. Her research and teaching were featured in major media outlets, such as Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and the Economist.

Professor Gan conducts large-sample survey of industrial firms every quarter. The resulting Business Sentiment Index (BSI) and the unique insights generated from the survey have received worldwide attention and are regularly reported by top media outlets, such as Wall Street Journal, FT. The time series of Professor Gan’s economic indices can be accessed through the Bloomberg terminal.

Currently, Professor Gan’s main industry experience is in technology innovation in hard-ware related areas, including smart products, smart equipment and production. She is a board member of a number of high-tech companies, including DJI innovations, and provided support to these companies in their early stages. These successes led her to be one of the founders of Songshan Lake Robotic Park and Startup Incubator in Dongguan. She is also a mentor of Hong Kong X Technology Startup Incubator.

Professor Gan also has extensive experiences in the finance industry. She worked for CRA International (formerly Charles River Associates), one of the largest finance and economics consulting firms in the US, for two years. Her consulting experience spans company valuation, security fraud, and anti-trust in a range of industries including financial services, consumer goods, and energy. In Hong Kong, she was consulted by banks on how to identify bubbles in the real estate market and how to incorporate real estate properties into investment portfolios.

Xinhua Yu joined IDG Capital in 2005, leading numerous investments in new energy, new materials, and semiconductor design. Xinhua has expertise in fostering enterprise growth. Prior to joining IDG Capital, he managed the marketing department of ICM Group at Siemens China. Xinhua received an MBA from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Zhejiang University.

Mr. Leslie Maasdorp is Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the New Development Bank. In this role he is responsible for the treasury, portfolio management, finance and accounting functions of the Bank.

Over the past 25 years he has occupied senior leadership roles in both private and public sectors. Most recently he served as a Managing Director and President of Bank of America Merrill Lynch for Southern Africa for a period of four years. Prior to that he served in a dual role as Vice Chairman of Barclays Capital and Absa Capital. In 2002 he was the first African to be appointed as International Advisor to Goldman Sachs International.

Before his 13 years as a global investment banker, he served in several senior leadership roles in the Government of South Africa. In 1994 after the transition to democracy, he was appointed as Special Advisor to the Minister of Labour and in 1999, in his role as Deputy Director General of the Department of Public Enterprises, he lead the restructuring and privatization of state owned enterprises for the South African Government.

He is a former Chairman and CEO of Advtech, a leading provider of private education in South Africa. Leslie is a young global leader of the World Economic Forum. He holds a BA degree in Economics and Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and a Master of Science degree in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies, at the University of London.

Elton Huang brings over 20 years of experience serving government, Chinese companies and multinational companies. Since 1995 when he joined PwC shanghai, Elton has completed a number of overseas assignments in London with the European M&A Group and in San Jose, California in the US. Elton has wealth of experience in tax planning, investment and financing structuring and has been leading a professional team in serving Chinese companies to invest overseas.

Elton is the lead Partner of PwC Shanghai. He is also the Vice Chairman of Shanghai Association of Enterprises with Foreign investment; Shanghai Services Federation Committee Member and advisor to the Shanghai Municipal Government. Elton is a board member of Shanghai Charity Foundation – United Way Fund.

Elton graduated from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and received an EMBA from CEIBS (China-Europe International Business School). Elton enjoys running marathon and ultra trail race.

Mattie Bekink is responsible for the Economist Corporate Network’s China strategy, including programme development and client servicing across China. She also provides support to all Economist Corporate Network programmes worldwide with a China component.

Ms Bekink has extensive experience in the public, private and policy sectors. Prior to joining The Economist Group, she was the Executive Director of the Fulbright Commission in the Netherlands. She also ran an eponymous consulting business, advising senior executives from businesses, universities and non-profit organisations on China policy, strategy, public affairs, and corporate social responsibility. Ms Bekink practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, has worked with the US-Asia Law Initiative at NYU Law School and the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative China Program, and served in the legal department at General Motors China.

Ms Bekink has a BA in International Relations from Stanford University and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Dr. Huiyao (Henry) WANG is the Founder and President of Center for China and Globalization (CCG), a leading Chinese non-government think tank that ranked among top 80 think tanks in the World. Dr. Wang is also an adviser to the Chinese government, having been appointed as Counselor for China State Council, China’s Cabinet by Chinese Premier in 2015. Dr. Wang is a thought leader on China and globalization, global governance, global trade and investment, global migration and talent flows, China’s international relations and China-U.S. trade relations.

Dr. Wang has a BA degree in English and American Literature from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies and completed his graduate studies at University of Windsor, the University of Western Ontario and University of Manchester, obtaining an MBA and a PhD in international management.