Sustainability & ESG Business Summit 2023

Ted is a seasoned corporate executive. He has a diverse industrial and automotive background in his past 20+ years’ experience serving leading global companies including JD Power, Danaher, Stanley Black & Decker and Smiths Group.

Born and brought up in Beijing, Ted and his family have lived in Shanghai for over 12 years.

Ms. Meng Liu is the Head of China Office with the United Nations Global Compact. Prior to this role, Meng serves as Asia Pacific Head, overseeing over 15 country networks and operations across the region. Before joining the United Nations in 2007, Ms. Liu has worked for the non-profit and public sector across the US and in Asia. She was a fellow on Asian public policy with Harvard Kennedy School and book author of “Responsibility Changes the World-UN Global Compact Leading Business Revolution Worldwide”. Ms. Liu speaks regularly at global and regional conferences on the topics of corporate social responsibility, inclusive business, climate change, cross-sector partnership and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Liu has been honored as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum in 2015 and nominated as the Local Chair for China for Young Global Leaders Communities in 2021. She also sits on Global Future Council on Frontier Risks as a member since 2020.

Sohail joined the DBT China team as Sector Director and Minister Counsellor in September 2021 before moving into the role of Deputy HM Trade Commissioner for China in July 2023. Sector accountabilities in his role include Education, Creative Industries, the Sports economy, Consumer & Retail, Food & Drink, Agriculture and Agritech and Life Sciences & Healthcare.

Prior to joining DBT Sohail had a highly successful career in the Private Sector where he held Executive and Board roles in the Retail sector and specialised in the development and expansion of British Retail brands across a global footprint.

Sohail held the role of CEO of the Global Franchise Business for Hamleys of London, the world’s oldest and most famous Toy business, between 2019 and 2021.

Before Hamleys Sohail worked for Mothercare PLC, a leading global Retailer of Mother to be and Baby products, in a variety of roles including as MD of their International Business and was a Board Member of their JV in China.

Sohail travelled extensively during his Private Sector career visiting over 50 countries on business trips including being a frequent visitor to China.

Fei Li is the Associate China Director of CDP and currently leading all CDP’s activities in China. Since he joined CDP in 2017, Fei Li has been working to raise the awareness and management capacity of Chinese companies towards environmental risks. Also, he has explored how to use green finance mechanism to incentivize Chinese companies to introduce environmentally friendly supply chain policies and promote sustainable procurement practices. Prior to joining CDP, Fei Li served various organizations of United Nations. He contributed to the implementation of Green Jobs Project in ILO’s Asia Pacific Region. Later, he was responsible for grants approval and management for the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Program in UNDP China Office. Fei Li graduated from Michigan Tech University with dual master’s degrees in Environmental and Energy Policy and Applied Nature Resource Economics. He published articles in Energy Strategy Reviews and other International and Chinese journals on renewable energy and carbon emissions trading.

Mr. Zhang is a consulting partner of ERM’s Corporate Sustainability and Climate Change team based in Beijing. Mr. Zhang has over 15 years of experience in consulting and energy sector, and nearly 10 years of experience in strategic transformation across a wide range of industries including energy, food and beverage, and electronics. He has served many global multinationals, large Chinese state-owned groups and leading private companies, covering business strategy, market entry, competitive landscape analysis, utilization optimization, digital transformation, organizational transformation, industrial restructuring and planning, as well as carbon neutral strategy and implementation.

Mr. Zhang’s career has taken him from field engineer to oil and gas field development project manager, then to consulting covering strategy, M&A, digitalization, operation optimization and sustainability. Prior to joining ERM, he held senior positions at Siemens Advanta Consulting, A.T. Kearney Management Consulting, Accenture Management Consulting and Schlumberger.

Mr. Zhang holds a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tsinghua University.

Ada Chen joined Reckitt in 2021 as the Head of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability, Greater China and is responsible for public relations, communications and sustainability for Reckitt in China. She is also a member of Reckitt China management team and Reckitt’s global corporate affairs leadership team.

Ada Chen has more than 20 years of experience in foreign enterprises, including consulting, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, agriculture and consumer health. She has extensive experience in plenty of projects relevant to public relation strategy, government cooperation, policy advocacy, investment integration, crisis management and corporate social responsibility. Prior to joining Reckitt, Ada Chen was the Head of Public Affairs and Sustainability of Bayer China.

Mr. Tong SUN has 24 years of extensive working experience in engineering consulting, real estate and integrated facilities management. Prior to joining Aden Group as Group Head, Mr. SUN was the Managing Director for China’s Corporate Solution Development at Jones Lang Lasalle (JLL). Mr. SUN has rich experience in infrastructure and real estate and held a number of C-Suite positions in several Fortune Global 500 companies in Hong Kong, China and UK. In addition to the daily roles, Mr SUN had served as Vice Chair of British Chamber of Commerce by election, UK Trade & Investment (known as DIT) as Infrastructure Specialist.

As a corporate sustainability role, Sharon Xiao is leading Dow’s sustainability strategy implementation in the region, and the member of global Climate Protection working group.

Over a career that started from sustainable forestry and responsible supply chain, Sharon has been working in senior regional sustainability roles at multinational companies for almost 20 years.

She is professional in ecosystem & biodiversity protection, environmental-friendly materials, eco-design, product carbon footprint, sustainable packaging and circularity.

With rich practical experiences in corporate sustainability management, business transition and stakeholder engagement, she helps companies generate commercial value and competitive advantage from sustainability innovative solutions and acts as thought leader to drive the sustainability agenda in business.

Mr. Yao Chenchen, ESG leader of Jinko Solar Group, responsible for Group’s global ESG strategic management, supply chain responsible sourcing and climate change action. As an ESG leader and industry expert of Jinko solar Group, Mr. Yao has participated in the launching and implementation of a number of sustainable development and climate change initiatives globally.

Mr. Yao has profound international vision, practical and theoretical work experience. Before joining JinkoSolar, he has worked as ESG leader position in many fortune 500 enterprises globally.

Mr. Yao holds an MBA from Fudan University, and both MS/BS in Environment Engineering from Shanghai University.

Dr Cherry Hu has 28 years’ experience in ESG&EHS consulting service, including 7 years of experience in charge of environment administration, 15 years of experience in environment and ESG consulting and l6 years of experience in environment management and engineering research.

Dr Hu’s professional and industry experience including 30+ projects experience in ESG Strategies and Information Disclosure, 100+ projects experience in ESG Due Diligence, 20+ projects experience in Sustainable Finance, 200+ projects experience in EHS Compliance, and 20+ projects experience in Carbon Neutrality & Emission Peak.

With a distinguished career spanning over 30 years, Mr. Yang has established himself as a highly accomplished professional in the global 500 companies and industry-leading organizations in China. He possesses extensive expertise in Commercial Applications and M&A transactions within the Environmental Technology, Energy Conservation, and Water Recycling Technology sectors.

Mr. Yang is a passionate advocate for green initiatives and sustainability. He actively engages in activities related to climate change, low-carbon development, CCS&CCUS technology, legislation influence, risk assessment, and best practice implementation through his active participation with TEEC. In recognition of his expertise, he was invited to deliver a keynote speech on low-carbon development at the esteemed Shanghai Pujiang Forum in 2022.

With 18 years of executive experience working with cutting-edge renewable technologies for decarbonizing the world, Mark is committed to supporting clients in achieving carbon reduction target and ESG goals.

Sophia Slingerland holds a Master’s degree from TU Kaiserslautern with a strong civil engineer background. She unites the full scope of urban planning and architectural design, construction planning and Project management. She lived in many places in Europe and worked for Renzo Piano in Paris in the early 90ies, did a Passive house project for the State architect of California, US, opened an urban & architecture office in the Canton de Vaud in 2009 and never gave up on the idea of designing sustainable ecological buildings and contributing to shaping and
building a better world.

2016 she started her own office in Shanghai as a subsidiary of her Geneva firm and did many different projects around sustainability and green architecture, as well as consulted local governments on projects.

Within her work, she developed mostly off-the-grid autonomous closed-loop buildings and communities. 2018 she has created a waterless, off-the-grid (for water, sewage and electricity) ecological portable toilets. She was selected for accelerate2030, a UN-driven innovation competition and made it into the global final round. The toilets are made with renewable or 100% recycled materials. 2020 she developed them further, optional with vacuum systems, for the inside building usage, to respond to the UN 50LHome program. Today SHINE serves local governments and corporates to reduce water usage and CO2 emissions and to target ESG. www.shinegreentech.cn

She gives guest lectures and hosts workshops at XJTLU about sustainability and low carbon and is co-chair for the International Sustainable Salon Series of Tsinghua IICTUS.

She is a regular speaker on green impactful innovation, low carbon architecture, water and sanitation issues as well as women’s leadership

Currently leading the Centre for Financial and Monetary Systems of the World Economic Forum in China, responsible for the strategic direction, execution, and impact of Centre’s initiatives in China. Prior to the Forum, Senior Manager of Strategic Development Center, Tsinghua Holdings with the work focus on implementing the company strategy of globalisation. More than 15 years of experiences with international organisations and government sector.

She holds a Bachelor degree in English Literature from Beijing Language and Culture University and Master degree in Development Planning and Administration from University College London.

Heidi has worked with projects related to sustainability and ESG over the last thirteen years, both in Africa, South Asia and China. Her experience includes investment projects in renewable energy and sustainable agriculture, financial inclusion, textile industry and low emission real estate. At DI Asia Base she is leading the work to develop and deliver ESG training and other services for Chinese subsidiaries and partners to European companies. Heidi is a certified sustainability professional by the global leading ESG reporting framework GRI.

Stephen Baron works as the Head of Reputational & Sustainability Risk for HSBC China. Prior to working for HSBC he worked for the UK Government as the Director and also Deputy Director for Financial and Professional services for the Department for International Trade based in the Consulate General Shanghai.

He initially came to Shanghai to work for a financial services focused strategic consultancy as a deputy director, supporting global financial services companies on their China business.

He came to China in 2009 to undertake his MSc in International Business at Ningbo, Nottingham University. After graduating with a distinction Stephen moved to Beijing to pursue further studies at Tsinghua University.

Gary Zhao is General Manager of BRE China with highly experienced background in the area of built environment sustainability. He is leading the business growth of BRE in China, closely collaborating with both China/UK government and other stakeholders to support knowledge sharing and expand BRE’s business in China.

BRE is a world leading building science research institute, dedicating to improving built environment sustainability, quality construction and productivity.

Responsible for Sedex’s brand and project operations in China and Southeast Asia, and has been involved in many responsible business projects (e.g. RSCA, etc.) with relevant UN organizations. Sustainable and responsible supply chain expert, focusing on corporate sustainability, especially its performance in the supply chain, and actively promoting corporate supply chain responsible management. Focus on sustainability influence communication and stakeholder communication. Master of Communication. Initiator of Sedex Supply Chain Awards (Greater China).

Michael Mei, graduated from Beijing Language and Culture University for B.A. and Tshinghua University for MBA, is Vice President of Government Affairs and ESG of Smiths Group China. Michael Mei joined MOFCOM after university graduation, used to be a Chinese foreign commercial diplomat in South Africa. Apart from working in Chinese government, he also has many years of work experience in MNCs like GE and Alstom on government affairs and public policy, mainly focused in energy, low carbon, and environment sector, before joining Smiths Group in 2017.

Aidy Zhang has over 20 years of experience in internet and telecommunication domain. He joined Nokia in 2002 and since then has held various technical positions, as well as R&D leadership and business leadership positions.

Aidy has been leading the TD-LTE business line since 2013, and has successfully accelerated product roadmap and won business, not only in China but also around world. He has also contributed to quality, efficiency and employee engagement improvements at the Chengdu Technology Center. Currently, Aidy leads MN China with primary focus on R&D.

Aidy holds the Bachelor degree of Computer Science, and Master degree of Management and Administration, which issued by Zhejiang University. He is also the EMBA graduated from Ecole Des Ponts Paris Tech de France in International Business Administration.

Dr Lu is a pioneer of sustainable business strategy and well-respected industry thought leader, with profound and systematic practical expertise and theoretical methodologies.

As the head of BritCham Shanghai, Stuart’s ambition is to drive the continued support and growth of the chamber in line with the members’ needs and evolving business and political environment both in China and at home.  Examples of these activities include Government to business round tables, regional East China activities and leading the chamber flagship events including the new British Day, the annual ESG Summit & Awards and the British Business Awards.

Stuart brings to his position over 20 years of UK & international leadership experience covering trade & investment, operations, & project-based experience in world-leading hospitality corporations, as an entrepreneur and in Government.  Prior to taking on this role, Stuart was head of Agriculture, food & drink, trade and investment for the UK Department for International Trade.  His China journey started in 2010, moving to Dubai to join the Shangri-la, Pudong as Assistant Director of Food & Beverage during the World Expo followed by several years as an entrepreneur, starting and operating the Tap House bar & restaurant group.

Stuart holds a Degree in International marketing and communications from Staffordshire University in England and is an active member of many community groups including Heart 2 Heart and lives in Shanghai with his wife Emily, daughter Lilli & two dogs.

Mr. Siyao Jiang is the Managing Partner for ERM China. Based in Shanghai, Siyao takes overarching responsibilities for ERM’s environmental and social consulting, climate change services, sustainable finance and transaction advisory practices. He is also ERM’s APAC regional sector lead for Banking and Finance.

Siyao has been a seasoned banker with nearly twenty years of track records across corporate and investment banking, central bank and public policy, and ESG investments. Prior to joining ERM, Siyao was based in Hong Kong and led the French bank Natixis’s project financing business in North Asia across natural resources, renewable energy, petrochemical, infrastructure, PPPs, telecommunication, and agricultural sectors. Siyao started his professional career at Australia’s central bank, the Reserve Bank, to manage the foreign exchange and gold reserves on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia. He has gained international experience in China mainland and HK, UK, and Australia with Macquarie Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, and QBE Insurance Group.

Siyao is a historian and economist by training with rigorous master’s degrees in Medieval History (Oxford) and International Law (USYD) and bachelor’s degrees in Economics (1st Honours, Macquarie) and Actuarial Science (Macquarie). Currently he is pursuing part-time doctoral research in medieval global history, at the University of Oxford.