Michael Turner and Minister Zhang Shaogang |
Michael Turner
Our first speaker, Michael Turner, joins us from BJBIE's webinar co-host ChinaOrigins Associates. He is a Partner at the consulting group and Director of the Washington, DC office. In this capacity he is responsible for overseeing project development activities and assisting clients in the U.S. He also provides liaison for the company with various associations, trade groups, and governmental entities with interests in China, as well as assisting companies in all aspects of China market entry.
For more than 25 years Michael has consulted with numerous companies in the identification and establishment of business opportunities in Asia. He was a Director with a major international corporation overseeing business development activities as well as strategic business direction. He is a member of several China trade associations and writes extensively about conducting business in China.
Minister Zhang
Our second speaker is the Minister Counselor for economic and commercial affairs in the Embassy of the People's Republic of China and he took this position in July 2010. He is the highest level PRC government official in the US covering China-US trade relations and economic cooperation.
Prior to his current position, he served as the Minister Counselor in the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations from October 2008. Before that, he was Assistant Trade Negotiator of the Ministry of Commerce, P. R. China, leading the negotiations of establishing the Free Trade Areas between China and ASEAN, New Zealand, Singapore and Iceland. At the same time, he was also the Senior Economic Official of China for APEC trade and economic affairs. Mr. Zhang graduated from Peking University and Carnegie-Mellon University.