Dr Chengxi Shi is the co-founder and CEO of AstraGenomics, a biotech company focusing on the development of innovative genome editing technologies. He has more than 15 years’ experience in healthcare and biotechnology industry, with different expertise as venture capital investor, management consultant and technology developer. Dr. Shi holds a Ph.D. degree in biomedicine from Karolinska Institutet with the research topic on epigenetic regulation of chromatin structure.

For the past five years, Dr Yong Gao has been serving as Vice President of Public Affairs and Sustainability at Bayer China. Headquartered in Germany, Bayer is a global leader in life sciences focusing on healthcare and agriculture. Prior to Bayer, Yong was President of Monsanto China and Director of Corporate Affairs for Asia and Africa at Monsanto which was acquired by Bayer in 2018. For nearly three decades serving in the private sector, Yong has worked in Canada, the US, Singapore and China. His areas of professional experiences include biological and chemical product regulations and policy, R&D, safety assessment and commercialization, international trade, public and government affairs and corporate communication. Yong holds BS and MS degrees from Nanjing Agricultural University, an MBA from Saint Louis University and a PhD from the University of British Columbia.

Key achievements

Michael is driving dentsu X, newly launched in Mar 2019 in China, to reach the vision of “Experience beyond Exposure”. In Jan 2022，dentsu X launched the “dentsu X Content Business Design”, the brand new BU to capture the new emerging trend of helping Brands/ Advertisers and ecosystems to achieve new growth by the new “integration” service by dentsu X, which is going to be a new specices of future agency in China. Michael Zhang is committed to driving business development and achieving new growth for brand clients in a new era.

About Michael

Michael started his career in Ogilvy Beijing and then joined the GroupM network, holding senior leadership roles in MindShare, MAXUS, MediaCom, and CEO of Neo@Ogilvy. Michael joined Dentsu China in May 2018 as CEO of Merkle &c. He graduated from Peking University with a Bachelor’s degree in law. Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program in 2011. Fan of Chelsea FC.

Noteworthy clients

Nestle, Mengniu, Ineos Automotive, Tapestry, Meta, Sony Pictures, Elizabeth Arden, Galderma and Casetify.

Robert Xiao is the Director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network (EICN) in Beijing. He is responsible for engaging in high-level dialogues with business and political leaders, providing insights on global macroeconomic trends and policy directions for Fortune 500 decision-makers to support their macro layout and business development in domestic and international markets.

Prior to joining EICN, Mr Xiao held positions as a lecturer, senior lecturer, PhD supervisor, and Deputy Director of the Impact Finance Hub at Monash University and Deakin Business School in Australia. His research mainly focused on the fields of corporate social responsibility, corporate governance, and economic and financial policy analysis related to the Chinese and US markets. He has authored multiple publications in Financial Times Top 50 Journals and been awarded major research grants jointly by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and Chinese Academy of Social Science.

An educator at heart, Mr Xiao has always maintained a passion for tertiary teaching. He has more than a decade of experience teaching business courses, including Master of Business Administration (MBA), Master of Finance, and Bachelor of Commerce programmes at leading universities.

Mr Xiao obtained his Ph.D. in Finance from Monash University and graduated with honours (B.Com. Hons) from Monash Business School in 2008 as the highest-achieving student in his cohort. He has won multiple awards from Australian universities, including the Australian Postgraduate Awards granted by the Australian Federal Government.