Simon Cox is the China economics editor at The Economist, based in Hong Kong. He has spent over 15 years with the newspaper, including stints in London and Delhi. In 2014, he left journalism to become an investment strategist and Managing Director for BNY Mellon, before returning to the paper in 2016.

During his career at The Economist, Mr Cox has written a variety of special reports. He examined the world’s arduous recovery from the global financial crisis (“The Long Climb”, 2009), China’s surprisingly resilient economy (“Pedalling Prosperity”, 2012) and the exaggerated perils of the middle-income trap (“Out of the Traps”, 2017). He also originated the Li Keqiang index, an unofficial proxy for China’s growth.

Outside of his day job, Mr Cox edited “The Growth Report”, published by the Commission on Growth and Development, chaired by Nobel laureate Michael Spence. He contributed to the Oxford Companion to the Economics of China and he edited “Economics: Making Sense of the Modern Economy” (Profile Books). He has also been a frequent guest on television and radio, including CNBC, Bloomberg and the BBC.

He studied at Cambridge, Harvard and the London School of Economics.

Anke Schrader is the China director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network. Utilizing over two decades of living and working in China, Anke works closely with network members to help inform their business strategies through political, economic, and operational insight and to connect them with their senior leadership peers.

Anke is also a recognized sustainability expert. She is the author of numerous publications on ESG, citizenship, and sustainable development issues in China and served six years as Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce in China’s Business Sustainability Committee.

Before joining The Economist Group, Anke was the Asia Research Director at The Conference Board, where she led strategic planning and execution of thought leadership research for China and the Asia region, leading a team of economists and researchers covering macroeconomics, human capital, and sustainability research. She also previously worked as a strategy consultant at PwC in Beijing advising multinational clients on macroeconomic, policy, market entry strategy, and operational issues.
Anke has led multi-year China research partnerships with Cornell University and Indiana University (funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Ford Foundation), was a guest lecturer at Cornell’s Employment and Disability Institute, and a mentor for the Schwarzman Scholars Program at Tsinghua University.

Anke received scholarships for Chinese language studies at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing and Shanghai Jiaotong University’s international MBA program. She holds an M.A. in politics and management from University of Konstanz.

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.