Scott Walker is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service and Consul General at the U.S Consulate General in Shanghai. His previous assignment was Director of the Office of Korean and Mongolian affairs and from 2018-2021 he was the Spokesperson at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. He has served as the Republic of Korea Unit Chief in the Office of Korean Affairs; the Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Toronto; the Press Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Shanghai; the “embedded” Public Diplomacy Officer at the Office of Korean Affairs; and as a Pearson Fellow on Capitol Hill.

He has a BA from the University of California at Santa Cruz and an MA from San Francisco State University.

Alex Holmes heads up EIU’s analysis and forecasts for Asia Pacific markets and is based in Singapore. His career to date has been focused on macroeconomic research, both deep country-level analysis and delving into the cross-cutting themes affecting Asia. Being in a region where external trade plays such an oversized role in the economy, Alex takes a particular interest in related issues, including structural supply chain reconfiguration, the global electronics cycle and models of export-led development. Alex regularly appears in the media and has also co-hosted a business video-podcast produced by Bloomberg.

Prior to the EIU, Alex was Lead Economist at Oxford Economics, following stints at Capital Economics, ICAP, Barclays Bank and the UK Government Economics Service.

Alex holds a BSc in economics from the University of Sheffield and an MSc in financial economics from the University of London.

Jeff Zhu is Executive Vice President and President, Performance Chemicals Segment and Asia Pacific Region. Prior to joining Cabot, he spent 18 years with Rhodia (and its predecessor Rhone-Poulenc) where he served in a variety of regional and global business leadership roles. Jeff's most recent experience before joining Cabot was with Asia Pacific Resources International Holding Limited (APRIL), a multi-billion USD privately owned global paper and pulp company, where he served as head of global sales. Jeff served as the chairman and board member of the Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM). Jeff earned his M.Sc in Chemistry from National University of Singapore and a distinction MBA from the University of Hull, UK.

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.

Weisi Xie is the Shanghai Director at the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network (EICN), and is responsible for engaging with top executives in the region on key economic and political issues as well as industry-specific analysis to support their businesses in the dynamic Chinese market.

Mr. Xie served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Shanghai Jiao Tong University before joining EICN. As a trained trade economist, his teaching and research mainly focused on the fields of international trade, industrial economics and economic development, with a particular emphasis on China’s economy in a global perspective. He also possesses extensive expertise in the non-profit sector through work experience with think tanks and international organizations, including the Shanghai Institute for National Economy and the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, where he contributed to multiple government counseling projects and policy studies. His work has appeared in leading academic journals as well as major economic policy publications.

Mr. Xie has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a B.A. in International Business from Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.