Dr Ming LU is Distinguished Professor of Economics, Director of Shanghai Institute for National Economy (SHINE), and research fellow of China Institute of Urban Governance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He worked as a professor at Fudan University, and as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard University and National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). He has consulted for the World Bank and Asian Development Bank. His research covers regional and urban-rural development, labor economics and Chinese economy. Recently, his work evaluates the urban and regional development policies, and their effects on resource allocation and economic sustainability from a perspective of spatial political economics.

Professor Lu is currently appointed as a member of the National "15th Five Year Plan" Expert Committee and serves on the Shanghai Government Decision Making Advisory Committee.

Since joining the company in 2000, Gijs has held several leadership roles across Marketing and General Management in the consumer healthcare business. Gijs has extensive experience across different geographies, before his current location in Shanghai, he was based in Singapore, Dubai, London, Brussels, and Amsterdam. He has worked across many categories in consumer healthcare, building up a strong track record in launching and growing category leading brands.

He was the key driver of the pan-European roll-out of the therapeutic oral care brand Parodontax which became the company’s fastest growing Oral Care brand on the continent. Following this, Gijs built a solid innovation pipeline for the Gum Care business which has been launched globally.

In 2010, he took on the role of Regional Marketing Director in the Middle East covering over 20 markets including Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt, Pakistan and the UAE. During his three-year tenure, he supported the region’s business growth to over 20% year-on-year and delivered strong market share gains.

During his time as General Manager in Singapore he turned around and established a strong performing business with leading positions across categories, as well as leading the integration of the Novartis business following the joint venture with GSK.

In 2016 Gijs took on the role of Head of Marketing for Greater China, responsible for delivering the full scope of marketing activities across the portfolio, as well as driving the capabilities across the marketing teams. At the end 2019 he assumed responsibility as Head of Strategy and Planning responsible for the company strategy and execution in the Greater China area. His team is leading efforts in the areas of strategy, innovation, business development and enterprise strategic projects, including the recent spin-off and establishment of HALEON.

Most recently, Gijs was appointed as Head of Strategy, Marketing & Digital Transformation. In this role, besides leading HALEON’s growth strategy for the China market, Gijs and his team are also driving the marketing excellence and digital transformation initiatives for HALEON China as critical enablers to support HALEON’s growth ambitions in the China market.

Mr. Aleksey Efremov joined IKEA China in August 2022 as Senior Vice President, overseeing and leading multiple functions under the commercial department, including consumer insights, marketing, home retail design, sales, customer experience, and food services. He is responsible for formulating IKEA China’s commercial strategies and exploring business models to ensure IKEA's relevance in the Chinese market and its alignment with the company's global commercial strategy.

Working closely with IKEA’s global and China management teams, Mr. Efremov drives the commercial strategic planning for IKEA China. He focuses on addressing channel challenges, deepening brand positioning, and expanding home-living professional services to create seamless, omnichannel shopping experiences for Chinese consumers.

Mr. Efremov began his IKEA journey in 2006. Prior to his current role in China, he held key positions that contributed to the successful development of several critical projects of IKEA in Russia and Sweden in the global headquarters. Born in Russia, Mr. Efremov now lives in Shanghai with his wife and their 12-year-old daughter.

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.