Simon Baptist is Editorial Director and Chief Economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit. Prior to his current role, he has held a number of other senior management and editorial positions in the business, including Managing Director for Asia, Regional Director of our Asia editorial team, Director of Global Forecasting, and Consulting Director in both Europe and Asia

Simon’s focus is on the global economy, national and international political developments, and public policy. He engages with business, government and international organisations, helping them to understand the operational and strategic implications of the EIU’s forecasts.

He has a doctorate in economics from and was a lecturer at Oxford University, along with degrees in economics and science from the University of Tasmania. His academic research investigated technology and the determinants of productivity in manufacturing firms.

Dr. Yuan Ding is Vice President and Dean, Cathay Capital Chair Professor in Accounting at CEIBS. Prior to joining CEIBS, he was a tenured faculty member of HEC School of Management, Paris, France. He is member of European Accounting Association, French Accounting Association and American Accounting Association. Dr. Ding has acted as editor and editorial board member for many international academic journals in accounting and auditing.

Dr. Ding received his PhD in Accounting from the Institute of Enterprises Administration at the University Montesquieu Bordeaux IV, France. He also holds a Master's in Enterprises Administration from the University of Poitiers, France. Dr. Ding has published three books in financial reporting and financial analysis and his research has appeared in many leading academic journals. Dr. Ding has been giving lectures in financial accounting, financial statement analysis, international accounting and corporate governance at the level of Master’s of Science in Management, MBA, EMBA and PhD in Europe and in China.

Prof. Ding frequently provides consulting services for many multinationals and Chinese companies in the areas of financial communication, corporate governance, cost control system designing, investment and M&A. He has also served and continues to serve on the Boards of Directors of several listed firms and financial institutions in mainland China, Hong Kong, Europe and North America.

Ioana has served as General Manager of the Shanghai Chapter of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China (European Chamber) since October 2009. She is responsible for implementation and development of European Chamber objectives, visibility, membership and lobbying activities on a regional level in Shanghai and neighbouring regions. Ioana is also a member of the Management Committee of the European Chamber and involved in the overall strategic planning of European Chamber Government Affairs activities at national level, including annual Position Papers, Business Confidence Surveys and other Chamber publications.

Since 2004 she held different positions in the European Chamber including National Director, Government Affairs, responsible for overall planning and implementation of the Government Affairs strategy and Working Group administration at national level. She was also National Lead for the IPR Working Group of the Chamber and has managed two IPR-related EU Projects.

A German-qualified lawyer, Ioana practiced with a German law firm in Shanghai from 2003 and 2004 focussing on foreign direct investment, Insurance Law and IPR.

Ioana holds a PhD degree in law from Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, where she also worked from 1999 to 2003 as a Senior Research Assistant focussing on the areas of Civil Law, Insurance Law, Comparative Law, International Private Law and Labour Law.

From 1997 to 1998 she trained as a lawyer with the Essen District Court, Essen Labour Court in Germany and the German Embassy in Caracas/Venezuela

Ioana speaks English, German, French, Romanian, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese.

Mr. Wu currently serves as a Managing Director at Prudential Financial, where he is responsible for implementing and supporting Prudential’s global business development and strategies. Mr. Wu held various senior positions within Prudential, including Senior Investment Vice President at Prudential Global Chief Investment Office, Group Vice President at Prudential Global Internal Audit, and Vice President and Actuary at Prudential Corporate Actuarial. Prior to joining Prudential, Mr. Wu also worked at AIG as the Chief Actuary of Group credit life and health businesses.

Mr. Wu has been serving on the Board of Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance company in China since 2014, and was a Board of Director of Society of Actuaries

Mr. Wu is a Fellow of Society of Actuaries (FSA), CFA® Charter holder, Financial Risk Manager (FRM), member of American Academy of Actuaries (MAAA), and a Fellow of Canadian Institute of Actuaries (FCIA).

Dr. Zhang is the Network Director of the Economist Corporate Network at Shanghai. He is also leading the Economist Corporate Network's economic and business research in China.

Before joining The Economist Group, Dr. Zhang was an Assistant Professor of Economics at Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He was also a Visiting Scholar at Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University. Dr. Zhang has extensive research experience in the Chinese economy, particularly China's monetary and fiscal policies, from both academic and policy perspectives. His research journey on the Chinese economy started at the Asian Development Bank in 2011. As a faculty member at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Dr. Zhang leads two state-funded research projects as the principal investigator. Dr. Zhang's research has been presented at numerous international academic conferences and published in several prominent academic journals. At Shanghai Jiao Tong University, he taught macroeconomics and finance.

Dr. Guoxiong Zhang graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a Ph.D. in Economics and an MS in Statistics. He also holds a BA in Economics from Zhejiang University.