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Mr. Chapuis began his career in the 1980s as the Press Attaché at the Embassy of France in Beijing. In 1983, he was appointed Second Secretary (Political Affairs) at the Embassy of France in Beijing and then Desk Officer for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia at the Asia-Oceania Department of France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). Between 1987 and 1988, he was a CFIA Fellow at Harvard University.

In 1988 and 1989, he held the position of Desk Officer for NATO & European Security at the Political Affairs Department of France’s MFA. From 1989 to 1992, he was the Cultural Counsellor at the Embassy of France in Beijing.

Mr. Chapuis's diplomatic career continued in the role of Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of France in Singapore. Following this, he held the position of Personal Assistant to the Deputy General Secretary for European and Economic Affairs at the MFA before becoming the Deputy Director (East Asia) of the Asia-Oceania Department of the MFA from 1995 to 1998.

In 1998, returned to China as the Consul General in Shanghai. Between 2002 and 2003, he was First Counsellor (Cultural Affairs) at the Embassy of France in the United Kingdom and the Director of Institut français du Royaume-Uni.

From 2003 until 2005 Mr. Chapuis served as Ambassador of France in Mongolia and in 2005–2009 he was Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of France in Beijing.

In 2009–2010, served as Prefect of the département of Hautes-Alpes. Following this, held the position of Chief Coordinator of the MFA WikiLeaks Taskforce until 2011.

Mr. Chapuis has been the Ambassador of France to Canada since February 4th, 2015. In September 2018 was nominated as Head of the EU Delegation to China

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Alexander Gabuev is a senior fellow and the chair of the Russia in the Asia-Pacific Program at the Carnegie Moscow Center. His research is focused on Russia’s policy toward East and Southeast Asia, political and ideological trends in China, and China’s relations with its neighbors—especially those in Central Asia.

Prior to joining Carnegie, Gabuev was a member of the editorial board of Kommersant publishing house and served as deputy editor in chief of Kommersant-Vlast, one of Russia’s most influential newsweeklies. Gabuev started his career at Kommersant in 2007 working as a senior diplomatic reporter, as a member of then president Dmitry Medvedev’s press corps, and as deputy foreign editor for Kommersant. His reporting covered Russia’s relations with Asian powers and the connection between Russian business interests and foreign policy.

Gabuev has previously worked as a nonresident visiting research fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) and taught courses on Chinese energy policy and political culture at Moscow State University.

In April-June 2018, Gabuev was a visiting scholar at Fudan University (Shanghai, China), and was teaching courses on Sino-Russian relations.

Gabuev is a Munich Young Leader of Munich International Security Conference and a member of Council on Foreign and Defense Policy (Russia).

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Alicia García Herrero is the Chief Economist for Asia Pacific at French investment bank Natixis, based in Hong Kong and is an independent Board Member of AGEAS insurance group. Alicia also serves as Senior Fellow at the European think-tank BRUEGEL and as a non-resident Senior Follow at the East Asian Institute (EAI) of the National University Singapore (NUS). Alicia is also Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Finally, Alicia is and an advisor to the Spanish government on economic affairs, a Member of the Board of the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI), a member of the Advisory Board of the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), an advisor to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s research arm (HKIMR) and a Member of the Council of the Focused Ultrasound Foundation (FUF).
In previous years, Alicia held the following positions: Chief Economist for Emerging Markets at Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Member of the Asian Research Program at the Bank of International Settlements (BIS), Head of the International Economy Division of the Bank of Spain, Member of the Counsel to the Executive Board of the European Central Bank, Head of Emerging Economies at the Research Department at Banco Santander, and Economist at the International Monetary Fund. As regards her academic career, Alicia has served as visiting Professor at John Hopkins University (SAIS program), China-Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and Carlos III University.
Alicia holds a PhD in Economics from George Washington University and has published extensively in refereed journals and books (see her publications in ResearchGate, Google Scholar, SSRN or REPEC). Alicia is very active in international media (such as BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC  and CNN) as well as social media (LinkedIn and Twitter). As a recognition of her thought leadership, Alicia was included in the TOP Voices in Economy and Finance by LinkedIn in 2017 and #6 Top Social Media leader by Refinitiv in 2020.

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Jörg Wuttke is Chief Representative of BASF China, based in Beijing.
Jörg Wuttke was President of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China from 2007 to 2010, 2014 to 2017 and again from 2019 to 2023. From 2001 to 2004 Mr. Wuttke was the Chairman of the German Chamber of Commerce in China.
Since its establishment in 2013, Mr. Wuttke is member of the Advisory Board of Germany’s foremost Think Tank on China, Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), in Berlin. He lived in China for more than 30 years.