The Committee of 100 is excited to announce that this year’s Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference (held March 23-26, 2017) will feature seven Committee of 100 (C100) members, including Dr. Dazong Wang, Mr. Howard Li, Ms. Wei Sun Christianson, Mr. David Chu, Ms. Cher Wang, Mr. Ken Xie, and Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang. These C100 members, all highly accomplished Chinese Americans, will join various panels at the Boao Forum as prominent speakers on important issues affecting Asia. In addition, C100 members will also meet with various national leaders from China, as well as global leaders in government, business, and academia from around the world.
The Boao Forum is a nonprofit that hosts high-level forums for leaders from government, business, and academia in Asia and other continents to share their vision on the most pressing issues in this dynamic region and the world at large. The forum, known as the “Asian Davos,” is modeled after the World Economic Forum and inherits its name from the town of Boao, located in China’s southern Hainan province.
This year, the conference bears the theme “Globalization and Free Trade—Asian Perspectives.” (See the full 2017 Boao Forum Agenda here.)
Here are the C100 members taking part in this year’s Boao Forum:
DR. DAZONG WANG
Chairman of Ophoenix Capital Management, C100 Greater China Region Co-Chair
Speaking on: Private Sector Roundtable
Dr. Dazong Wang will participate in the Private Sector Roundtable, discussing Chinese outbound investment. Dr. Wang has 30 years of management experience with multinational corporations in North America and Asia and is currently Chairman of Ophoenix Capital Management. Dr. Wang worked for General Motors from 1985 to 2005 in various managerial roles, joined Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp., the largest Chinese auto group, as Vice President in March 2006, and became the CEO of Beijing Automotive Industry Corp., the fifth largest China auto group in 2008. As C100 Greater China Region Co-Chair, he will lead the delegation of C100 members at Boao.
HOWARD H. LI
Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Waitex Group, C100 Greater China Region Co-Chair
Speaking on: Overseas Chinese CEO/Think Tank Roundtable
Howard H. Li, the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Waitex Group, will participate in the Overseas Chinese CEO/Think Tank Roundtable. A hugely successful global conglomerate, Waitex processes over US $5 billion worth of consumer goods for 500 companies annually. In 2006, U.S. President George W. Bush named Mr. Li as Commissioner of the White House and Presidential Advisory Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders. Howard H. Li is the co-chair of the C100 Greater China Region and is facilitating several C100 member meetings with high level government leaders.
WEI SUN CHRISTIANSON
Co-CEO of Asia Pacific and CEO of China for Morgan Stanley
Speaking on: Financial Leaders Roundtable, “Fundamentals of the Capital Market”
Wei Sun Christianson will speak at the “Fundamentals of the Capital Market” panel. Ms. Christianson is Co-CEO of Asia Pacific and CEO of China for Morgan Stanley and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Under Ms. Christianson’s leadership, Morgan Stanley has broadened its onshore footprint in China to include domestic securities and bonds underwriting, commercial banking, asset management, trust services, and RMB-denominated private equity investing.
DAVID CHU
Founder of Nautica
Speaking on: “Design: Not Just Beautiful,” “Creative Economy in China”
David Chu, founder of the billion-dollar global brand Nautica, will lend his design and entrepreneurial expertise to the panels “Design: Not Just Beautiful” and “Creative Economy in China.” In August 2004, Mr. Chu left Nautica and established a new luxury men’s brand, the David Chu collection, which launched in its own shop at Saks Fifth Avenue in September 2005. Mr. Chu is also the Executive Creative Director at Tumi.
CHER WANG
Chairwoman, CEO, and President of HTC Corp.
Speaking on: “Virtual Reality: It’s Coming, and Real”
Cher Wang has an enviable record in the electronics industry. Her remarkable insight into technology trends and entrepreneurship has enabled her to establish a number of highly successful IT-related businesses. She is currently the Chairwoman of two Taiwan-listed companies, and on the board of directors of or advisor to numerous other companies. In 2005, she was selected as an Innovator in the 2005 Stars of Asia: 25 Leaders on the Forefront of Change by Business Week and was named as one of the ten executives to watch in Asia.
KEN XIE
Founder, President & CEO of Fortinet
Speaking on: “The Innovators’ DNA”
Ken Xie is the Founder, President & CEO of Fortinet, one of the top-3 network security companies in the world. Mr. Xie has been a leading expert in cyber security since 1996, when he founded NetScreen, later acquired by Juniper for $4 billion. Mr. Xie will speak at the panel of “The Innovators’ DNA,” discussing innovation and startups and how they drive the development of economies in system, institution and culture.
DR. YA-QIN ZHANG
President of Baidu
Speaking on: “Artificial Intelligence: Dialogue with Scientists,” “Innovators’ DNA,” IT CEO Roundtable, Japan-China CEO Dialogue, US-China CEO Dialogue
Joining Mr. Xie on the “Innovators’ DNA” panel will be Dr. Ya-Qin Zhang, the President of Baidu, the leading Chinese-language search provider. As a published scholar and holder of more than 60 U.S. patents, Dr. Zhang will also add his insights to the “Artificial Intelligence: Dialogue with Scientists” panel. Prior to joining Baidu, Dr. Zhang was an executive at Microsoft for 15 years, serving as Corporate Vice President and Chairman of Microsoft’s Asia R&D Group, co-founding Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) and founding Microsoft’s Asia-Pacific R&D Group in 2006.
