“My philosophy is always to approach things from a win-win perspective,” says Yvonne Pei. “If the situation is win-lose, it will never be sustainable.”
For over three decades, Pei has helped iconic American brands, including Procter & Gamble, Dell, and The Walt Disney Company, find their footing in the world’s largest consumer market and contributed to the development of consumer, technology, and entertainment industries in China. Her Chinese roots, American education, and global perspective have made her one of the most effective bridge-builders in U.S.-China business relations.
Born in Beijing in the early 1960s to parents working in China’s civil aviation industry, Pei was part of the first wave of Chinese students to study abroad after Deng Xiaoping opened China’s doors in the early 1980s. “Going to the U.S. was like a dream,” she recalls. With her parents earning less than US$100 per month, studying in America would have been impossible had it not been for a full scholarship at the College of William & Mary. She became the first Chinese student in the government department since the school’s founding in 1693.
She later earned a second full scholarship to study at the University of Denver’s Graduate School of International Studies. “I’m deeply grateful for what America invested in me,” she says. A self-described “learner” who absorbs knowledge “like a sponge,” Pei brought that curiosity to bear on one of the most complex business relationships in the world.
In 1992, Pei joined Procter & Gamble during its early China expansion. She helped negotiate and establish four joint ventures across China, including with Beijing’s laundry detergent “Panda” brand, laying the groundwork for P&G’s entry into the country’s massive laundry market. She then created P&G’s External Relations team in Greater China from scratch, pioneering a profession that barely existed in China.
After leading Government Affairs at Dell Asia Pacific & Japan, Pei joined The Walt Disney Company in 2010. She led the first high-level meeting between Disney’s CEO and China’s top leadership, building the kind of government trust and cultural understanding that American companies rarely achieve. She helped open channels of dialogue and paved the way for Shanghai Disney Resort’s extraordinary success. She navigated complex regulatory landscapes to bring hundreds of top U.S. films to Chinese audiences, including “Avengers: Endgame,” “Coco,” and most recently “Zootopia 2,” a film whose Chinese ticket sales alone made up a third of its worldwide box office.
Pei serves on the boards of Shanghai Disney Resort and Hong Kong Disneyland, and has spent over a decade on the board of National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. For Pei, involvement with Committee of 100 reflects a lifelong belief: “There are so many good things these two countries can do together.”
