From a cash country, where transactions were done by moving plastic bags with money between bank branches, China has turned into a leading force in fintech or financial technology. Mobile payments are standard. Bitcoins and blockchain technology found in China early adopters. Social media have – more than anywhere in the world – adopted payment systems to facilitate online trade.
Speakers at the China Speakers Bureau are in the forefront of those developments. They not only know who fintech is changing China, but also how these new technologies will conquer the rest of the world. For the traditional financial institutes there is only one way: adapt or perish.
A selection of our key experts:
William Bao Bean is Investment Partner at SOS Ventures and Managing Director of Orbit startups.
Winston Ma is one of a small number of native Chinese who have worked as investment professionals and practicing capital markets attorneys in both the United States and China. He is currently serving as a managing partner at New York-based CloudTree Ventures. Before that, he was Managing Director and Head of the North America Office for China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign wealth fund.
At CIC’s inception in 2007, he was among the first group of overseas hires by CIC, where he was a founding member of both CIC’s Private Equity Department and later the Special Investment Department for direct investing (Head of CIC North America office 2014-2015). He had leadership roles in global investments involving financial services, technology (TMT), energy, and natural resources sectors, including the setup of West Summit (Huashan) Capital, a cross-border growth capital fund in Silicon Valley, which was CIC’s first overseas tech investment.
He wrote books and speaks on the following subjects:
The Digital War: How China’s Tech Power Shapes the Future of AI, Blockchain and Cyberspace
The Hunt for Unicorns: How Sovereign Funds Are Reshaping Investment in the Digital Economy
China’s Mobile Economy: Opportunities in the Largest and Fastest Information Consumption Boom
and additionally: China’s sovereign funds, China’s digital Belt and Road Initiative, big data and asset management, data regulation, privacy, blockchain, and digital currencies.
Mark Schaub is a London-based lawyer with over two decades of China experience under his belt.
“In China, nothing is impossible … nothing is easy.”
Mark Schaub is a prolific speaker who wastes no time in avoiding the real challenges in doing business in China.
As a lawyer he had extensive experience in negotiating deals, firing people and otherwise dealing with the ignorance of companies entering the Chinese business minefield.
Mark Schaub has 20 years of legal experience in China and was the first foreign lawyer to enter a Chinese law firm.
You can read some of his recent articles here.
Ben Cavender is a senior analyst with The China Market Research Group (CMR) focusing on strategic planning and brand positioning, including the emergence of the cashless society.
He graduated from Cornell University with a BA in Government and Asian Studies. He became interested in China and Chinese language at Phillips Exeter Academy and subsequently came to China in 2000 to study at Qinghua University and was fascinated with the country’s dynamism. He worked with the US-China Business Council and Princeton in Asia, helping American companies enter China.
Kaiser Kuo is the former director communication of China´s largest search engine Baidu. In China´s battle between the internet giants, Baidu is one of the leading forces, using innovation as a key competitive tool. For artificial intelligence, the internet of things Baidu invests in basic research.
To keep tracking among the often spoiled internet users in China, keeping up with consumer demand is equally important. With his American background, Kaiser Kuo is a major bridge building on the internet discussion, connecting China to the outside world.
Kaiser Kuo is currently based in NC, USA.
You can read about hit online activities here.
Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group (CMR)
He is the author of The End of Copycat China: The Rise of Creativity, Innovation, and Individualism in Asia, his second agenda-setting book on China.
Shaun Rein is one of the world’s recognized thought leaders on strategy consulting in China. His book ´The End of Cheap China. Economic and Cultural Trends that Will Disrupt the World´, published in 2012, solidified his reputation of challenging established classic ways to frame China.
Shaun Rein is based in Shanghai, China.
You can read some of Shaun´s recent contributions here.
Sara Hsu is an expert on China’s urbanization, finance, fintech technology and 5G.
In 2020 she co-published her book “China’s fintech explosion” at Columbia University Press.
She joined in 2019 SupChina, the leading podcast on China, as a columnist on financial technology.
Sara Hsu travels from Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States