Guy Verhofstadt, Former Prime Minister of Belgium

Guy Verhofstadt, is a member of the European parliament and a former Prime Minister of Belgium from 1999 to 2008. Under his term, he enacted several policies that strengthened and empowered Belgium's economy by lowering public debt from 114% of GDP to 84% and passing tax cuts. As a current member of the European parliament, Verhofstadt also helped improve trade relations between member nations amidst the age of rapid technological innovations. He will be a keynote speaker and panelist in Finance China 2019.

Cao Yang, Director, SenseTime

Cao Yang is the current director of SenseTime in charge of intelligent finance research. She has accumulated extensive experience in machine learning and big data application. When she was the senior vice president and principal data scientist of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, she built up the data team to provide investment strategies with artificial intelligence technology. Prior to this, she was the data science lead of Economics and Technology Family at Grab, studying how to leverage machine learning, operation research and statistical algorithm to finalise the reasonable pricing, improve the efficiency, and reduce the cost and improve customers experiences.

Hu Bofei, Deputy General Manager, International Business Department, China Construction Bank

Hu Bofei is the deputy general manager of International Business Department, China Construction Bank (CCB). Prior to this, she has been working for the Custody Services Department at CCB, where she actively participated in the schemes of opening up capital market to foreign institutional investors. She has chaired on the International Business Committee of Asset Management Association of China, and is an expert in Chinese stock market infrastructure, mutual fund, custody services and especially QFII program.

John Gong, Professor of Economics, University of International Business and Economics

John Gong is a professor, researcher and expert in the fields of finance, international trade, antitrust, patent dispute and competition policies. He serves as an expert consultant at the Ministry of Commerce’s Antitrust Bureau in China, and acted as the chief architect of the Bureau’s national competition database project. Meanwhile, he is serving as an academic affiliate with Global Economics Group, a leading global economics consulting firm based in the US. He is also the principal author for the China section of the policy position paper by the BRICS New World Bank’s steering committee during its foundation time. He is also a renowned op-ed columnist for several leading newspapers including the South China Morning Post, Global Times and China Global Television Network, on economic and political issues.

Jonathan Larsen, Chief Innovation Officer, Ping An Group; Chairman and CEO, Ping An Global Voyager Fund

Jonathan Larsen spent 18 years at Citigroup where he was most recently Global Head of the firm’s Retail Banking and Mortgage businesses, generating ~$12Bn in Revenues and spanning 19 countries. Prior to Citi, Jonathan was a Principal in the Financial Services Practice of global management consulting firm, Booz Allen & Hamilton where he spent eight years advising large banks and other financial institutions across Asia, Australia and New Zealand and in the United States and Europe. He has been widely quoted in major business publications including the Financial Times, Bloomberg, Reuters, etc.

Li Yan, Deputy Director, Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration

Li Yan is the deputy director of Beijing Local Financial Supervision and Administration, in charge of Financial Development and Coordination Department, Bancassurance Department (Financial Institutions Service Department), and Financial Technology Department. Prior to this, she was the deputy general manager of ZGC Group and also headed the different functional departments for the Financial Stability Bureau at the People's Bank of China.

Red Shi, Vice President, Lexin Fintech

Red Shi has been the vice president of LexinFintech since he joined the company in February 2017. Shi has accumulated 17 years of technical management experience. He was the chief technology officer of SF Financial before joining Lexin. Prior to this, he worked as the platform architect of Composite Search Department at Baidu. In 2001, Shi joined Tencent as one of its early employees and managed the research and development teams of Tencent’s wireless services, system architecture, and search engine.

Zhang Jun, Dean, School of Economics, Fudan University

Zhang Jun, is a professor of Economics and currently serves as Dean of School of Economics, Fudan University. He is also the founding Director of the China Center for Economic Studies, a Shanghai-based Think-Tank for Chinese economy. He is an expert in a vast array of topics such as Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, The World Economy, China Economic Review, Economic Systems, Comparative Economic Studies, and more. He is the recipient of the Bergson Prize by the American Association for Comparative Economic Studies for his paper published in Comparative Economic Studies in 2015. For the past 25 years, he has authored or edited numerous books including Economic Transition with Chinese Characteristics: Thirty Years of Reform and Opening Up, Transformation of the Chinese Enterprises, Unfinished Reforms of the Chinese Economy, and End of Hyper Growth in China.

Zhu Baifan, General Manager, Strategy and Cooperation Department, Du Xiaoman Financial

Zhu Baifan is the general manager of FSG Strategic Cooperation Department of Duxiaoman. He is currently in charge of establishing and maintaining partner ecosystems, financial technology research, partners’ cooperation, and structure finance. Zhu has been working in the financial technology industry for almost 20 years. He is also a member of the board of supervisors at the Payment and Clearing Association of Beijing.

Chen Qiufan ,Speculative Fiction Author and Scriptwriter

Chen Qiufan (A.K.A. Stanley Chan), is a Chinese speculative fiction author, translator, creative producer and curator. He is known for his stylistic combination of realism and New Wave, and has been called “China’s William Gibson”. His representative books include Waste Tide, Future Diseases and The Algorithm for Life. He will help envision the world of the future in Finance China 2019. He is also the founder of Thema Mundi Studio focusing on Sci-Fi content and intellectual property development and management.

Wilson Chia ,International Resource Director, The Asian Banker

Wilson Chia is a highly seasoned banker with over 30 years of experience in the financial services industry. He is a banking consultant/advisor in ASEAN on Organisation Strategy, Customer Segmentation Strategy, Risk Management, Wealth Management, SME Banking, Product Portfolio Reviews/Pricing Governance, Distribution Network Optimisation, Organisation Restructuring/ Transformation and Cost Re-Engineering, Talent Development and Incentive Plans, Financial Planning/ Budgeting/ Forecasting, Core Values Implementation as well as Digitisation. Prior to this, he was EVP of Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH) at Temasek Holdings since 2009 during which he was the head of SME and Commercial Banking, overseeing portfolios across emerging markets, including Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Pakistan and China. Before joining FFH, he worked at Standard Chartered Bank for 23 years and held several key positions, most recently as Regional Head of Consumer / SME Banking in South East Asia. Chia has also served on boards of FIs based in India, Pakistan, Myanmar and China, taking on roles in Risks and Audit committees.

Shirley Yu ,Former China National Television News Anchor

Dr. Shirley Yu is a former China National Television News Anchor, a seasoned senior executive and board member.  She is currently a senior visiting fellow at the Institute of Global Affairs at London School of Economics and Political Science, and an Asia fellow with the Ash Center of Harvard Kennedy School. She is a frequent speaker on China’s political economy, geopolitics, and their implications to the transforming global order. 

Yunny Lee ,Vice President, Lufax

Yunny Lee is vice president at Lufax. Prior to joining Lufax, she was the country business manager for Citibank, managing and overseeing Citi’s consumer banking business in Taiwan. In that capacity she took various roles across retail banking, wealth management, branch distribution, transformation, and digitisation for nearly three decades. Under Yunny’s leadership, Citi consumer banking introduced many innovative solutions and products, including wealth management and credit cards, in Taiwan.

Xu Jinhua ,Deputy Director, Department for Financial, Shipping & Innovation Industry, Shanghai Lujiazui Financial City Authority

Richard Turrin ,Author; Fintech, AI and Innovation Consultant

Richard Turrin is the international best-selling author of “Innovation Lab Excellence: Digital Transformation from Within” and an award-winning executive with more than 20 years of experience in fintech innovation. He is an independent fintech and AI consultant, helping clients navigate the uncharted waters associated with the latest cognitive technologies. Richard previously headed fintech for IBM Cognitive Studios Singapore (IBM’s Innovation Lab) and worked for IBM China where he led his team to win the prestigious “Risk Technology Product of the Year” award for his unique hybrid-cloud solution to risk analytics. Richard was a banker for almost 20 years and a serial innovator throughout his career. Specializing in the design and innovation of new fixed-income products, he saw firsthand how technology, finance, and regulation come together to impact innovation. He is also a co-author in the critically acclaimed “InsurTech” book.

Norman Li, ,Vice President, Banks Division, Tongdun Technology

Norman Li joined Tongdun Technology as vice president of the banks Division in 2017. He currently leads the team in providing intelligent risk control products and services to more than 300 banks. Norman has accumulated over two decades of experience in the financial services industry, including marketing, training, channel and organisation management, online customer acquisition, credit card product development (co-branded cards), customer service and management for existing co-branded cards. Prior to joining Tongdun Technology, he was the general manager of Network Channel Department at Ping An Bank’s Credit Card Center, responsible for network customer acquisition, transaction growth, individual customers cost control, as well as development of co-branded cards. He was involved in the setting-up and operations of several banks and insurance companies in China, including Ping An Bank, Ping An Insurance, CITIC-Prudential, Allianz and AIA.

Pei Yigen ,Executive Vice President, Citibank (China); Managing Director and Country Head, Citi Treasury and Trade Solutions

Pei Yigen has over 26 years banking experience and has followed closely the development of the banking sector in China and was actively involved in the creation and delivery of innovative solutions suitable for the local market. He joined Trade Operations Department of Citibank Shanghai in 1992. Since then, he has acted as Head of Pan Asian Clients, Head of Local Corporations and Head of Corporate Bank in East and Southwest China. Currently, serves as the vice chair of Shanghai Services Federation and Shanghai Banking Association, deputy director of the Cross-Border Financial Services Committee of Shanghai Finance Society, inaugural member of China Foreign Exchange Committee and member of the “50 People Forum of China Transaction Banking”.

Huang Jianqin ,Vice President, Inclusive Finance Business Department, Agricultural Bank of China

Huang Jianqin is the vice president of Inclusive Finance Business Department at Agricultural Bank of China (ABC). He has extensive experience in theoretical research and practice of small and micro enterprises (SME) financial services. He joined ABC in 1998 and has been engaged in SME finance since 2008. He participated in the construction of SME finance systems, contributed to formulation of policies and measures that support the development of SMEs, and took charge in developing all online SME lending products and services of ABC and SME digital transformation.

Peggy Liang ,Assistant General Manager and Senior Vice President of Risk Management, ZhongAn Insurance

Peggy Liang is the Assistant General Manager and Senior Vice President of Risk Management of ZhongAn, heading Financial Credit Cycle Management and Big Data Center. Peggy has over 25 years’ professional risk management experience in both multinational and China’s financial institutions. Prior to ZhongAn, she took the senior risk management positions in various global institutions, including Bank of America Taiwan Branch, ABN AMRO Singapore Regional Office, Visa International Shanghai, CITIC Bank, Welab and Sunshine Insurance, with the expertise in the quantitative management across the credit cycle in internet finance.

Emmanuel Daniel, Chairman, The Asian Banker

Founder of The Asian Banker, the most respected provider of consulting and intelligence in the financial services industry in the Asia Pacific region and other emerging markets. Mr Daniel has led it to become a combination of leading industry research, publication and consulting house, with a strong reputation worldwide.

Foo Boon Ping, Managing Editor, The Asian Banker

Boon Ping manages The Asian Banker publication business and engages practitioners, customers, partners and the media on critical issues that impact the industry. He has more than 21 years of experience in the banking and financial services industry, specializing in strategic branding, marketing communications and consumer insight. Prior to The Asian Banker, he was at United Overseas Bank (UOB), covering Singapore and key markets in the region, such as China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

Richard Hartung, International Resource Director, The Asian Banker

Richard Hartung is currently managing director of Transcarta and international resource director of The Asian Banker with over 20 years of experience in the payments & consumer financial services industry. He has held senior roles for financial institutions including Citibank, Mastercard International, and OCBC Cards. Mr. Hartung holds position as consultant in the areas of retail banking, cards and payment products to financial institutions, service providers, and software companies throughout the Asia Pacific region.