Alex Adamson
Alex Adamson is an Australian diplomat currently serving as Consul at the Australian Consulate-General in Chengdu. His role includes reporting on political, economic and trade issues in southwest China (Sichuan, Chongqing, Yunnan, Guizhou), as well as public and cultural diplomacy.
Elsewhere in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), he has worked in the East Asia Division, the Secretary’s Office, the Media Liaison Section and the Private Sector Development Section.
Prior to joining DFAT, Alex worked in digital marketing and startups. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Adelaide, including one year at the National University of Singapore studying innovation and entrepreneurship. He speaks fluent Mandarin and is mildly addicted to Sichuanese food.
Jack Batty
Jack Batty was elected the Member for Bragg in the Parliament of South Australia in July 2022. Soon after Jack was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister to the Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Assistant Minister for Environment and Heritage.
Prior to entering Parliament, Jack worked as an adviser to HE the Hon George Brandis KC during his term as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Through this role Jack was a delegate to the 2021 Climate Conference in Glasgow, attended the 47 th G7 Conference in Cornwall and worked on Australia’s free trade deal with the United Kingdom.
Jack previously worked as an adviser to the Australian Minister for Defence, an associate to His Honour Justice Besanko of the Federal Court of Australia and as a commercial litigator.
Jack completed his Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours), Bachelor of Economics and Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the University of Adelaide.
Ingo James Block
Ingo Block is the Policy Director at the South Australian Chamber of Mines and Energy (SACOME), the leading industry association representing the resources and energy sector in South Australia. His advocacy work includes economic development projects, navigating the energy transition, and facilitating supportive regulation for the sector.
During ACYD, Ingo is particularly interested in exploring the trading relationship and climate change cooperation between Australia and China.
Ingo was previously Chief of Staff to the South Australian Deputy Premier and Attorney-General, where he was the responsible adviser for a progressive social reform agenda, liquor and gaming regulation, and consumer protection matters. He previously worked for a Federal Government Minister and in local government.
Ingo holds a Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Adelaide, and he is currently completing an MBA. In his spare time, he enjoys reading and swimming, and he remains a frustrated political observer.
Nathaniel Chan
Nathaniel Chan is currently Assistant Director at HKU Business School. Presently based in Hong Kong, he has also worked as Communications Manager at the Yidan Prize, Program Manager at the Asia Society, and Director of Sustainability at Regal Hotels International. Back in Toronto, Nathaniel served as a Social Media Analyst for one of Canada's big five banks and as a Research Analyst in the municipal government.
Nathaniel graduated with distinction from Toronto Metropolitan University with a BA in Politics & Governance in 2009, where he was awarded a Canadian Millennium Scholarship Foundation Excellence Award, CPAC Prestigious Scholarship, and named by the Dragon Foundation as one of 100 "Young Global Chinese Leaders". Later in 2017, Nathaniel completed his MBA at the University of Oxford, where he was also Co-Chair of the Asia-Pacific Oxford Business Network, a Steering Committee Member at OxPeace, and captained both the MBA and his college's basketball teams.
Mingyi Chen
Mingyi Chen is an expert in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) with a keen interest in fortifying the Australia-China bilateral relationship. Boasting over 8 years of academic and professional experience in Australia, he has garnered a profound understanding of the intricacies and prospects present in international relations and trade. His background in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as well as private equity (PE) projects, has furnished him with a comprehensive skill set in the financial sector. At present, Mingyi is focused on sustainability and the strategic implementation of ESG, especially for Chinese companies aiming to expand overseas.
A member of CPA Australia, he has also joined AustCham Shanghai and the Australia China Business Council (ACBC) in 2019, engaging consistently with industry leaders to cultivate a well-rounded perspective. Academically, Mingyi holds Master’s degrees in Business Law and Professional Accounting from Monash University and a Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunication Engineering from Xiamen University.
Piero Craney
Piero Craney is a cross-border corporate lawyer at the Sydney office of King & Wood Mallesons (KWM), one of Asia-Pacific’s leading international law firms. At KWM, Piero advises both Australian and Chinese companies on their international investments, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and equity and convertible bond issuances. Piero has also worked across KWM’s Hong Kong and Beijing offices, focusing on IPOs, private equity transactions, and venture capital deals.
Piero is a passionate youth advocate with extensive board experience advising governments and universities. He served as the Chair of the government statutory board, the NSW Youth Advisory Council, and has been a member of the NSW Road Safety Advisory Council, NSW Board of Studies Advisory Group, NSW Student Representative Council, and UNSW Law Faculty Board. In the past, Piero co-ran B.Inspiring Inc., a charity that delivered leadership conferences to high school students from low socio-economic areas in Sydney.
As a 2016 New Colombo Plan (NCP) scholar, Piero studied Mandarin at the International Chinese Language Program in Taipei and Chinese law at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He holds a Bachelor of Laws with First Class Honours and a Bachelor of Arts (Asian Studies) with Distinction from the University of New South Wales.
Fan Hongyi
Fan Hongyi (Troy) is a social entrepreneur, community builder, content creator, and TEDx speaker. At the heart of his entrepreneurial journey lies 问道东西 Curidaosity, where his team empowers aspiring young leaders and forward-looking organizations to navigate a fast-changing world by facilitating cross-cultural experiences and collaborations. Through partnerships with international organizations, Curidaosity has been running the INSPIRO Young Entrepreneurs Network for Sustainable Development and a flagship Global Competency program.
Hongyi leverages social media to bridge cultural divides, particularly focusing on increasing cultural understanding. He creates educational content under @Utroypia on Weibo and curates the popular Chengdu-focused Instagram account @ChengduMemo, amassing over 300,000 followers across the platforms.
His work has been recognized by the World Economic Forum, and he was invited to the “Davos Meeting 2023” as a youth representative.
Previously, Hongyi managed fundraising projects at a VC and led international initiatives at the startup accelerator of Tsinghua University SEM.
Will Glasgow
Will Glasgow is the North Asia correspondent at The Australian, Australia's national newspaper.
He has been based in Taipei since 2021, covering international relations, politics, business and cultural news in the region, particularly China, Japan and South Korea. He regularly writes about Australia’s relationship with China and was a delegate at the 7th Australia-China High Level Dialogue, which was held in Beijing in September 2023.
In 2020, he was based in Beijing for The Australian. Before that he worked in Sydney at the Australian Financial Review, covering business, finance and politics.
He has a Bachelor of Philosophy (first class honours) from the Australian National University in Canberra, where he studied politics, international relations, English literature and economics. He is a winner of the Keith McDonald Award for Business Journalist of the Year.
Yining Hao
Yining is an international affairs and public policy professional, with extensive experience in policy analysis. Currently, Yining is a Strategic and Regional Affairs Research Officer working in the Australian Embassy’s Defence Section. In this role, she uses her expertise in international relations to produce tailored briefs and assessments on developments in China’s defence policy, military modernisation and foreign policy. Yining’s analysis reaches key decision-makers in Canberra, informing policy development on China.
Yining is well-versed in US-China relations, with prior experience working at the Beijing-based American Chamber of Commerce in China and with Edelman Global Advisory, based in Washington DC.
Yining holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Chicago, and a Bachelor’s degree from Lingnan University in Hong Kong. She is originally from Beijing, China.
Yining is adventurous and enjoys traveling and trying new things. Her latest passion is AFL.
Allen Jiang
Allen is a Managing Partner at a space technology company, working with government space agencies worldwide. Allen has also worked in product management at Ernst & Young (EY) and Qantas in Sydney, Australia, and in digital healthcare startups and technology investment banking in Silicon Valley. Additionally, Allen has been an educator in business, technology, and design at the University of Sydney. He is also the co-founder of a social good nonprofit organization, and co-founder of a school for lifelong learning.
Allen earned a Master of Science in Space Science and Engineering from University College London, a Master of Science in Technology Management from Columbia University, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine, and pursued further studies in Artificial Intelligence at the University of Technology, Sydney.
Lucy Jin
Lucy Jin was born in Shanghai and grew up in Australia since 7 years old. She has deep experience in Financial Services with a career spanning across Strategy, Transformation, Sales and Operations. She is currently an Executive Manager at Westpac Banking Corporation leading the Strategy and Planning Team in Global Operations.
She is an entrepreneurial spirited individual who is passionate in leveraging her muti-disciplinary and multi-cultural background to positively impact the future through partnerships and collaboration. Her key areas of interest include trade, investment, art, sustainability, technology, and education.
In her spare time, she enjoys travelling, sports and learning about new technologies. She speaks four languages including English, Mandarin, Japanese and Korean.
XIAWEI LI
Amber is a founding Principal of Align Law. She is highly regarded for her extensive experience with complex property matters. Her practice focuses on delivery of large scale property development projects.
Amber’s strong network and connections within the property industry, as well as her acute focus on aligning resources for her clients, makes her an invaluable ally. She speaks fluent Cantonese, Mandarin and Hakka and is able to read and write Chinese. Amber understands the Asian business culture and has dedicated a large amount of her career educating and bridging the two cultures in Australia. She now turns her focus to doing more in China.
Amber’s current project is to facilitate Australia-China basketball activities and cooperations. She leads negotiation and development of an ultimate partnership of basketball that is first of its kind between Australia and China.
Cr Philip Le Liu
Philip is a Chinese Australian recognised for his leadership locally, and internationally. He has 15+ years of experience across multiple industries and is a trusted advisor/mentor to many including speaking on key topics in the media and forums.
In his current role as an elected public official at Melbourne City Council, Philip has been a key policy and decision-maker over the past 7+ years, especially during the COVID period when Melbourne was and still is the longest lockdown city in the world. He currently leads the Treasury portfolio that oversees a budget of $851 million that delivers services and infrastructure spending to the community.
For his achievements, Philip was recognised in 2019 as the ‘Most Influential Asian-Australian’ under 40 in the Public Sector / Government category by the Asian-Australian Leadership Summit and in 2022 as one of Asia Society Australia’s ‘Melbourne Asia Game Changer’.
Ang Lyu
Ang (Jeremy) Lyu is the lead of the investment team of a HKSE listed company CITIC Resources based in Hong Kong. His main responsibilities include planning and executing strategic investment to help the grow of the company and transit to a long-term sustainable business model. Prior to CITIC Resources, Jeremy worked at an SSE listed company CITIC Metal in Beijing, where he is mainly in charge of the mineral resource investment globally and post-investment management. Before moving to Beijing, Jeremy worked at RPM Global, a mining consulting and software company in Sydney and Perth, and finished his Master of Professional Engineering of Mining in University of Western Australia. Jeremy is passionate about promoting the mineral resource and energy transition cooperation between China and Australia.
Lipan Lyu
Lipan Lyu is an associate professor at Shanghai Normal University. Her research interest is Australian literature and Chinese writing. She receives her doctoral degree at East China Normal University, and used to be a visiting scholar at State University of New York in US and University of Wollongong in Australia. Her post-doctoral project focuses on the writing of Chinese in Australian gold rush, where not only literature, but also history, politics, and arts etc. are involved.
As a teacher, Lipan teaches Australian Literature and Culture, and is committed to promoting students’ understanding of Australia. She also encourages students to take videos and write articles to show their understanding and shared concern of Australia, which are published in the Wechat official account “Australian Literature and Culture”(澳大利亚文学与文化).
On her time off, Lipan enjoys biking, playing table-tennis and cooking local and international cuisines.
Ciara Morris
Ciara is a young Australian China watcher, with both Australian and Chinese experience and qualifications. Ciara has policy and research experience across corporate and not-for-profit industries, including with APCO Worldwide Consulting in Beijing, policy institute China Matters in Sydney, and the Australian Academy of the Humanities’ Australia’s China Knowledge Capability Project in Canberra. Ciara is currently a PhD Candidate in Public and International Affairs at City University of Hong Kong, and Editor at China Policy, a policy analysis and strategic advisory firm.
Ciara has an MPA from the School of Government at Peking University, and a BA (Hons I) in Government and International Relations and Chinese Studies from Sydney University. Ciara has been published in the South China Morning Post, Sydney Morning Herald, Canberra Times, Australian Outlook, and the Chatham House magazine The World Today, among others. She is passionate about producing evidence based research and policy advice on China.
Anna Ning
Anna is a senior AI engineer with a rich cultural background spanning Australia and China. Her upbringing has nurtured a strong bond with both societies, instilling a deep appreciation for their cultures and values. In addition to her engineering expertise, she has demonstrated entrepreneurial acumen through her ventures in wine trading and vertical pharming lab.
She has dedicated years to developing diverse machine-learning applications, from predicting human variant genomes to forecasting seller reviews on JD.com. She is equally passionate about public engagement and dedicates her time to delivering presentations to raise awareness about AI and its potential to revolutionise daily life.
She is a University of Melbourne alumni with a Bachelor's in Actuarial Studies. She also holds a Graduate Diploma in AI at Stanford University. Outside of work, she finds joy in a variety of sports and musical interests.
Blaze Puksand
Blaze has over a decade of experience working in education in both Australia and China, specialising in the teaching of Global Politics and Mandarin Chinese. Prior to this, Blaze held various positions in the Australian Government and the Aid and Development sector.
Blaze is driven by the need to cultivate critical thinking and media literacy in our future leaders, ensuring that they are prepared to tackle the complex global challenges that await them. Blaze believes that education is key to enhancing cross-cultural relationships, and she is fortunate to have the opportunity to support young people to develop global understanding and competence through broadening and challenging their perspectives.
Blaze holds a Master of Teaching from The University of Melbourne, a Bachelor of Arts (Global) from Monash University and has studied at Beijing Language and Culture University, Shanghai International Studies University and King’s College London.
Blaze is also passionate about the environment. She is a Climate Reality Leader with qualifications in Circular Economy and Permaculture Design.
Maggie Qian
Maggie is a Media and Communication Manager at Fortescue based in Shanghai. She helps to build brand awareness and reputation for Fortescue in China by creating stories about Fortescue’s engagement with Chinese customers and suppliers and establishing relations with Chinese media.
Prior to Fortescue, Maggie has 16 years of comprehensive experiences in the corporate communications and marketing communications with industries across manufacturing, semiconductor, energy and resources sectors. Her jobs span a broad spectrum of outbound marketing and communication activities from planning to execution, covering public relations, media relations, social media engagement and corporate social responsibility projects.
Maggie is passionate about sharing her knowledge of international affairs and an international perspective on social and cultural exchanges. She hopes to further promote the bilateral relations between Australia and China in the ACYD Dialogue.
Maggie holds a Master of Business Administration from BI Norwegian Business School & School of Management Fudan University.
Saina
Saina is an ethnic Mongolian with seven years of professional voyage in the media industry. She currently serves as the Communication Specialist at Western Academy Beijing (WAB), a world-leading IB school in China with a diverse community representing over 50 nationalities on campus, where she manages WAB’s social media campaign and content production.
Prior to joining WAB, Saina worked for more than four years as a program host and journalist at CGTN. During her tenure there, she played an integral role in building and hosting a flagship commentary show centered around international relations and global trending issues. Through this platform, Saina also had the opportunity to interview esteemed professors, company executives, as well as industry experts.
Her passion also lies in discussing how digital communication has amplified the significance of the media environment within international relationships. Saina holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Melbourne along with a Master of Journalism from Hong Kong University.
David Shao
David Shao is a Global Engagement Manager at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), promoting Australian export capabilities to the world. At Austrade, David engages with exporters, industry associations, Austrade’s offshore BDM network and counterpart government agencies, domestically and internationally, across mining, infrastructure, circular economy, and renewable energy sectors.
Born in China and moving to Australia at a young age, David has developed a cross-cultured experience and has strong interest in promoting and fostering a positive and productive relationship to further mutual economic prosperity, standard of living and deepening cultural understanding between the two nations.
David is an intermediate Mandarin speaker and holds a Bachelor of Business (Accounting and Finance) from the University of Technology Sydney, Master of International Studies (International Relations and Asia Pacific Studies) from the University of Sydney and is a 2022 Asialink Business Leaders Program Alumni from the University of Melbourne.
Sophie Smith
Sophie Smith is a career officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
She is currently serving as Deputy Consul-General at the Australian Consulate-General in Guangzhou. In this role, she covers engagement with provincial governments across south China and is responsible for reporting on political and economic developments in the region.
She has previously served overseas as Vice-Consul in Chennai, India. She has worked in a number of policy roles in Canberra, primarily focussed on multilateral trade and investment. Prior to joining DFAT, she worked as a staff member to former Prime Minister, HE the Hon. Kevin Rudd AC.
Sophie has a Bachelor of International Relations and a Masters of Anthropology (Hons.) from the Australian National University.
Su Rina
Su Rina is an associate professor, the Chair of English Department of School of Foreign Languages, and a PhD candidate in Ethnology and Anthropology at Inner Mongolia Normal University. Her research interests include EFL teaching, Australian literature, translation studies and linguistic anthropology.
Her major translations include My Ngarrindgeri Calling published by Beijing Times Chinese Press in 2016, the Australian Indigenous children’s literary work Seahorse published by Qingdao Publishing Group in 2020 and Mr. Guilfoyle’s South Sea Islands Adventure on H.M.S. Challenger published by China Workers Press in 2022.
She in recent years supervised and accomplished more than 20 research projects granted by Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Philosophy and Social Sciences Fund, the Education Department of Inner Mongol Autonomous Region, and the Foundation for the Australian Studies in China and the Australia-China Council. She published 12 papers based on the projects and authored 4 books of national and provincial standards.
Sabrina (Zhixian) Sui
Sabrina, originally from China, migrated to Australia at age 17.
In her role as Senior Data and Strategy Analyst at NSW Health, she leads the state's risk monitoring dashboard, informing Covid-19, flu, and respiratory condition risk levels. She provides data insights for population-level public health strategies.
With a Ph.D. from the University of Adelaide, Sabrina conducted clinical trials for pregnant women and pursued postdoctoral research at the University of Sydney, analyzing the Australian National Nutrition Survey back to the early 1990s. Before public service, she managed hospital research and taught public health at UNSW.
Sabrina's extensive healthcare background, data analysis skills, and cost-efficient strategy expertise benefit NSW Health's Critical Intelligence Unit. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she delivered daily insights to executives and the secretary, with weekly public reports.
Beyond work, Sabrina codes, writes thrilling novels, and enjoys salsa dancing.
Haowei Wang
Haowei Wang works as a Senior Architect at the Architectural Design and Research Institute of Tsinghua University. She works with designer and architects around the world in the field of Theme Park design, Campus planning, and prefabricated residential. She attended Melbourne Design Week in 2019, invited by the State Government of Victoria, on behalf of her company.
Her another role is the President of the University of Melbourne, Beijing Alumni Association and provided volunteer work for nine years. She leads the team in organizing alumni events, including Welcome Home and Run with the Dean, and passes on University of Melbourne announcements and invitations to alumni. She attended and spoke at the Beijing Alumni Reception in 2023 and Dean’s Dinner in 2018, invited by the University of Melbourne. She keep close connection with near 2000 alumni in Beijing and helps them maintain cooperation and contact with Australia.
Menghu Xia
Menghu Xia (Tiger) is a PhD Candidate in Politics & International Relations with University New South Wales Canberra at the Australia Defence Force Academy (ADFA). Since April 2023, he has been serving as the President of UNSW Canberra student organization. He was awarded with University International Postgraduate Award (UIPA) scholarship in 2022. His research interests include Australia-China relation, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)-China relation, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Asia-Pacific Politics. His PhD thesis examines the role of ASEAN as a regional organization in China's BRI.
From July 2019 to 2020, He worked as the project manager with University of Malaya in an international Erasmus+ research project and the research funding was over 680,000 Euro. He has a few publications in peer-reviewed journals in English and Chinese. He has presented his research in several international conferences. He also speaks some Indonesian.
He enjoys sports, travelling and intercultural communication. He was a university basketball player during undergraduate and postgraduate time. He believes travelling and communication are the essential ways to reduce stereotype, misconception, and distrust among humans and states.
Wanyi Xue
Wanyi Xue has been in Australia since early 2018 as an international student and has received an Honours degree in Asian Studies and a Master's degree in Public Policy from the University of Melbourne. She is now a PhD Candidate in Contemporary Chinese Studies at the Asia Institute from the University of Melbourne and has been awarded a full scholarship.
Wanyi’s research thesis aims to examine China's evolving approach to governing rural poverty following the Targeted Poverty Alleviation (TPA) campaign. In this regard, she has eight years of fieldwork experience in southwest China. Wanyi’s other research interests include but are not limited to, rural development and policy design and evaluation (Public policy, Social policy, and Sports policy).
Wanyi is also the secretary general of the Chinese Studies Research Group (CSRG) at the University of Melbourne, an amateur fencer in VIC, and a fanatical sports enthusiast. She is not only keen to create more exchange opportunities for international students and visiting scholars engaged in Chinese studies in Australia, but also actively tries to seek more cooperation opportunities for the development of Sino-Australian popular sports (Fencing, Ultimate Frisbee, and Flag Football).
Outside of study and work, Wanyi enjoys experiencing new cultures and is currently looking to improve her cello-playing skills and continue studying local Chinese opera.
XIAO ZHOU
Xiao Zhou is an economist employed at NSW Treasury, where she specialises in tax forecast and macroeconomic matters. Before joining the Treasury, Xiao gained valuable consulting experience working with the NSW Department of Education and the Department of Family and Justice, focusing on issues related to disability inclusion and social housing. She has also contributed as a research assistant at LSE Ideas, concentrating her efforts on research concerning digital priorities within ASEAN.
Xiao's educational path, which led her from her origin in China to pursue higher education in Sydney, has afforded her a deep appreciation of both cultures. She possesses a strong commitment to promoting economic collaboration between China and Australia and actively champions the importance of multi-faceted dialogues to cultivate stronger connections.
Xiao holds a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree from the University of Sydney and has recently completed her master’s degree at LSE, majoring in political science and political economy.
Zhenzi ZHU
Zhenzi is an experienced public policy professional, having worked across state and international civil service for over 10 years.
As the Head of International at the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet, Zhenzi leads a team to advise, coordinate, and implement Victoria’s approach to engaging with its international partners.
She is a skilled negotiator and consensus builder for outcomes, including through previous roles as part of the Victorian treaty process, within the Australian intergovernmental architecture including an emphasis on fiscal and social policy issues, and with national governments in the promotion of global health. Across her career, Zhenzi has also had a focus on public administration, particularly on the governance and stewardship of the Victorian Public Service.
She holds a Master of Public Policy and Management from the University of Melbourne, and a joint Bachelor of Arts (Hons) / Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Sydney.
ZHU ZHIBIN
Jimmy Zhu is a marketing manager of USD sales team at FMG Trading Shanghai, he is taking care of most valuable LTC customers of FMG iron ore department.
Before join FMG, Jimmy worked for several international trading house and he is a professional and experienced trader in mining and steel industry. During his time in FMG, Jimmy successfully developed and built the sales strategies and channels of port sales in Southern China. Later, he was transformed into manager of USD sales, responsible for maintaining key customers in the Northern China.
He holds a Bachelor of International Economic and Trading. Besides, as one of his hobbies, he holds advanced certificate of WSET \| Wine & Spirit Education Trust.