Kuuntele China Field Notes – with Scott Kennedy

On this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with Chen Dongxiao, the President of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies (SIIS). He discusses how China's shifting role to the center of global politics and economics has shaped his career, and he offers a frank assessment of the U.S.-China bilateral relationship during the late-Biden and early Trump administrations. The discussion concludes with a strong defense of the value of U.S.-China track-2 dialogue for thinking creatively about the world's most important challenges and offering reforms to global institutions.

On this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with Tu Xinquan, a leading Chinese expert on the World Trade Organization (WTO) and global economic governance. They review the initial enthusiasm accompanying China’s accession to the WTO two decades ago, the debates on whether China’s behavior conforms with its WTO commitments, and the need for WTO reform to address industrial policy, national security, digital trade, and labor standards.

On this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with Kent Kedl on his 40-year journey in China from teaching English to consulting for multinational companies. They explore the past and present challenges foreign companies face in China, including understanding its regulations and adapting business strategies to local markets, how scenario planning is critical for navigating uncertainties, discuss his experiences during the pandemic lockdown in Shanghai, and the role of humor in processing new experiences, including in China. Kent Kedl is the founder and managing partner at Blue Ocean Advisors, a risk and strategy advisory firm based in Shanghai. Kent has consulted with multinational and Asia-based corporations on a range of issues, such as geopolitical risk, M&A and organic growth strategy, crisis management and organizational development programs. He was previously the Managing Partner for Control Risks’ Greater China and North Asia practice and, prior to that, was a partner with Technomic Asia, a market strategy consulting firm. Kent has worked as a journalist and is a frequent contributor to Asia-based media outlets. Kent has been working across Asia and living in China for nearly forty years.

On this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with Yuan Haiying, one of the pioneers of the government affairs profession in China. Yuan explains the origins of the industry, how it has changed and evolved throughout his career, how the field help Chinese and foreign multinational companies navigate current geopolitical challenges, and the profession’s future. Yuan then provides his outlook on the recently concluded Third Plenum economic conference and other opportunities and challenges in China’s economy today. Yuan Haiying founded Yuan Associates in February 2004, and since then he and the firm have become major players in China’s growing government affairs industry. Yuan has thirty years of experience in the Chinese Government, including senior diplomatic postings in Washington D.C., as China’s Agriculture Attaché, and in Rome, as the Alternate Representative to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. He has been involved in negotiations on numerous bilateral and multilateral agreements in the areas of trade, investment, agriculture, forestry, fishery and environmental protection. For his efforts, he received an Outstanding Contribution Certificate from the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and Outstanding Contribution Awards from the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In China, Yuan was the Director of the Ministry of Forestry’s Department of International Cooperation. After retiring from public service, Yuan worked as a Senior Vice President at Edelman Public Relations and as a Vice President at APCO Worldwide. Yuan chaired the Government Affairs Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce and the China Quality Brands Protection Committee (QBPC) of the Chinese Government Cooperation Committee.

On this episode of China Field Notes, Scott Kennedy speaks with Michael Laske, a sage veteran auto industry consultant in China. In this in-depth conversation, he explains how over the last three decades China’s domestic auto firms went from being students in joint ventures to achieving global leadership in electric vehicles and batteries. He analyzes why Chinese industrial policy has been more effective in this sector than in others as well as the important value to the West of having their firms in China and Chinese firms in the Western markets. Since 1995, Michael has led the development of AVL List GMBH in China. AVL List is the leading provider of engineering and technology development support, and hardware and software testing solutions necessary for innovation and technology development in mobility sectors, particularly automotive applications. He has witnessed and directly participated in the growth of the automotive sector in China, as China eventually emerged as the largest market and later as a major source of technical innovation and exports. Michael believes that the automotive sector and its global relationships provide important insight into and strongly influence global geopolitical strategy and commercial developments. Michael Laske received an MA and an East Asian Institute Certificate from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs in 1980. Following four years in Taiwan, Michael and his family moved to China in January 1989, where he remains based.