Professional Experience
Grant Thornton UK LLP September 2017-Current
Head of China investment
Acted as a national pan-service lines business advisor, using his skills and expertise to develop all China related opportunities and relations for Grant Thornton UK with around 200 partners.
Led the China Outbound Investment team of 8 Chinese bilingual to assist Chinese clients in their cross-border investment and trade activities in the UK and helped wider team across all 2000 service lines in 14 sectors to deliver various advisory projects to Chinese clients in the Europe, ranging from Audit (Bytedance, Hamleys, etc.), Tax (China Central TV Station, TCL, Bank of Communications, China Merchant Group, etc.) and Advisory (Bank of China, Alibaba Group, Todd & Duncan, Huawei, SPD Bank, etc.)
Advised UK clients on their China growth strategy and JV agreements with China. (Arlington Group, Vitabiotics, etc.)
Worked for Huawei UK as the senior consultant to CEO to manage their branding & reputation crisis in the past 15 months, covering Stakeholder & Media communication strategy, Cyber Security, Software Engineering, GDPR, Sales Control, etc.
Hosted over 20 UK-China Business forums and seminars at Grant Thornton and co-authored the last two years Tou Ying (Invest in the UK) Tracker Research Reports, which are frequently quoted by Chinese Embassy and British government.
Promoted Chinese culture and business tradition awareness within the firm of around 5000 employees.
REIGNWOOD INVESTMENT UK LIMITED NOVEMBER 2015 – AUGUST 2017
Senior Executive Assistant to President of Reignwood Group
Sourced and evaluated investment opportunities/deal-flows and monitored the operational progress and risks of Group’s 1 billion GBP investments in UK on 8 major projects.
Drafted Group’s annual consolidated performance reports, 5-year strategic plan, 3-year business plan and over 20 speech notes for important high-profile events.
Drafted Group’s internal control policies and procedures (11 chapters and 220 pages) and managed the daily operation of President’s Office with a team of 5.
Validated and refined Chinese translation of Sales and Marketing collaterals and assisted President’s daily correspondence with key stakeholders both in English and Chinese.
Coordinated and organized internal audit and external audit on Group’s overseas subsidiaries.
Supported President on negotiation and dual diligence of commercial contracts and acquisition process.
Coordinated and organized the over 15 major conference events with attendees ranging from 50 up to 500 and managed the pre-opening of the Four Seasons Hotel.
China Resources Gas Group Limited, (HKG: 1193) April 2014 – July 2015
‘Right Hand Man’ to CFO and Head of Investor Relations
Competently handled the Corporate Finance team, which negotiate bank loan and bond issuing with 18 international banks and evaluate all capital expenditure proposals.
Co-managed the Treasury team which implements Cash Pooling and Internal Loan System across over 350 subsidiary companies in China and saved cost of funding over HK$200 million in 2014.
Managed the Investor Relations team, which consolidates and prepares both financial and operational data for Results Announcements and supervised 25 regional CFOs of project companies in China.
Actively participated and attended over 500 one-on-one or group investment meetings with global investors on behalf of the management and built strong relationship with over 1500 global institutional investors.
Expertly monitored and analyzed monthly 86 benchmarking metrics and 65 lean improvement areas.
Proficiently taught Finance and Cash Management courses to over 300 CFOs within the group.
Allmake Graphic Printing Supplies China Ltd OCTOBER 2011 – SEPTEMBER 2013
Director of Sales and Marketing & Consultant
Actively assisted to set up the joint venture and the factory facility in China within 90 days.
Efficiently controlled a sales team of 20-people selling products across 20 provinces of China within 6 months after first trial production.
Contract Consulting Engagements OCTOBER 2009 – JANUARY 2014
Advised Effimay Wine Ltd in China to source and procure 150 containers of wines from Bordeaux established over 20 distribution centers in China.
Helped Seegrid in USA to negotiate a joint venture agreement with Heli Forklift Group in China.
Assisted Polar PV Ltd (Solar panel manufacturers) to set up a European sales network.
Aided Anhui Lianhua Group in China to negotiate a joint venture agreement manufacturing regional aircrafts with ATR Group in France.
Helped London Olympic Games Committee and Golden Bear Ltd in UK to source and manage the mascot plush toy manufacturing in China.
River Graphics LTD, UK November 2004 – September 2009
Sales Manager Asia Region & Project Manager
Exceeded annual sales goals by 300% in first three months with annual sales over US$20 Million.
Led a team of 20 engineers dismantling, shipping and assembling printing machines for Chinese market.
Sold over 150 new or used heavy printing machinery worth US$100 Million to USA, Eastern Europe and Far East market within 5 years.
Home Products LTD, UK June 2002 – September 2004
Purchase and Process Manager
Managed an efficient and successful supply chain and distributed household products to over 100 major retailers (Makro Group) or catalogue companies (Grattan PLC) in UK.
Sourced about 100 new products every month directly from China and negotiated savings of at least 30% on new procurements instead of engaging sourcing agents in HK.
Education
Doctor of Business Administration, University of Surrey, UK (2009 – 2015)
MA (Distinction) in Accounting and Finance, University of Leeds, UK (2001 – 2002)
BA (First) in International Business, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China (1997 – 2001)
Research & Publication
PhD Thesis: Partner Selection in China’s High-end Manufacturing Industry
MA Thesis: Smith N; Zhang H; Zhu Y, The Huaibei Power Plant and its Implications for the Chinese BOT Market, published in International Journal of Project Management, vol. 22, pp.407-413, 2004
Awards
‘Game Changer and Top Performer’ awarded by Grant Thornton UK
‘Member and Brand Ambassador’ of Ten Trinity Square Private Members’ Club At Four Seasons Hotel
‘The Best Student Volunteer’ awarded by Chinese Government, one of 10 winners from 200,000 college students. Earned for leading 20 volunteer English teachers teaching 800 middle school students in poor mountain area.
Languages
Chinese Mandarin: Native | English: Fluent | Cantonese: Conversational
