China-UK investor forum 2026

Zheng Zeguang

Chinese Ambassador to the UK

Zheng Zeguang is the Chinese ambassador to the UK. He has held numerous positions in the Chinese government, including vice minister of foreign affairs, director general in the department of North American and oceanian affairs and exectuive vice mayor of Nanjing. He has also worked in the Chinese Embassy in the US as deputy chief of missions and held posititons in the Chinese Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago.

Zhijian Pan

Deputy General Manager

Bank of China, London Branch

Mr. Pan currently serves as Deputy General Manager of Bank of China, London Branch. He has previously held key positions including Deputy General Manager of Bank of China, Guangdong Branch and Deputy General Manager of the Transaction Banking Department at the Bank of China Head Office.

Mr. Pan has extensive experience in corporate banking and transaction banking, having dedicated many years to these fields. He is a recognized expert in cross-border e-commerce finance and a strong advocate for supply chain finance.

Douglas Arner

RGC Senior Research Fellow, Digital Finance and Sustainable Development

University of Hong Kong

Douglas specialises in the interlinkages between finance, technology, law and institutional systems, and broader sustainable development. He is Associate Director – Research Programmes of the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at Cambridge University Judge Business School, and the Kerry Holdings Professor in Law and RGC Senior Research Fellow in Digital Finance and Sustainable Development at the University of Hong Kong. Douglas also currently holds the Sir Roy Goode Chair at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary University of London. At HKU, he is a Senior Fellow of the Asia Global Institute, Associate Director of the HKU-Standard Chartered Foundation FinTech Academy, a Member of the Management Committee of the Techno-Entrepreneurship Core, and Faculty Director of the Law, Innovation, Technology and Entrepreneurship Programme (LITE). Douglas is a non-executive director of NASDAQ-listed early-stage biotechnology development firm Aptorum Group, a Senior Fellow of the Program on International Financial Systems and of the University of Melbourne School of Law, a PRIME Finance Expert, an Advisory Board Member of the European Banking Institute, SuperCharger Ventures, Policy 4.0, Alliance for Innovative Regulation, Digital Education Council, and Centre for Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurship (CFTE), and co-founder of the Asia Pacific Structured Finance Association. He leads the largest FinTech online course on edX, Introduction to FinTech, now with over 130,000 participants drawn from (almost) every country in the world. Douglas has published twenty books and more than 200 articles, chapters and reports on finance, technology, regulation and development, including most recently FinTech: Finance, Technology, Regulation (Cambridge University Press 2024, with Ross Buckley and Dirk Zetzsche). He has worked with dozens of governments, central banks, financial regulators and international organisations around the world on strategies to support financial sector development.

Tom Attenborough

Head of International Primary Markets

London Stock Exchange Group

Tom joined London Stock Exchange in September 2013 and has since 2017 led the London Stock Exchange’s International Primary Markets business. In his role, Tom advises UK and international companies and their owners on the process of raising capital and listing on London’s markets. Prior to joining London Stock Exchange, Tom was at Citigroup for over 15 years as a Managing Director in the Equity Capital Markets division, originating, structuring and executing equity and equity-linked transactions across UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa. He has originated, structured and executed large number of IPOs and follow-on capital raisings over the years, including many involving a London listing. Prior to Citi, Tom worked in Kleinwort Benson’s Equity Capital Markets team from 1994 to 1997.

Tom graduated from Oxford University with a BA (Hons) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.

Stephen Barr

Director, Global Industry Adviser, Worldwide Government

Microsoft

Susanne Chishti

Chair

FINTECH Circle

Susanne Chishti is the award-winning Founder & Chair of FINTECH Circle and a FTSE Board Member. As Investor and Editor of The FINTECH Book Series she lives with her family in London and is a Non-Executive Director of Crown Agents Bank, a FTSE listed wholesale bank focused on international payments and FX and an Advisory Board Member of Elevator Ventures, the VC fund of Raiffeisen Bank International, a leading European Banking Group with 45,000 employees, 19 million customers and EUR 200 billion in total assets. At CAB Payments PLC she is also the Chair of the ESG Board Sub-Committee and Member of the Nomination and Remuneration Board Committees.

Susanne is an in-demand keynote speaker at leading finance and technology conferences globally and the Co-Editor of the bestselling The FINTECH Book, which has been translated into 10 languages and is sold across 107 countries, as well as The WEALTHTECH Book, The INSURTECH Book, The PAYTECH Book, The AI Book and The LEGALTECH Book. Susanne’s awards include the “Top 100 Women in Fintech 2024”, “Top 10 global fintech influencers in 2022” (Evening Standard), “Top 5 ESG Influencers Globally” (Refinitiv) and the Fintech Champion of the Year in 2019 (Women in Finance Awards).”

Bruce Ding

General Manager, WorldFirst Business & Director

Ant International

Bono Ge

CEO

BYD UK

Rachel Kyte

UK Special Representative for Climate

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Rachel Kyte was appointed UK Special Representative for Climate on 21 October 2024.

She is Professor of Practice in Climate Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford and dean emerita of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

Rachel was previously Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and CEO of Sustainable Energy for All.

She has also served as World Bank Group Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change, as well as Vice President for Sustainable Development at the World Bank, and for Business Advisory Services at the International Finance Corporation.

Rachel has held non-executive director, trustee and board member roles with a number of private and public financial institutions, as well as non-profit organisations, focused on climate and development.

Gerard Lyons

Board Member

Bank of China (UK)

Dr Gerard Lyons is a an economist and has been described by the Times as ‘one of the most influential analysts of the global economy’. In the City, he is the Senior Independent Director and a board member of Bank of China (UK) and is Chair of the Risk Committee and sits on the board of BGC Partners, the global brokerage firm. Gerard is also Chief Economic Strategist at Netwealth Investments, the discretionary wealth manager which he helped establish in 2016. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. He has sat on the Board of TheCityUK. From 1999-2012 he was Group Head of Global Research, Chief Economist, and Advisor to the Board at Standard Chartered, as well as having senior business roles as a member of the bank’s Executive Forum and Risk Management Committee, where he was credited as one of the few economists to predict the 2008 global financial crisis and where his team was rated by Bloomberg as the most accurate forecaster globally. On public policy he advised Boris Johnson when Mayor of London, was senior advisor to PM Gordon Brown’s Business Council for Britain, was a candidate for Governor of the Bank of England in 2019, was an inaugural member of the EU Commission’s Network of China Experts and has sat on several Councils of the World Economic Forum. On the environment he has sat on the Advisory Board of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment since its inception in 2008. In 2025, he was reappointed as a member of the UK economy Honours Committee. 

Ousmène Jacques Mandeng

Director and Founder; Visiting Fellow

Economics Advisory; London School of Economics and Political Science

Dr Ousmène Jacques Mandeng, is Co-Founder and CEO of fintech start-up Wire Coin SAS and Founder and Director of strategy consulting boutique Economics Advisory Ltd. He is an Accenture Luminary and advises the firm on financial markets innovations especially on the leading central bank digital currency (CBDC) projects. Ousmène had worked more than 20 years in senior positions in financial markets and the International Monetary Fund. He has commented regularly on the impact of digital money and the international monetary system. He is a Visiting Fellow of the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Member of the Bretton Woods Committee.

David Marsh

Chairman

OMFIF

David Marsh is Chairman and Co-Founder of OMFIF. Before starting at OMFIF in late 2009, he worked for City merchant bank Robert Fleming, corporate finance boutique Hawkpoint, German management consultancy Droege and London investment firm London & Oxford. Marsh took over the chairmanship from John Plender on 1 January 2018 having been Managing Director since 2014. He moved to a non-executive role following John Orchard’s appointment as Chief Executive effective 1 January 2020.

Maziar Nekovee

Professor of Telecoms and Mobile Technologies

University of Sussex

Professor Maziar Nekovee is Head of the Centre for Advanced Communications, Mobile Technology and IoT at the University of Sussex, and Founding Dean of the Sussex AI Institute at Zhejiang Gongshang University, China. His research focuses on next-generation communication systems, applied artificial intelligence, and digital infrastructure for economic and industrial transformation. He has previously held senior R&D leadership roles in industry, including at Samsung and BT. He has authored numerous highly cited publications and patents and is the recipient of several prestigious awards, including a Royal Society (UK Academy of Science) Industry Fellowship.

John Orchard

Chairman, Digital Monetary Institute

OMFIF

Ivan Rogers

UK Permanent Representative to the European Union (2013-17)

Sir William Russell

 Lord Mayor

City of London (2019-2021)

William took office as the 692nd Lord Mayor of the City of London in November 2019. To ensure continuity of leadership during the current COVID-19 outbreak, he remained in office until November 2021. William’s
mayoral theme was Global UK: Trade, Innovation and Culture, aiming to grow global trade, champion
innovation and promote a rich and vibrant cultural and creative economy. During his mayoralty, William led
the Green Horizon Summit at COP26 alongside Mark Carney, promoting the importance of Finance and the
City of London to help the UK get to NetZero.

William has over thirty years’ experience in the financial and business City including holding senior positions in the national and international Banking sector. In 1987 he went to work for First Boston Corporation before joining Merrill Lynch in 1992 as an Investment Banker in Institutional Equity Sales, working in Asia, New York and London. William is currently Chair of CDAM, a London based Asset Management business; co-Chair of the UK-China Green Finance Taskforce with Dr Ma Jun, and a non-executive Director to Augmentum Fintech Investment Trust.

William served on the Board of Innovate Finance, the industry body for the UK based Fintech community and is also an educational entrepreneur, as the co-Founder and Chair of Knightsbridge School and a Director of Knightsbridge School International (KSI). William is a past member of the Campaign Board for Durham Inspired, a landmark philanthropic campaign focused on ensuring Durham remains at the forefront of learning, research and education for generations to come. William has a number of charitable interests; he has served as Chair of the Development Board of the Royal Court Theatre; he is Deputy Chair of the Barbican and is on the Council of the Royal Theatrical Support Trust.

Riley Peterson

Head of Legal & Compliance

China Construction Bank

Riley Peterson is the Head of Legal and Compliance for China Construction Bank’s London branch where he has held the SMF 16 and 17 functions since 2024. He is responsible for overseeing the organisation’s non-financial risk.

Mr Peterson is a seasoned compliance officer with nearly 20 years of experience working in financial services and Big 4 consulting. He is a subject matter expert in regulatory compliance and trade sanctions.

Prior to his current, role Mr Peterson held roles at MUFG Bank as well as KPMG. He started his career in New York, but has been based in London since 2012. He holds a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Nebraska, as well as a Juris Doctorate from the Vermont Law School.

Mark Schaub

Senior Partner

King & Wood Mallesons

Mark Schaub specializes in foreign direct investment, cross border M&A, intellectual property, and private equity investment in China.

He has advised investment projects in a wide variety of sectors including automotive, autonomous cars, consumer, life sciences manufacturing and tech. Transaction sizes have varied from USD 500,000 to over USD 1 billion. He is familiar with China issues faced by companies of all sizes. Since 1993 he has advised on foreign investment projects in all major sectors across China with a cumulative value exceeding US$ 20 billion. Mark has been lead counsel for clients in acquisitions, M&A projects, outsourcing, OEM contract manufacturing, technology licensing, compliance, restructuring, joint venture disputes, fraud, distribution, as well as day-to-day corporate advice. Mark has also acted as advisor to Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone and Jiaxing Economic Zone in relation to encouraging European and Middle Eastern investment and projects to the zones.

Mark lived full time in Shanghai from 1993 until 2018 and joined King & Wood Mallesons in 2000. He was the first foreign lawyer to join our firm. Prior to this, he worked in the Shanghai offices of well-known German and US law firms. Mark has been consistently awarded Asia Law’s “Lawyer of the Year” for corporate work. Since August 2018 Mark has been splitting his time between London, Frankfurt and Shanghai. Mark’s role is to support companies to engage in investment and trade between China and Europe and the Middle East.

Hao Yin

Lead Research Supervisor, Systematic Equity

State Street Investment Management

Hao is the Lead Research Supervisor in the Systematic Equity Team, where he oversees the overall research agenda for the Active team and leads key research initiatives. His responsibilities include defining research priorities, maintaining methodological rigor, and promoting innovation in investment research.

Prior to his current position, Hao served as a Senior Portfolio Manager and Researcher within the Active Quantitative Equity team and the Advanced Research Centre at State Street Global Advisors. His work focuses on alpha signal research, portfolio construction, and the development of quantitative strategies. His research has been published in a range of practitioner journals, including the Journal of Portfolio Management, the Journal of Impact and ESG Investing, and the Journal of Beta Investment Strategies.

Hao holds a PhD in Economics from Indiana University Bloomington, with a concentration in Finance and Econometrics. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Peking University and is a CFA charter holder