David Hoffman is Senior Vice President Asia and Managing Director of The Conference Board China Center for Economics & Business. In this role he is responsible for The Conference Board thought leadership, programming, and engagement in China and throughout Asia. He leads numerous research projects and outreach activities, oversees a team of researchers in China and New York, and coordinates a network of local and global advisors, research peers, and scholars who engage in or contribute to China Center research programs.

Prior to joining The Conference board, Hoffman led the Technology-InfoComms-Entertainment Advisory practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers in China for 21 years. Hoffman has spent 30 years as a resident analyst and business prac­titioner in China, and as a thought leader, strategy advisor, and top management consultant on a wide range of China and Asia business issues.

He is a lifelong student of contemporary Chinese political science and economics and a graduate of UC San Diego.

Kenneth Jarrett, based in Shanghai, is a Senior Advisor at ASG, where he draws on decades of business and diplomatic experience in China and across East Asia to provide perspective and advice to businesses, investors, and other organizations with interest in the region. Mr. Jarrett is based in Shanghai, China.

Most recently, Mr. Jarrett spent five years as President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. Under his leadership, the Chamber helped hundreds of companies establish and grow their networks in China and navigate operational and regulatory challenges.

Previously, Mr. Jarrett was a distinguished diplomat whose positions included service as Consul General in Shanghai, and as Deputy Consul General in Hong Kong. His 26-year foreign service career also included postings in Beijing, Chengdu, and Singapore. His government roles in Washington, DC, included serving as Director of Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council. Following his government service, Mr. Jarrett served as Chairman of Greater China for APCO Worldwide.

Mr. Jarrett is a frequent commentator on the business environment in China, and he has been quoted in outlets including Bloomberg, The Economist, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among others.

He is the recipient of the Magnolia Award (Silver) from the Shanghai government and is a member of the National Committee for U.S.-China Relations.

Mr. Jarrett earned an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Yale University and an M.A. in National Security Studies from the National War College. He received a B.A. in History from Cornell University. He speaks Mandarin Chinese.

Yide Qiao is Vice Chairman & Secretary General of Shanghai Development Research Foundation (SDRF), a non-profit institution that promotes research on issues of development.

Mr. Qiao enrolled in the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard in 1985. After graduation, he did research work at the Harvard Institute for International Development. In 1995, he returned to China as Chief Representative and Managing Director of New York Life until May 2003. Afterwards he joined the Shanghai Development Research Foundation, where he has remained since.

He is a main author of the following books and research reports: Chinese Economy: The Next 30 Years (2011); Rethinking the International Monetary System — 70 Years after the Bretton Woods Conference (2014); Global Financial Governance: Challenges, Goals and Reforms (2016); Global Financial Imbalance: Implications, Impacts and Countermeasures (2017); Changes of Pattern in Global Finance and China’s Integration into Global Financial System (2018).

John has been a journalist with Reuters for nearly 20 years, mostly in China. As Shanghai Bureau Chief he oversees a bilingual, multimedia news gathering team that focuses on business and financial markets. He moved to Shanghai in 2012 as a Senior Correspondent with a wide remit, covering everything from labour unrest to territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Before coming to Shanghai, John had postings as Vietnam Bureau Chief, South China Correspondent and as a political and general news correspondent in Beijing. A native of St. Louis, John has a master’s degree in Asian studies from Harvard and BA in history from U.C. Santa Cruz.