Sean Stein is a senior advisor in Covington’s Public Policy Practice Group. Prior to joining Covington, Sean served as the U.S. Consul General in Shanghai. He has over twenty years of diplomatic experience in Asia and has served in leadership positions in China, Washington, and the region. His insights informed policy making at the highest levels in Washington and he assisted dozens of U.S., Chinese, and international firms to develop strategies, manage risk, and identify opportunities for growth in response to the changing U.S.-China relationship.

Sean, a non-lawyer, is a key resource to businesses on issues related to political risk, public affairs, problem solving, and communications. He regularly assists companies facing acute or long-term issues to resolve them, often through discussions with U.S. and Chinese government officials. He is well placed to provide strategic advice to U.S. and international clients on issues relating to securing market access and protecting investments in China, assessing risk, navigating trade controls, sanctions, and supply chain restrictions, and resolving disputes and regulatory investigations.

Mr. Chen provides overall leadership to InterChina’s M&A advisory, corporate finance, and investment advisory practice. He is a member of the firm’s Management Committee. Clients include global fortune 500 and mid-sized multinational and Chinese companies.

Mr. Chen has over 20 years cross border mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, and strategic planning experience in the infrastructure/logistics, consumer, technology, manufacturing, retail, and financial service sectors. He led and advised over 200 M&A and divestiture transactions in North America, Asia Pacific, and European regions. Transaction size range from $50M to $8 billion

Prior to InterChina, Barry worked with Price Waterhouse and UPS in the corporate development function. He also has long-time collaboration with all leading investment banking firms including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse, UBS, and JP Morgan. He has extensive experience in deal origination, evaluating cross-border acquisitions in a strategic context, structuring complex transactions, valuing, and integrating the acquired companies, and managing complex divestment transactions. He is an experienced negotiator and has extensive senior-level contacts and origination capacity.