Tim Stratford is senior counsel at Covington & Burling and a member of the firm’s International Trade, Corporate, and Public Policy Practice Groups. He is also a three time Chairman of AmCham China. Tim’s practice is focused on advising international clients doing business in China and assisting Chinese companies seeking to expand their businesses globally. Except for the five years he spent in Washington, DC as Assistant US Trade Representative (2005-2010), Tim lived and worked continuously in the greater China region from 1982-2023, including for twelve years as managing partner of the firm’s Beijing office.

As Assistant USTR, Tim was responsible for developing and implementing US trade policy toward mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and Mongolia. He worked closely with other senior US and Chinese officials from numerous government departments and agencies to address problems encountered by companies engaged in bilateral trade and investment and co-chaired a number of important bilateral working groups and dialogues established under the US-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade and the US-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue.

Prior to serving at USTR, Tim was General Counsel for General Motors’ China operations, where he was a member of GM’s senior management team in China and oversaw the company’s legal and trade policy work. Tim also served previously as Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the US Embassy in Beijing. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Brigham Young University, and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

Michael Hart is President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China based in Beijing. He has over twenty-five years of business experience in Asia, including nineteen years in mainland China.

As President, Michael oversees all advocacy, programs, partnerships, and insights provided by the Chamber to support the business growth of nearly 900 foreign corporations operating in China, including most of the U.S. Fortune 500. The chamber’s advocacy includes the impressive American Business in China White Paper and Business Climate Survey each published annually as well as numerous interactions with both the US and Chinese governments on behalf of our members.

Prior to joining AmCham China, Michael spent most of his career in commercial real estate in Taipei, Shanghai and Tianjin including almost 20 years for a NYSE listed property services firm. He started in the research division briefing real estate owners, occupiers and investors on transactions and macro trends, he then opened, built, and led a branch office for the company in one of China’s largest Tier 1.5 cities for over a decade. Following this, Michael opened a private consulting and investment firm that among other projects invested in quick service restaurants.

In addition to this work, Michael was a long-term AmCham member and served on the Tianjin chapter’s Executive Committee for nearly 15 years including several terms as the local Chairman.

Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on finance and banking from the University of Missouri-Columbia in the U.S. He is a fluent speaker of mandarin Chinese. Michael was born and raised near Kansas City, Missouri.