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.

Dr. Zhang Xiliang is a professor of management science and engineering and director of the Institute of Energy, Environment, and Economy at Tsinghua University. His current research interests include low-carbon energy economy transformation, integrated assessment of energy and climate policies, renewable energy, and automotive energy. Since 2015, Professor Zhang has been heading the expert group on China’s national carbon market design, which is a taskforce of the Climate Change Department in the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. He also served as the co-leader of the expert group for drafting China’s Renewable Energy Law from 2004 to 2005, which was organized by the Environmental Protection and Resource Conservation Committee of the National People’s Congress, and as a lead author of the fourth and fifth IPCC Climate Change Assessment Report. Dr. Zhang is the current chair of the Energy Systems Engineering Committee of the China Energy Research Society and a member of the board of directors of the Chinese Society of Sustainable Development. He holds a PhD in Systems Engineering from Tsinghua University.

Originally trained as an architect at Cornell University, Jacob Schwartz Walker, co-founder of BAM, believes that architecture is only one of many tools in service of the greater landscape idea, and that landscape is the field and realm which requires the most design attention as cities all around the world densify and grow into mega-metropolises. At BAM Jake spearheads many of the BAM urban initiatives such as the redesign of the Guomao intersection in Beijing, and ‘Save Chaotianmen’ a studio focused on Chongqing’s most iconic and historic urban condition at University of Toronto, John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design. Jacob was appointed as a Studio Professor at University of Toronto in 2014. Personally carrying many of BAM’s finest projects from concept to construction, Jake leads the studio with hands-on engagement

Xenia is a Russian-Dutch creative thinker currently based in Beijing and working at an international design studio, Ballistic Architecture Machine (BAM), acclaimed as design studio of the year 2023 by Asia Pacific Design Council, and listed as top 100 global design firms at Kyoto Design Awards.

Trained in architecture, urbanism (Delft University of Technology) and global affairs (Schwarzman College) Xenia believes in the power of art and spatial design as an instrument to examine and resolve complex challenges of the 21st century. Xenia’s dedication to transforming our world through design, results in a diverse scope of professional experiences in realms of real estate, spatial design, sustainable development, education and art.

At AmCham, Xenia volunteers at co-chair Real Estate Committee and is member of the 2023 AmCham LDP cohort.

Eric has close to 30 years experience in occupier services including 18 years in Beijing. Eric started his career in New York and has established himself as one of the foremost commercial property experts in Beijing since arriving in 2004.  He has been involved in over 2,500 projects, including in some of Beijing’s landmark transactions.  The tenants he’s represented cover a diverse range of industries such as Amazon, Microsoft, JP Morgan, King & Wood, KPMG, BHP Billiton, Skadden and Volkswagen., with an aggregate value of over USD $3billion. Throughout his Beijing career, Eric has been focused on providing culturally diverse, international best practice services for a “who’s who” of corporations and law firms . His attention to detail, understanding of client needs, strategic mindset, coupled with his exhaustive market knowledge and insights are incomparable as demonstrated by his high rate of repeat business.