Sean Stein is the Co-Chair of Covington and Burling’s China Public Policy Practice, advising international businesses on political risk, public affairs, communications, and US and China government relations. He regularly assists companies resolve acute or long-term issues in China and to navigate challenges caused by conflicting US and Chinese policies and perceptions. Sean provides strategic advice to US and international clients on market access, safety and security, risk, and compliance.

Prior to joining Covington, Sean served for nearly three decades as a US diplomat, including stints as Consul General in both Shanghai and Shenyang and in leadership positions at the former Consulate in Chengdu, the office of Chinese Affairs in Washington, DC, and various countries throughout the Asia Pacific region.

He also has a particularly long history of working with AmChams. In the early 2000s when the Sichuan authorities threatened to close the AmCham office in Chengdu, Sean helped negotiate an agreement that allowed it to continue to operate. Nearly a decade later, Sean supported the establishment of AmCham in NE China. His second term as Chair of AmCham Shanghai concludes at the end of this year. Now based in Beijing, Sean is looking forward to channeling his energy and experience to serve AmCham China and its members around the country.

Michael Hart is President of the American Chamber of Commerce in China (AmCham China), based in Beijing. He has over 25 of business experience in Asia, including more than 20 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 1,000 foreign corporations operating in China, including most of the US Fortune 500. The Chamber’s advocacy includes the American Business in China White Paper and China 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 NYSE-listed property services firm, JLL. He started in the research division briefing real estate owners, occupiers, and investors on transactions and macro trends, before opening, building, and leading a company branch office in Tianjin, one of China’s largest cities, for over a decade. Following this, Michael opened a private consulting and investment firm that invested in quick service restaurants, among other projects.

In addition to this work, Michael has been a long-term AmCham China member and served on the Tianjin Chapter’s Executive Committee for nearly 15 years, including several terms as Chair.
Michael holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a focus on finance and banking from the University of Missouri-Columbia in the US. He is a fluent speaker of Mandarin Chinese. Michael was born and raised near Kansas City, Missouri.

Travis Tanner is a Senior Managing Director at Ankura with a wealth of experience in public policy and Sino-American relations across a variety of sectors and serves as President of GreenPoint Group.

Travis has two decades of experience building bridges between Chinese and U.S. government, corporate, academic, and non-profit communities.

Previously, Travis served as President of the U.S.-China Strong Foundation, an offshoot of the Obama administration’s 100,000 Strong Initiative, a public-private partnership designed to equip the future generation of leaders with the knowledge and skills needed to engage productively with China. Travis established and directed the foundation’s operations in China and drove engagement with key stakeholders and partners including Chinese and U.S. government officials, business leaders, academic institutions, media outlets, philanthropists, and students.

Travis worked for over a dozen years in the think tank industry conducting research projects examining a range of policy issues in the U.S.-China relationship, including China’s intellectual property, technology standards, and innovation policy, China’s military development, and U.S.-China people-to-people exchange. He previously served as Senior Project Director at The National Bureau of Asian Research (NBR) and Director of NBR’s Kenneth B. and Anne H.H. Pyle Center for Northeast Asian Studies. He was Deputy Director and Assistant Director of the Chinese Studies Program at the Center for the National Interest (formerly the Nixon Center) in Washington, DC. He also worked as a research assistant at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Travis is the author, contributing author, or coeditor of numerous publications on the strategic, economic, and political dimensions of the U.S.-China relationship, including coeditor of U.S.-China Relations in Strategic Domains (Routledge, 2020) as well as five volumes of NBR’s Strategic Asia series. He has also been featured in major media outlets in the U.S. and China.

Travis is the recipient of the Doak A. Barnett and Hassenfeld Fellowships and received a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University – SAIS and the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and bachelor’s degree in Chinese language and literature from the University of Utah. He is senior advisor to NBR, a Tsinghua University Schwarzman College industry mentor, and member of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. He has also served as a leader in the Boy Scouts of America for over 20 years.

Gloria Xu is China Country Manager and Vice President, External Affairs of Albemarle. In this role, Gloria represents Albemarle in China and is charged to develop a strategic vision and effective engagement plans for the company to grow sustainable in the country.

Before joining Albemarle in Feb, 2022, Gloria Xu worked for Dow Inc for more than seven years and her last role was Vice President, Greater China, serving as Dow's corporate representative with government, trade associations and other key external stakeholders. Before joining Dow in 2014, she led the China government affairs functions of DuPont and Standard Chartered Bank respectively for 13 years. Gloria was China Public Relations Manager of Alibaba.com Group in 2000-2001 and helped build up brand awareness of the new company in its early years. From 1993 to 2000, Gloria was a political correspondent with China Daily, covering legislative and foreign affairs, military, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan news.

Gloria now enters her sixth term on the AmCham China Board, and her third year in the Vice Chair role.

Markel Hübinette has 20 years of industry experience in a variety of technical and leadership roles in South America, the United States, Europe, Australia, and Asia.

Markel began his career in the industry in 2003 as a Field service Engineer for Baker Hughes in Argentina and joined ConocoPhillips in Norway in 2008 as a Well Integrity Engineer. In Norway he mostly worked in offshore operations roles before moving to the UK in 2014 as the J-Area Development Manager, and subsequently Asset Manager for the Greater Britannia Area. In 2017 Markel transferred to Australia and led the Darwin LNG Life Extension and Bayu Undan decommission project teams. In 2019 he moved to China to become the VP of Capital
Projects & Asset Management. His last role before returning to China in 2023 was Capital Project Manager for the Gulf Coast Rockies region in Houston.

Raised in Sweden, Markel has earned bachelor’s degrees in engineering, finance, and international Business.

Jeff Yuan is a partner with PwC China whom leads their transfer pricing tax services for Asia Pacific region.

Jeff and his team provide cross-border tax advices to multinational companies (MNCs) in China, and the overseas headquarters across major industries. Such experiences include help MNCs design, and implement sustainable cross-border transactions from China/APAC/Global tax perspectives.

Jeff is a regular speaker on China and global tax and regulatory updates and trends for professional conferences and contributes frequently to professional publications on the relevant subjects.

Jeff has a Master in Business Taxation from the University of Minnesota and Bachelor degree in Accounting from Winona State University. Jeff is a fellow member of American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Jeff has been providing China tax and business advices to his clients over last 20 years after he came back to his hometown, Shanghai, from New York where he worked with PwC as an international tax specialist.