The Honorable William Zarit advises major Chinese companies on how to navigate the U.S. investment market, and helps U.S. multinationals working in the Chinese commercial environment. He serves as Senior Counselor at The Cohen Group, a global business advisory firm founded by former U.S. Senator and Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen.

Until May 2014, Mr. Zarit was Minister for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, overseeing the U.S. Department of Commerce’s trade promotion and trade policy activities in its operations in Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenyang. He retired with the rank of Career Minister.

Prior to his posting to Beijing, Mr. Zarit was Deputy Assistant Secretary, International Operations, for the U.S. Commercial Service, overseeing Commercial Sections in U.S. Embassies and Consulates worldwide. He previously served as U.S. Commercial Service’s Regional Director for East Asia/Pacific, Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Deputy Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, and Deputy Senior Commercial Officer at the American Institute in Taiwan.

Before joining the U.S. Commercial Service, Mr. Zarit was Economic and Commercial Program Officer for the New York-based National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. Prior to that, he served as Marketing Manager/China for the California-based telecommunications firm Pacific Telesis International, preceded by his work as Project Manager for the high-tech marketing firm China Business Associates. Both positions were based in Beijing. Mr. Zarit also served as Mandarin Chinese Interpreter for the U.S. State Department Language Services.

He earned an M.B.A. with Honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and a B.A. with Honors in Political Science from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.

Mr. Emerson advises clients on a wide range of legal and commercial issues facing companies doing business in and with China.

In the area of international trade regulation, Mr. Emerson has advised US companies exporting goods to China subject to antidumping and countervailing duty investigations. He was closely involved in two of the largest such cases to date, involving exports of poultry products and automobiles. He regularly counsels clients on strategies to reduce the risk of such cases.

Mr. Emerson also advises companies on key international trade and economic policy issues affecting the bilateral US-China relationship. In his capacity as Co-Chair of the US Government Relations Committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in the People’s Republic of China (AmCham China), Mr. Emerson works closely with members of the US business community in Beijing and with key decision makers in both the US and Chinese governments and represents AmCham China in its annual visit to Washington to present the views of the US business community in China to US policy makers. Previously, Mr. Emerson served a three year term as General Counsel to AmCham China.

In addition to his work in the international trade area, Mr. Emerson counsels companies doing business in China on a range of regulatory and commercial issues, including Customs entry procedures, pre-merger review under China’s antimonopoly law, and anticorruption compliance. He also supports his colleagues in the Beijing office on transactional matters.

As Chair of Policy Committee and Insurance Forum of the American Chamber of Commerce – People's Republic of China (AmCham), Les Ross is a longstanding leader of the American business and legal communities in China and in frequent contact with government officials and other stakeholders.

Mr. Ross concentrates his practice on mergers and acquisitions and regulatory matters and has experience in a broad range of industries. He has represented both foreign and local companies and has particular experience advising foreign companies on competition law and regulatory compliance in China.

Mr. Ross represents foreign companies in their strategic expansion in China through direct investments and mergers and acquisitions in industries ranging alphabetically from agriculture to water services. He also has extensive experience representing foreign banks and corporations, including Chinese entities, in their strategic expansion in the United States, particularly focusing on M&A and regulatory clearances and compliance. He has also represented clients in trade, dispute resolution and regulatory matters in China.

Randal Phillips is a Partner and heads the Mintz Group’s Beijing office and activities across Asia.

Randy spent 28 years with the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service, most recently serving as the Chief CIA representative in China. He has an extensive background in foreign field operations, policy and program management, and leadership development. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Bahasa Indonesian.

Randy has lived and traveled throughout China and elsewhere in Asia for the U.S. Government. Additionally, he has managed worldwide and regional programs from Washington. Randy has extensive relationships with officials and business leaders throughout the continent.

Randy has deep expertise on issues relative to Asia, with particular emphasis on China. This includes an intimate knowledge of the full range of political, economic, trade, investment and security issues involving China, from a bilateral as well as a multilateral perspective. Randy has extensive experience unraveling a variety of complex matters involving finance, trade and fraud.

Randy has a B.A. in diplomacy and foreign affairs from Miami University, and a Masters of International Public Policy from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Tim Stratford is managing partner in Covington & Burling LLP’s Beijing office and a member of the International Trade, Corporate and Government Affairs Practice Groups. Mr. Stratford’s practice is focused on advising international clients doing business in China and assisting Chinese companies seeking to expand their businesses globally. As a former Assistant U.S. Trade Representative, Mr. Stratford is the most senior former U.S. trade official working as a member of the U.S. business community in China. Except for the five years he spent in Washington, D.C. in government service (2005-2010), Mr. Stratford has lived and worked continuously in the greater China region since 1982.

While at USTR, Mr. Stratford was responsible for developing and implementing U.S. trade policy toward mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and Mongolia. He worked closely with other senior U.S. 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 U.S.-China Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade and the U.S.-China Strategic & Economic Dialogue.

Prior to serving at USTR, Mr. Stratford 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. Mr. Stratford also served previously as Minister-Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and as Chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in China. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Brigham Young University, and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.