China has matured into an important economic force in global trade.  No longer a country strictly targeted for establishing manufacturing centers to produce inexpensive products, China has evolved into a country capable of producing national brands competitive in international markets.  As China’s national economy grows it struggles to do so in a sustainable manner.  This struggle provides both opportunities and challenges not only for Chinese companies looking to expand abroad, but also for multinational companies looking to reach into China’s internal markets.  This year, the China Panel is pleased to bring together distinguished professionals, with years of experience and in-depth knowledge, who are eager to share insights into challenges facing China in its pursuit of sustainable growth.

Prof. Minyuan Zhao

Assistant Professor of Strategy
PHD, New York University, 2004
MS, Fudan University, 1999 BS,
Xi'An Jiaotong University, 1996

Minyuan Zhao is an Assistant Professor of Strategy at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. She earned her Ph.D. from Stern School of Business, New York University in May 2004. Before joining Michigan, Minyuan was an Assistant Professor at the University of Minnesota, where she taught Strategy and International Environment classes to MBA and EMBA students. Minyuan's research interests are in the interaction between firm strategies and external environments in a global context. Her papers on multinational R&D organization received first place in the 2003 INFORMS Dissertation Proposal Competition, the BPS Best Paper Award at the Academy of Management in 2004, and the Best Conference Paper Award at the Strategic Management Society in 2006. Her recent studies examine how internal linkages among firms’ geographically dispersed units allow them to alleviate uncertainties at the local level. 

Mr. Michael Barbalas

President, American Chamber of Commerce in China

Topic: China – Clearing the Hurdles

Michael Barbalas is the President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Beijing, China with over 1,100 member companies and 2,400 individual members.  He previously served on the board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and was Vice Chairman in 2005. 

Prior to joining AmCham, he was Managing Director, Andrew Telecommunications (China) Co. Ltd., from 1997 to 2006.  Under his leadership the company grew to be the largest and a leading manufacturing and R&D site for Andrew Corporation globally.  He previously worked in management positions in Tianjin, China for Management Technologies International, and in Hong Kong for Friends of China Foundation.   He holds a B.S degree in Chemistry from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Cornell University.  Michael reads and speaks Chinese.

Michael is a frequent speaker on operational excellence, leadership development and foreign investment in China.  He has been interviewed on programs by China’s Central TV.    He currently also serves on the board of Soochow University.  From 2001 – 2003 he chaired the Shanghai Manufacturers Business Council with executives of over 140 US manufacturers.  He has a keen interest in cross-cultural aspects of management and leadership development.

Mr. C. Peter Theut

Partner, Butzel Long, Global Business Advisory Council

Topic: " Practical and Legal Aspects of Doing Business In China"

C. Peter Theut is a shareholder practicing in Butzel Long’s Ann Arbor office in the areas of international law, business and corporate law and admiralty and maritime law. He is a graduate of The University of Michigan (J.D., 1963; B.S., 1960).

Mr. Theut serves as Chair of the firm's Global Trade and Transactions Practice and heads the Butzel Long China Alliance and the firm’s Mexico Initiative. He has significant experience representing Japanese, Chinese and other Pacific Rim based companies in all of their North American operations, as well as advising European companies on their international business and legal strategies. Mr. Theut has assisted U.S., Japanese and European companies in structuring investment strategies and establishing business entities in China, Mexico and Europe. His range of experience includes mergers and acquisitions, organizing and coordination of global expansion efforts, general corporate law, international joint ventures and admiralty. Mr. Theut regularly assists U.S. clients with establishing, expanding or investing in China based businesses. He also is involved in assisting China based clients to establish, expand or invest in the U.S., Mexico or Europe. Mr. Theut regularly assists clients to negotiate and document China-related transactions and provides counsel with respect to capital structure, operating control, governance and related issues.

Mr. Theut conducts frequent seminars in his areas of expertise and regularly lectures at various colleges and universities on global trade issues. He also currently serves on the four-person Executive Committee which manages the China Alliance.

http://www.butzel.com/bioppsea.cfm?PI_ID=138

Mr. Nicholas C. Howson

Assistant Professor,
University of Michigan Law School

Topic:"China's Capital Markets and Stock
Exchanges - Efficient Allocation of Capital for Growth"

Nicholas C. Howson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Law School, and a graduate of Williams College (B.A., 1983) and the Columbia Law School (J.D., 1988). 

In 1988, Howson joined the New York-based international law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, and was elected partner of that firm in 1996.  Between 1988 and 2003, Howson worked out of the firm’s New York headquarters, and had extended postings in London, Paris and Beijing, finally as the managing partner of the firm’s China Practice based in Beijing.  In this period he acted for clients in precedent-setting corporate, securities, project finance and oil & gas exploration, production and development transactions, including the first debt offering by a Chinese SOE into the US capital markets (Sinochem, 1993 and 1995), the first SEC registered IPO on the New York Stock Exchange by a PRC-domiciled issuer (Shandong Huaneng Power Development, Inc., 1994), the first private placement of stock in a Chinese company limited by shares (George Soros’ purchase of 25% of Hainan Airlines Company, Inc., 1995), the Phillips Petroleum production sharing contract in the Bohai Bay (1998), and the first private equity investment in a non-SOE Chinese enterprise and exit into the capital markets (the Morgan Stanley-led investment into Mengniu Dairy, 2000).   

Howson writes and lectures widely on Chinese corporate and securities law topics, and has acted as a consultant to foreign foundations and think-tanks, and various Chinese administrative departments, in particular in connection with the PRC Company Law (2005), and the original PRC Securities Law (1999).  Before attending Columbia Law School, he spent two years (1983-5) as a graduate fellow at Shanghai’s Fudan University doing work in late Qing Dynasty Chinese literature.  In late 1988, he returned to China on a Ford Foundation fellowship to complete research at Beijing University in Qing penal law.    He taught Chinese law at the Harvard Law School in 2003-4, and was a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at the Cornell Law School for 2004-5.   

Howson is a designated foreign arbitrator for the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) in Beijing, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City, and serves on the Columbia Law School Board of Advisors; he is a past Chair of the Asian Affairs Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  Professor Howson is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the University of Michigan Center for Chinese Studies.